Högskolebiblioteket i Halmstad Publikationer
Not a member yet
17134 research outputs found
Sort by
Production of internal carbon source via Semi-continuous Fermentation of Primary Sewage Sludge: Effect of Hydraulic Retention Time on Volatile Fatty Acid Yield, Methane and CO2 Emission
No full textVolatile fatty acids (VFAs) are valuable intermediate products in anaerobic digestion and hold significant potential for carbon recovery in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). This study investigates the effect of varying hydraulic retention times (HRTs) on VFA production, methane generation, and CO₂ emissions during semi-continuous fermentation of primary sewage sludge. Using six 2-liter reactors operated under mesophilic conditions, HRT was adjusted by altering daily feed volumes, simulating retention times ranging from HRT 1 to HRT 8. Results revealed that VFA concentration increased with longer retention times, reaching a peak at HRT 6. Beyond this point, VFA levels declined, indicating increased conversion to methane. Methane production was negligible at lower HRTs but rose significantly at HRTs 5-8, with the highest average methane volume observed at HRT 8. Similarly, CO₂ emissions increased steadily with retention time. These findings suggest that HRT is a key parameter for optimizing carbon recovery from sludge. An HRT of 3 appears optimal for maximizing VFA yield before methanogenesis dominates. The results contribute to ongoing efforts to shift WWTPs toward more sustainable, resource-oriented operations through controlled fermentation and internal carbon reuse
”Participation doesn't just mean that she should be involved in the conversation herself, participation is so much more than that.” : A qualitative vignette study on children's participation in child welfare investigations
No full textDenna studie syftar till att undersöka hur socialsekreterare arbetar med barns delaktighet i barnavårdsutredningar, vilka utmaningar de möter i detta arbete samt att belysa hur barns ålder påverkar deras möjligheter till delaktighet i utredningsprocessen. Med utgångspunkt i detta har tre centrala forskningsfrågor formulerats. Den första rör hur socialsekreterare definierar barns delaktighet i utredningsprocessen. Den andra fokuserar på hur socialsekreterare arbetar med att främja barns delaktighet samt vilka utmaningar de möter i detta arbete. Den tredje frågeställningen avser hur barnets ålder påverkar graden och formen av delaktighet i utredningsprocessen. Studiens bakgrund vilar på det faktum att barns rätt till delaktighet är stadgad såväl i svensk lagstiftning som i internationella konventioner, däribland FN:s konvention om barnets rättigheter. Trots detta visar tidigare forskning att det förekommer brister i hur denna rätt till delaktighet förverkligas i praktiken. Studien utgår från en kvalitativ ansats med semistrukturerade vinjettintervjuer i par som metod. Analysen har genomförts med hjälp av tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att de deltagande socialsekreterarna definierar delaktighet på ett mångfacetterat sätt. Det framgår även att socialsekreterarna strävar efter att göra barn delaktiga genom att exempelvis anpassa samtal efter barnets ålder och mognad, genom att skapa trygga miljöer samt genom att vara lyhörda för barnets behov. Därtill står det klart att ålder är en påverkande faktor, då dess olika dimensioner både begränsar och möjliggör barns delaktighet. Utmaningar som lyfts fram i arbetet med barns delaktighet är bland annat föräldrars inställning till barnsamtal samt brist på tid. I diskussionen problematiseras det att barns delaktighet ofta präglas av vuxnas bedömningar och att barnets eget perspektiv riskerar att prioriteras lägre vid intressekonflikter. Slutsatsen är att även om socialsekreterare är medvetna om vikten av delaktighet, så påverkas det praktiska arbetet av flera faktorer som försvårar barns möjlighet till delaktighet.This study aims to examine how social workers engage with children's participation in child welfare investigations, the challenges they encounter in this work, and how children's age influences their opportunities for participation in the investigative process. Based on this aim, three central research questions have been formulated. The first concerns how social workers define children's participation in the investigation process. The second focuses on how social workers work to promote children's participation and the challenges they face in doing so. The third research question addresses how the child's age affects the degree and nature of their participation in the investigative process. The background of the study rests on the fact that children's right to participation is enshrined in both Swedish legislation and international conventions, including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Nevertheless, previous research indicates that there are shortcomings in the practical implementation of this right. The study is based on a qualitative approach, using semi-structured vignette interviews in pairs as the primary method. The material was analyzed using thematic analysis. The results show that the participating social workers define participation in a multifaceted way. It is also evident that the social workers strive to involve children by, for example, adapting the conversation to the child’s age and maturity, creating safe environments, and being responsive to the child’s needs. Furthermore, it is clear that age is an influencing factor, as its various dimensions both limit and enable children's participation. Challenges highlighted in the work with children's participation include, among other things, parents’ attitudes toward child interviews and a lack of time. The discussion highlights that children’s participation is often shaped by adults’ assessments, and that children’s perspectives risk being deprioritized when interests conflict. The conclusion is that although social workers are aware of the importance of participation, their efforts are affected by several factors that complicate the realization of meaningful child participation in practice
Användningen av artificiell intelligens i fastighetsvärdering : En kvalitativ studie om AI:s roll i fastighetsvärdering
No full textPurpose and Research Questions: The purpose of the study is to get an understanding of the use of artificial intelligence in the valuation process in larger commercial real estate companies in Sweden. - How is artificial intelligence used in the real estate valuation process?- What opportunities and challenges are there with artificial intelligence in the real estate valuation process? Method: The study used a deductive research approach with a qualitative method, in which data was collected through interviews with respondents from real estate companies and valuation companies in Sweden. A literature study was conducted at the beginning of the study, which laid a foundation for the theoretical framework and is based on scientific articles and previous research. Conclusion: The study shows that AI is used to a small extent in valuation and that the limited use is due to the real estate market being heterogeneous and the fact that the technology is not yet sufficiently developed to be used to a greater extent. The analysis indicates that opportunities such as data processing and market simulation can streamline the process, with generative AI playing a key role. To achieve this effect, accurate and up-to-date data is required for AI to provide reliable analyses, which is a challenge. It is likely that AI will play an increasingly important role in real estate valuation in the future.
Två världar i balans? : En kvantitativ studie om småbarnsföräldrars arbetslivsbalans i relation till arbetsform och kön
No full textDenna studie undersöker vilka faktorer som främjar en hållbar arbetslivsbalans hos småbarnsföräldrar, med fokus på hur detta påverkas av arbetsform (hybrid- eller platsbaserat arbete) och kön. Arbetsmarknadens ständiga förändring, där flexibilitet och digitalisering skapat nya möjligheter men också nya utmaningar, analyseras småbarnsföräldrars upplevelser av balans mellan arbetsliv och privatliv. Studien har en positivistisk teoretisk utgångspunkt med en induktiv ansats och baseras på en webbaserad enkätundersökning med 85 respondenter och genomförs med en kvantitativ metod. Arbetet analyserar resultatet genom teorierna, krav, kontroll och stöd-modellen, gränsteorin samt konfliktteorin. Studien visar att hybridarbete främjar arbetslivsbalansen genom ökad flexibilitet och kontroll, medan platsbaserat arbete ger tydligare gränser men kan skapa rollkonflikter. Balansen påverkas främst av arbetstider, barnens behov, socialt stöd och ekonomisk trygghet. Kvinnor rapporterar större ansvar i hemmet och sämre balans, medan män oftare har tillgång till hybridarbete och upplever bättre balans. Arbetsformens betydelse påverkas av kön, individuella villkor och organisatoriskt stöd.Studien bidrar med kunskap om hur arbetsvillkor kan anpassas för att stödja småbarnsföräldrars balans mellan arbete och privatliv, och lyfter behovet av ett mer inkluderande och jämställt arbetsliv.This study investigates the factors that promote sustainable work-life balance among parentsof young children, with a focus on how this is influenced by work arrangements (hybrid oron-site) and gender. With a constantly evolving labour market, where flexibility anddigitalisation have created both new opportunities and challenges, the study analyses howparents experience the balance between professional and private life. The study is based on apositivist theoretical perspective with an inductive approach and is conducted using aquantitative method through a web-based survey with 85 respondents. The results areanalysed using the job demand, control and support model, boundary theory, and conflicttheory. The findings indicate that hybrid work tends to promote better work–life balance dueto increased flexibility and control, whereas on-site work provides clearer boundaries butmay lead to more role conflicts. Key factors influencing the balance include working hours,children’s needs, social support, and financial security. Women report greater responsibilityfor household tasks and poorer balance, while men more often have access to hybrid workand report higher levels of balance. The significance of work arrangements is shaped bygender, individual circumstances, and organisational support. This study contributes toknowledge about how working conditions can be adapted to support work-life balance forparents and highlights the need for a more inclusive and gender-equal work environment
Remote Monitoring of EPACs using LoRa Communication
No full textThis thesis presents the design and implementation of a remote monitoring system for electric bicycles, using LoRa and Controller Area Network (CAN) bus technology. The system's main objective is to enable monitoring of key parameters, namely speed, acceleration, temperature, error messages, as well as location data. To achieve this, a point-to-point connection is established between two Raspberry Pi devices in the form of a transceiver and receiver. The transceiver is equipped with sensors to collect said data and sends it to the receiver over LoRa. The collected data is sent to an MQTT server, where an external computer can access the data to present it in an application. Testing was done in the city of Halmstad using an electric bicycle provided by the university. The results showed that the system had stable data transmissions over LoRa of up to 5.8 kilometers. However, the signal proved to be significantly weaker when obstruction was in the line of sight. The conclusions indicate that integrating GPS and LoRa communication, and with a good foundation for CAN bus integration, provides an effective way of monitoring data from electric vehicles remotely. The solution lays a good foundation with its monitoring capabilities, while also leaving room for improvement for future work and applications. Detta examensarbete presenterar design och implementering av ett fjärrövervakningssystem för elcyklar med LoRa- och Controller Area Network (CAN)-teknik. Systemets huvudsakliga syfte är att möjliggöra övervakning av parametrar såsom hastighet, acceleration, temperatur, felmeddelanden samt positionsdata. För att uppnå detta har en punkt-till-punkt-anslutning mellan två Raspberry Pi-enheter skapats i form av en sändare och en mottagare. Sändaren är utrustad med sensorer för att samla in data och skickar informationen till mottagaren via LoRa. Den insamlade datan skickas därefter till en MQTT-server där en extern dator kan hämta och presentera informationen i en applikation. Testning genomfördes i Halmstad med hjälp av en elcykel tillhandahållen av Högskolan. Resultaten visade att systemet kunde överföra data stabilt via LoRa över avstånd upp till 5,8 kilometer. Dock visade sig signalen vara avsevärt svagare när det fanns hinder i siktlinjen. Slutsatserna indikerar att en integration av GPS och LoRa-kommunikation, samt en bra grund för integration av CAN-buss är en effektiv metod för att övervaka data från elfordon på distans. Lösningen utgör en bra grund med sina möjligheter till övervakning, samtidigt som den lämnar utrymme för förbättringar och vidareutveckling i framtida tillämpningar.
“Onboarding is really the first experience they have of our company as a new hire, so I think the initial period is critical” : A qualitative study on new hires experiences of onboarding and an HR perspective
No full textDenna studie syftar till att undersöka hur nyanställda medarbetare upplever onboarding och hur den påverkar deras integrering på arbetsplatsen. Studien har för avsikt att betona medarbetarnas egna upplevelser och förväntningar av onboardingen. HR-medarbetares syn på onboarding inkluderas i studien för att ge en nyansering av målet med arbetet med onboarding. Studien använder teori och tidigare forskning som kan kopplas till onboarding och integrering. Studien utgår ifrån kvalitativ metod med semistrukturerade intervjuer. Genom ett målstyrt snöbollsurval har empiri samlats in genom intervjuer via teams med nio respondenter från tre företag. Tre av respondenterna var HR-medarbetare och sex av respondenterna var nyanställda medarbetare. Fynden från den insamlade empirin visar att nyanställda medarbetare värdesätter integrering och inkludering högt i sin onboarding. Deras upplevelser är individuella och de nyanställda medarbetarna belyser en rad olika faktorer som de upplever som viktiga i den genomförda onboardingen. De nyanställda medarbetarnas förväntningar uppfylldes i stor utsträckning genom tillräckliga onboardingprocesser. Däremot belyser de nyanställda medarbetarna några förbättringsförslag för onboardingen, varav tydligare struktur är ett önskemål för förbättring. HR-medarbetarna delger faktorer som de anser vara viktiga med onboarding, vilka är integrering och att bli självgående relativt tidigt. Onboarding är avslutningsvis en viktig process för att lyckas behålla medarbetare på arbetsplatsen.This study aims to research how new hires experience onboarding and how it affects their integration into the workplace. The study intents to emphasize individual experience and expectations regarding onboarding of new hires. The perspective from HR-employees on onboarding is included to provide further insight of their goals with onboarding. HR-employees view on onboarding is included in this study to provide further insight of the goal with the work of onboarding. The study uses theory and previous research which can be related to onboarding and integration. The study uses a qualitative method with semi structured interviews. The empirical data was collected through a targeted snowball sampling technique. The interviews took place on Teams with nine respondents from three companies. Of these nine respondents, six where new hires and three where HR-employees. The main findings from the empirical data reveal that the new hires value integration and inclusion in their onboarding. Their experiences are subjective, and the new hires highlight various factors they consider as important throughout their onboarding. The new hires expectations were met to a large extent due to adequate onboarding processes. However, the new hires provided a few suggestions of improvement in the onboarding, one of which was the need of a more pronounced structure. HR-employees emphasized the importance of new hires integration and self-efficient early after the process. In conclusion, onboarding is an important process that helps companies keep their employees.
Comparative Analysis of unsupervised and supervised topic models in IT ticket classification
No full textThis thesis seeks to address the question of how significantly ticket classification performance is affected in the absence of labels. This issue is critical because labeling all tickets is an extremely time consuming task, and a slight reduction in accuracy may be acceptable if it allows for the use of an unsupervised model. To explore this, we evaluate three state of the art methods: LDA and BERTopic as unsupervised models, and a BERT-based classifier as a supervised approach. All models operate on a synthetically generated dataset that mirrors real municipal ticket structures and is labeled with ten predefined categories. The BERT model is trained using supervised learning, while LDA and BERTopic follow unsupervised approaches. The BERT-based classifier achieves the highest macro F1-score. However, a key finding is that BERTopic performs within 9\% of BERT in terms of macro F1-score, despite operating without labeled data. This indicates that unsupervised topic modeling may serve as a viable alternative when annotated training data is limited or unavailable. The results show that transformer-based models are highly effective for structured IT support classification tasks. At the same time, interpretable unsupervised methods such as BERTopic offer promising performance in label-scarce environments, supporting scalable and cost effective automation
PFAS - Ett framtida hot mot dricksvattnet : En kvantitativ studie av PFAS-koncentration och spridning i Bolmen med koppling till punktkälla rörande brandskum
No full textPer- and polyfluorinated alkyl substances (PFAS) are a group of organic chemicals that, due to their strong molecular bonds, are highly persistent. Because of this, PFAS are today a global pollutant that contaminates our crops, soils, and drinking water reservoirs. This study focuses on analysing PFAS in Lake Bolmen (southwest Småland, Sweden). Drinking water production is extracted in the southern part of Lake Bolmen, thus this study examines if PFAS concentrations exceed recommended Swedish limit values for safe drinking water for PFAS4 (4 ng/l) and PFAS21 (100 ng/l) in Lake Bolmen’s raw water, with particular focus on the southern parts. In addition, the study examined the impact of a point source, an abandoned military airfield, on PFAS concentrations in Lake Bolmen, and the connection of these legacy PFAS to firefighting foam type B, commonly used in military exercises. The concentration of different types of PFAS was studied during two different time periods: from October 2023 to August 2024, and from January to March 2025 at twelve locations in and around Lake Bolmen. The results showed PFAS concentrations in lake water in the southern part of Bolmen, specifically at the sample site closest to the abandoned airfield. Here the drinking water limit for PFAS4 was exceeded in multiple locations while PFAS21 only exceeded the limit at one site. At the sites with high PFAS concentration, the majority of PFAS compounds could be connected to firefighting foam B. Further continuous monitoring of the PFAS concentration in Lake Bolmen is essential for ensuring safe drinking water production. Additionally, the study shows that monitoring of, and research on, ultrashort chain PFAS is of importance, since there is a clear knowledge gap concerning ultrashort PFAS environmental concentrations and proliferation.
When One Word Isn’t Enough : A Literature Study on the Role of Synonyms in the Language Development of Primary School Pupils
No full textThis literature study aims to investigate how synonyms are used in the Swedish subject in primary schools, with a particular focus on promoting an expanded vocabulary. The study is based on the following research questions: How can teaching with a focus on synonyms within the regular Swedish lessons contribute to promoting vocabulary development and reading comprehension in primary school students? What factors affect the effectiveness of different teaching strategies? Literature searches were conducted in relevant databases with search strings such as ‘synonyms’, ‘vocabulary’, and ‘primary school’. After reviewing the literature, seven articles were chosen as the basis for the analysis. The collected material is analyzed based on a thematic analysis to identify recurring patterns and connections. The results are presented under three main areas, which are: increased linguistic awareness, the teacher’s choice of methods and its impact on vocabulary development and finally taking advantage of the guidelines in the teaching plan. The study highlights that teaching with a focus on word learning can work as an effective complement to vocabulary development. However, there is a lack of clear research on how educators work with synonym teaching in practice. Denna litteraturstudie syftar till att undersöka hur synonymer används i svenskundervisningen för grundskoleelever, med särskilt fokus på att främja ett utökat ordförråd. Studien utgår från följande forskningsfrågor: Hur kan undervisning med fokus på synonymer inom den ordinarie svenskundervisningen bidra till att främja ordförrådsutveckling och läsförståelse hos lågstadieelever? Vilka faktorer påverkar effektiviteten i olika undervisningsstrategi? Litteratursökningar genomfördes i relevanta databaser med söksträngar som ‘synonymer’, ‘ordförråd’ och ‘grundskolan’. Efter granskning av litteratur, fastställdes sju artiklar som låg till grund för analysen. Det insamlade materialet analyseras utifrån en tematisk analys för att identifiera återkommande mönster och samband. Resultaten presenteras under tre huvudområden, vilka är: ökad språklig medvetenhet, lärarens metodval och dess inverkan på ordförrådsutveckling och slutligen att ta vara på styrdokumentens riktlinjer. Studien belyser att undervisning med fokus på ordinlärning kan fungera som ett effektivt komplement till ordförrådsutveckling. Samtidigt framkommer en brist på tydlig forskning kring hur pedagoger i praktiken arbetar med synonymundervisning i klassrummet.
Problemlösning i fokus : En kvalitativ studie som berör lågstadielärares arbete med matematisk problemlösning ur ett didaktiskt perspektiv
No full textSyftet med studien var att undersöka hur några lågstadielärare karakteriserar matematisk problemlösning och vilka didaktiska val som framkommer vid planering och organisering av problemlösning, eftersom den nationella forskningen om problemlösning på lågstadiet är begränsad. Empirin samlades in genom semistrukturerade intervjuer av nio lärare från förskoleklass till årskurs 3. Studiens första forskningsfråga utgick från en induktiv inställning då vi ville ta reda på lärarnas definition och karakterisering av problemlösning. Den andra forskningsfrågan om lärares didaktiska val utgick från en deduktiv ansats. Det teoretiska ramverk som den deduktiva delen av studien utgår ifrån är didaktiken. De didaktiska frågorna vad, hur, varför och vilka har valts ut som analysbegrepp. Studiens resultat visar att lärares definition av problemlösning främst kopplas till textuppgifter och att problemlösning är individuellt betingat. Problemlösning karakteriseras av att fokus läggs på problemlösningsprocessen, olika lösningsmetoder, grupparbete och diskussioner. Studien visar också att lärare lyfter många olika didaktiska val vid utformningen av sin undervisning. Visualiseringen och lektionsavsluten framhålls av lärarna som viktiga delar i arbetet med problemlösning. Slutsatsen är att problemlösning kan anses vara komplext och att lärarna undervisar om problemlösning. The aim of the study was to investigate how some primary school teachers characterize mathematical problem solving and which didactic choices emerge when planning and organizing problem solving, since national research on problem solving in primary school is limited. The empirical data was collected through semi-structured interviews with nine teachers from preschool to grade 3. The study's first research question was based on an inductive approach, as we wanted to find out about the teachers' definition and characterization of problem solving. The second research question about teachers' didactic choices was based on a deductive approach. The theoretical framework on which the deductive part of the study is based on didactics. The didactic questions what, how, why and which have been selected as analysis concepts. The study's results show that teachers' definition of problem solving is primarily linked to text tasks and that problem solving is individually determined. Problem solving is characterized by a focus on the problem-solving process, different solution methods, group work and discussions. The study also shows that teachers highlight many different didactic choices when designing their teaching. The visualization and lesson endings are emphasized by the teachers as important parts of the work with problem solving. The conclusion is that problem solving can be considered complex and that the teachers teach about problem solving