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We are queer and the struggle is here! Visibility at the intersection of LGBT plus rights, post-coloniality, and development cooperation in Uganda
No full textThis article unpacks different meanings of visibility and adds to a more complex and nuanced understanding of visibility and its role in LGBT + activism in Uganda, a widely discussed case of political homophobia. Public visibility has a central, although contested, role here. The study aims to explore how visibility is understood and navigated by local LGBT + activists, unaffiliated people with same-sex desires, as well as international development partners. Interviews conducted in Kampala from December 2021-January 2022 reveal different and complex narratives surrounding visibility. Local unaffiliated individuals and activists agreed on the importance of making the LGBT + rights struggle more visible. This, however, did not translate into a wish to "come out" themselves. International development actors expressed a need for caution regarding their own visibility, mindful that explicit and visual support may generate accusations of neo-imperialism
Förstudie – Termisk komfort, projekteringsguide
No full textDenna förstudie om förutsättningar för och möjligheterna med en projekteringsguideför termisk komfort med fokus på övertemperaturer har genomförts på kort tid för attkunna vara underlag för framtida projekt. Åtminstone tre olika problemområden kanurskiljas: • Det är svårt att definiera scenariodata för framtida väder och klimat samt påverkanav lokala förhållanden. • Mängden variabler som har betydelse vid beräkning av termisk komfort är stortoch det krävs fler simuleringar för att bättre kunna bestämma vilka variabler somhuvudsakligen ska beaktas för att säkerställa beräkningsresultat .• Hur stora variationer finns och hur ska riskvärdering göras för de klimatfiler somtas fram för framtida klimat.This preliminary study on the conditions for and possibilities of a design guide for thermal comfort with a focus on excess temperatures has been carried out in a short time in order to be a basis for future projects. At least three different problem areas can be distinguished:• It is difficult to define scenario data for future weather and climate and the influence of local conditions.• The number of variables that are important when calculating thermal comfort is large and more simulations are required to better determine which variables should mainly be taken into account to ensure calculation results.• How large are the variations and how should the risk assessment be made for the climate files that are produced for future climate.</p
'Athletes', 'Talents', and 'Players' : Conceptual Distinctions and Considerations for Researchers and Practitioners
No full textA clearer understanding of, and tighter boundaries between, terms are important for researchers designing studies as well as for other sport stakeholders creating evidence-informed policies. This article considers the terms 'athlete', 'talent', and 'player' from psychological and sociocultural perspectives and in different sporting communities to highlight the importance of terminological clarity in sport research. We present considerations to clarify the use of these terms within different contexts and how the use of specific terms may affect knowledge mobilization in diverse sporting populations. A conceptual discussion is provided to help operationalize development-related terminology and its associated stages, to better reflect contemporary academic thought, and enhance practical interpretations. Importantly, we also call for greater transparency from researchers when presenting findings and encourage practitioners to clearly define key terms when working in sport. Our intention in this paper is to energize readers to consider how we use language in athlete identification and development contexts, to stimulate deeper thought and discourse around the possible implications these terms may have at any point of an individual's development in sport. Greater deliberation, identification, and acknowledgment of the drawbacks accompanying these terms will be needed before more confident assertions can be made on how researchers and practitioners could (or even should) implement certain terminology across youth sport contexts moving forward. This paper adds to a growing literature on the importance of clarity in terminology and acts as an impetus for those working in specific sports to co-design key terms used by researchers, practitioners, and policy makers
‘My trust in strangers has disappeared completely’ : How hate crime, perceived risk, and the concealment of sexual orientation affect fear of crime among Swedish LGBTQ students
No full textPrevious research has established correlations between anti-LGBTQ hate crime, fear of crime, perceived victimization risk, and the concealment of sexual orientation. Aside from correlations, the relationships between these variables remain poorly understood. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to explore the relationships between anti-LGBTQ hate crime, perceived risk, and the concealment of sexual orientation in relation to fear of crime. Based on previous research and theory, the authors hypothesize (1) that experiences of hate crime victimization increase fear of crime, perceived victimization risk, and the concealment of sexual orientation; (2) that high levels of perceived risk result in high fear of crime and a more prevalent concealment of orientation; and (3) that the concealment of sexual orientation results in lower fear of crime. The sample consists of LGBTQ students enrolled at a Swedish university. The study uses a mixed method approach, combining survey data (N = 353) and interview data (N = 10). The data are assessed using path analysis and thematic analysis. The path analysis supported the authors’ hypothesis regarding experiences of anti-LGBT hate crime, perceived risk, and fear of crime. The qualitative analysis showed that victims of hate crimes had a reduced ability to process negative emotions because they experienced other traumatic life events parallel to the victimization. Similarly, feelings of being reduced to a negative stereotype resulted in higher levels of both fear of crime and perceived risk. Finally, the path analysis rejected the hypothesis that the concealment of sexual orientation results in lower fear of crime. Rather than being an agency-driven and functional fear response, the interview data showed that while these practices reduced victimization risk, they negatively impacted the overall health of the participants through feelings of lack of authenticity and self-censorship
Integrating and Assessing an Indoor Positioning System for Emergency Evacuations
No full textThis thesis presents the development and performance assessment of an enhanced indoor positioning system for the EvacAware mobile application, designed for emergency evacuation guidance. The sys-tem architecture was refactored from a monolithic design to a modular, provider-based approach usinga factory pattern and unified interfaces. This facilitated the integration of multiple positioning meth-ods: an internal Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) system, a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)module, and an external BLE-based API (Eli). An ensemble selection system was implemented toorchestrate these methods, aiming to improve overall accuracy and reliability.The research methodology involved a mixed-methods approach, combining experimental designwith correlation analysis. Scenario-based tests (Static Positioning, Cross-Floor Movement, Out-of-Coverage) were conducted in Malmö University’s Niagara building to evaluate accuracy, latency, andreliability. Quantitative data, including position, floor, error distance, and beacon counts, were col-lected and analyzed.Performance assessment revealed significant challenges. GNSS, while accurate outdoors, sufferedfrom signal loss and substantial floor-level inaccuracies indoors. BLE-based methods (internal andAPI) exhibited considerable error margins (median error distances often exceeding 5-10 meters) andoperational unreliability, with long startup times (91-115 seconds for sub-10m accuracy) deemed im-practical for emergency scenarios. The ensemble strategy increased system flexibility but did notconsistently surpass the accuracy of the best single internal BLE method. BLE performance wasinfluenced by beacon density and environmental factors, but a higher beacon count did not alwaysyield proportionally better accuracy, highlighting the impact of building layout and potential radiointerference.Key limitations identified include the system’s critical dependency on WiFi for backend communi-cation, potential inaccuracies in manual ground truth collection (up to 3m), and inherent challengesof BLE technology such as inconsistent advertising rates and RSSI fluctuations. The study partiallyvalidated the hypothesis of correlation between accuracy, latency, and reliability metrics. However,the hypothesis that an ensemble method would significantly enhance positioning accuracy was onlypartially supported, as reliability improved but accuracy did not consistently outperform the bestindividual internal method.The findings underscore that while the integration of multiple positioning technologies was success-ful, the current system, particularly its indoor BLE components, does not meet the stringent accuracyand reliability requirements for mission-critical emergency navigation. Future considerations includeexploring BLE 5.1, BLE fingerprinting, optimized beacon placement, refined ensemble/voting logic,and leveraging WiFi-based positioning (802.11mc/az, fingerprinting) and mmWave radar to addresscurrent limitations and enhance overall system performance. Addressing the WiFi dependency iscrucial for robust deployment
Changes in Immigrant Population Prevalence and High Violent Crime Rates in Swedish Municipalities
No full textGlobal evidence indicates minimal connection between immigration and crime. Nordic research, however, has been generally carried out on individuals and shows that immigrants are over-represented in crime. This has led to claims that high crime rates are due to immigration. We directed our study towards these claims by analyzing immigrant population prevalence, defined as the percent of foreign-born individuals, and violent crime in Swedish municipalities between 2000 and 2020. Nearly all municipalities had higher violent crime rates in 2020 relative to 2000. To discern whether drastic increases in municipality-level crime rates could be connected to municipality-level immigrant population prevalence, a retrospective case-control design was used to select 20 municipalities with the highest increase in reported violent crime rates and 20 municipalities with the lowest increase in reported violent crime rates. Immigrant population prevalence had little association with high rates of reported violent crime. The average association between immigrant population prevalence and violent crime rates calculated from all municipalities was also weak and non-significant (p > 0.05). Municipalities with a high increase in crime tended to have more crime correlates than municipalities with a low increase in crime. However, more research is needed on the impact of migration in small towns, especially those that have experienced economic and social stagnation
Non-invasive tape sampling of tryptophan and kynurenine in relation to phenylalanine and tyrosine from melanoma and adjacent non-lesional skin : A pilot study
No full textPurpose: To evade immunosurveillance many cancers convert tryptophan (Trp) into kynurenine (Kyn), which induces immunotolerance and suppresses immune responses. Elevated Kyn amounts have been found in blood from patients with cutaneous melanoma. This study aimed to investigate whether higher Kyn abundance and lower Trp abundance can be detected on the surface of cutaneous melanoma lesions compared with adjacent non-lesional skin. Methods: Sixteen patients with suspected melanomas were enrolled in this study. All lesions were excised and histopathologically diagnosed: 7 lesions were diagnosed as invasive malignant melanomas (MM), 6 as melanomas in situ (MIS), and 3 as benign lesions (BL). Non-invasive metabolite sampling was performed by tape stripping of suspected skin lesions and adjacent healthy non-lesional (NL) skin. Trp, Kyn, tyrosine (Tyr), and phenylalanine (Phe) were quantified by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were conducted to assess skin barrier integrity. Results: Levels of all metabolites, Tyr (x6), Phe (x6), Trp (x5), and Kyn (x3), were significantly higher in MM lesions compared with adjacent NL skin, resulting in an elevated Trp/Kyn ratio. Trp levels increased less than Phe and Tyr levels, suggesting a potential increase in Trp depletion. Skin resistance in MM lesions was half that of NL skin. No differences were observed between MIS or BL and NL skin. Conclusions: Non-invasive skin sampling revealed elevated Tyr, Phe, Trp and Kyn levels in MM skin, which is likely the result of compromised skin barrier at this stage of cutaneous melanoma
Patients’ experience of patient-reported outcomes, continuous feedback, and a solution-focused approach (using DIALOG +) in psychosis care in Sweden
No full textBackground: Involving patients in care and ensuring structured continuous follow-up can be challenging. Using Patient-Reported Outcomes during routine encounters can enable patients and healthcare professionals to collaboratively focus on the patients needs and adjust treatments over time. Previous research highlights the benefits of continuous feedback and solution-focused methods in psychiatric care. DIALOG + is a digitally supported conversational intervention designed to enhance the therapeutic effectiveness through self-reported outcomes and a solution-focused approach. This study explores patients' experiences of using DIALOG + in Swedish psychosis care, focusing on its integration of continuous feedback and a solution-focused approach to support active patient participation in planning and evaluation of care. Methods: A qualitative exploratory study using Reflexive Thematic Analysis was conducted. Individual semi-structured interviews were carried out with ten patients who had used DIALOG + three or more times. Results: The analysis identified two themes: “The supportive features of DIALOG + ” and “DIALOG + provides a constructive structure” . These themes included six sub-categories: “Expanded the understanding of my health,”; “Moving toward improvement,”; “Provided memory support,”; “Empowering participation,”; “Distinguishing DIALOG + as a constructive complement,” and “Experiences of the digital interface.” Conclusion: This study suggests that DIALOG + may enhance care for patients with psychotic disorders by: Expanding the understanding of the patient's health by enabling a more comprehensive and nuanced picture of the patient's situation. Promoting improvement by focusing on solution-oriented discussions and concrete actions. Providing valuable memory support for patients, which facilitates follow-up and continuity of care. Strengthening patient involvement in their own care Offering a digital interface that facilitates structured communication between patient and healthcare provider. Expanding the understanding of the patient's health by enabling a more comprehensive and nuanced picture of the patient's situation.Promoting improvement by focusing on solution-oriented discussions and concrete actions.Providing valuable memory support for patients, which facilitates follow-up and continuity of care.Strengthening patient involvement in their own careOffering a digital interface that facilitates structured communication between patient and healthcare provider.This intervention has the potential to enhance patient participation and foster co-production, aligning with national healthcare priorities
Materials in buildings : Prestudy
No full textAtt beskriva alla material i byggnader är en omfattande uppgift. I lagstiftning och beskrivningar används t.ex. begreppen byggprodukt, produkt, material, materialslag, byggmaterial, byggnadsmaterial, ämne, avfall, farligt avfall, farligt ämne för att kategorisera material.För att överblicka området är en möjlighet att använda den livscykelindelning som används för beräkning av klimatbelastning från byggnadsverk enligt den europeiska standarden EN 15978. A1–A3 Produktskede: Materialens livscykel börjar med råvaruuttag och går sedan till en tillverkningsprocess. Tillverkningen kontrolleras av tillverkaren och resulterar i material och byggprodukter. A4–A5 Byggproduktionsskede: Beställare och entreprenör väljer mellan byggprodukter och tillverkare för att tillskapa ett byggnadsverk som uppfyller beställarens krav till en rimlig kostnad och klimatbelastning. Byggproduktionen sker i öppen konkurrens där alla egenskaper hos byggprodukter bedöms men där det slutliga resultatet är beroende på kompetens och skicklighet hos utförarna. B1–B7 Användningsskede: Material i byggnader byts ut vid underhåll, reparation och ombyggnad. Det innebär att kortare projekt med A1–A5 och C1–C4 som upprepas i olika omfattning. C1–C4 Slutskede: När en byggnad ska demonteras och rivas behöver restprodukter behandlas respektive bortskaffas enligt miljöbalkens avfallshierarki. För stora delar av det befintliga beståndet av byggnader återstår att genomgå detta slutskede. Det finns flera material och ämnen i material som vi vet är farligt för hälsa och miljö. Det går att kontrollera hur de finns med i byggprodukter men kan vara svårare att känna till skadliga ämnen som används i produktskedet och som inte finns med, eller finns med i låg grad som en restprodukt i den färdiga byggprodukten.Denna förstudie har lyft på locket till ett omfattande område. Samverkan mellan författningar och branschens tillämpningar och riktlinjer behöver följas och utvecklas.Describing all materials in buildings is a comprehensive task.In legislation and technical descriptions, terms such as construction product, product, material, type of material, building material, construction material, substance, waste, hazardous waste, and hazardous substance are used to categorize materials. To gain an overview of the field, one approach is to use the life cycle stages applied in the calculation of climate impact from construction works according to the European standard EN 15978: A1–A3 Product stage: The life cycle of materials begins with raw material extraction and continues through a manufacturing process. The production is controlled by the manufacturer and results in materials and construction products. A4–A5 Construction stage: Clients and contractors choose between construction products and manufacturers to create a building that meets the client's requirements at a reasonable cost and climate impact. Construction takes place in open competition, where all properties of construction products are assessed, but the final result depends on the competence and skill of the executors. B1–B7 Use stage: Materials in buildings are replaced during maintenance, repair, and renovation. This means shorter projects involving stages A1–A5 and C1–C4 are repeated to varying extents. C1–C4 End-of-life stage: When a building is to be dismantled and demolished, residual products must be treated and disposed of according to the waste hierarchy in the Environmental Code. For large parts of the existing building stock, this end-of-life stage remains to be completed.There are several materials and substances in materials known to be hazardous to health and the environment. It is possible to check how they are included in construction products, but it may be more difficult to identify harmful substances used during the product stage that are not present, or only present in small amounts as residuals, in the finished construction product. This preliminary study has lifted the lid on a vast area.Collaboration between legislation and the industry's practices and guidelines needs to be monitored and further developed
Residualisation Localised : Suburban Poverty Trends in Malmö’s Rental Market
No full textIn Western European economies generally, and in Sweden in particular, public housing has been a mechanism that states use to combat inequality. However, housing researchers point to the increased residualisation of public housing across Europe. Scholars have also acknowledged the increased precariousness among private renters. Yet, few studies have investigated residualisation in both the public and private rental sectors while grounding this process in its urban context. Addressing this lacuna, the article explores how public and private rental housing have changed spatially and how this change ties into the residualisation process in Malmö, Sweden. We identify how a diversification ambition has spread the public housing sector evenly throughout the city while this sector has undergone a residualisation process, especially in so-called “less attractive” suburban areas. Meanwhile, private renting has increased in some of these “less attractive” areas, and the private rental sector has grown in the city since 2011. Concomitantly, we find a downturn in poverty among private renters after 2012, especially at a suburban level, which we link to private rental owners’ use of rent-increasing measures and stricter rental policies. In conclusion, the article argues, first, that residualisation studies need to explore shifts in both public housing and private renting. Second, it argues that studies of rental market change and its outcomes, framed within a rental system conceptualisation, benefit from being grounded in urban analysis.Trajectories of vulnerability: A spatial perspectiv, VR, Dr.nr 2020-01046Renovering, utförsäljning och ombildning i hyressektorn - vilka är konsekvenserna?, 2022-05198_V