Mid Sweden University
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Byggnadsingenjörsutbildningens roll i att anpassa nyutexaminerade till arbetsmarknadens krav : En kvalitativ undersökning för att identifiera kunskapsluckor
Byggnadsingenjörsutbildningen spelar en central roll för att förbereda studenter för arbetslivets krav, men det finns indikationer på att nyutexaminerade inte fullt ut är förberedda på de praktiska aspekterna av yrket. Syftet med denna studie var därför att undersöka hur väl högskoleingenjörsutbildningen i byggteknik motsvarar de aktuella krav som arbetsgivare i branschen ställer, samt identifiera områden där kompetensluckor uppstår. Studien genomfördes med kvalitativa skriftliga intervjuer med totalt tio respondenter, fem nyexaminerade byggnadsingenjörer och fem arbetsgivare från olika lärosäten och regioner. Resultaten visar att utbildningen ger en god teoretisk grund inom framför allt konstruktion och byggfysik, men att studenterna saknar praktisk erfarenhet, produktionsteknisk kunskap och kännedom om moderna digitala verktyg. Förslag till förbättringar inkluderar införande av längre och mer strukturerade praktikmoment, tätare samarbete med branschen och möjlighet till specialisering under utbildningens senare delar. Slutsatsen är att högskoleingenjörsutbildningen behöver öka de praktiska inslagen för att effektivisera övergången från utbildning till yrkesliv och bättre möta arbetsmarknadens behov.The higher education program for construction engineering plays a central role in preparing students for the demands of the construction industry. However, there are indications that newly graduated engineers are not fully prepared in terms of practical skills and production related competencies required by employers. The purpose of this study was therefore to investigate the extent to which the construction engineering program aligns with current industry requirements and to identify existing competence gaps. The study was conducted through qualitative written interviews with ten respondents, including five recently graduated construction engineers and five employers from different universities and regions. The results indicate that the program provides a solid theoretical foundation, particularly in structural engineering and building physics, but lacks sufficient practical experience, production related knowledge, and familiarity with current digital tools. Suggested improvements include introducing longer and more structured practical training periods, closer collaboration with the industry, and opportunities for specialization in the latter part of the education. The conclusion is that the construction engineering program needs to enhance practical elements to facilitate the transition from education to working life and better meet industry demands
”Vi har ju väldigt mycket content så att säga” : En kvalitativ studie om länsmuseer och YouTube
Problemformulering och syfte: Svenska museer har ett lagstadgat uppdrag att sprida kunskap och vara tillgängliga för allmänheten, men det är oklart hur digitala plattformar som YouTube används för att uppfylla detta, särskilt i relation till yngre målgrupper. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur svenska, offentligt ägda museer arbetar med digitalisering, med särskilt fokus på hur YouTube används som verktyg för utbildning och tillgänglighet. Metod och material: Studien bygger på semistrukturerade intervjuer med medarbetare från tre länsmuseer samt en multimodal analys av två YouTube-videor från respektive museum. Resultat: Resultatet visar att museerna främst använder YouTube för att sprida kunskap och dokumentera verksamheten, snarare än för strategisk kommunikation riktad till specifika målgrupper. Innehållet präglas av ett informativt och sakligt tilltal, medan interaktivitet och humor förekommer i begränsad omfattning. Ingen av de deltagande museerna har en uttalad strategi för YouTube, vilket leder till sporadisk publicering och brist på målgruppsanpassning. Den yngre målgruppen (16–25 år) nås sällan, trots att forskning visar att unga använder YouTube för både underhållning och lärande. Interna faktorer som brist på tid, resurser och teknisk kompetens utgör hinder för ett mer aktivt arbete med plattformen. Samtidigt uttrycker flera museer en vilja att utveckla sin närvaro på YouTube genom att skapa mer tillgängligt, visuellt och målgruppsanpassat innehåll
Att kommunicera hållbarhet : En kvalitativ analys av hållbarhetsrapporter i börsnoterade fastighetsbolag
Problemformulering och syfte: I takt med ökade krav på hållbarhet har kommunikation om företagsansvar blivit en strategisk nyckelfråga. Särskilt aktuellt är det i fastighetssektorn där hållbarhetsarbete både ska genomföras och kommuniceras trovärdigt. Denna studie syftar till att analysera hur svenska börsnoterade fastighetsbolag kommunicerar sitt hållbarhetsansvar i sina hållbarhetsredovisningar. Metod & material: Studien bygger på en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av hållbarhetsredovisningar från sex svenska fastighetsbolag. Analysen utgår från Carrolls CSR-pyramid som teoretiskt ramverk och operationaliseras genom ett kodschema. Huvudresultat: Resultaten visar att ekonomiskt och etiskt ansvar dominerar hållbarhetskommunikationen medan juridiskt ansvar används för att signalera transparens och efterlevnad av nya regelverk som CSRD. Filantropiskt ansvar varierar och tenderar att vara symboliskt. CSR används strategiskt som ett kommunikativt verktyg snarare än en neutral återgivning av verksamheten, vilket stöder tidigare forskning om CSR som “aspirerande tal”. Nyckelord: Hållbar utveckling, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), hållbarhetskommunikation, fastighetssektorn, strategisk kommunikation, Carrolls CSR-pyrami
Globalt till lokalt : Hur globala risker förstås, tolkas och prioriteras i en lokal kontext
2025-06-17</p
Changes in dietary intake during Ramadan month among university students in Bangladesh : a cross-sectional study
Background: Muslims who fast during Ramadan abstain from drinking and eating from dawn to sunset, which has major dietary, lifestyle, and metabolic implications. Due to their active schedule, university students are among the most affected groups by the observance of Ramadan fasting. The study investigated changes in the perceived amounts of dietary intake during Ramadan and the factors associated with these changes among Bangladeshi Muslim university students. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire during the month of Ramadan in the year 2021 (10 May 2021 to 10 June 2021). The data were collected online via Google forms following snowball sampling and convenience sampling principles. The Pearson chi-square test was performed to determine the associations between independent variables (e.g., age, sex, residence, education level, living status) and the dependent variables (e.g., perceived change of carbohydrate-related foods, protein-related foods, oils, whole milk, Ramadan occasion-related foods, and others). Results: A total of 867 university students were recruited; 66% of them were males. The intake of cereals was significantly higher among males than females (12.22% vs. 8.16%, p = 0.001). The vegetable intake was significantly lower among students with hypertension (3.51% vs. 11.98%, p < 0.001) and diabetes (9.43% vs. 11.70%, p < 0.001). The consumption of homemade dishes was significantly higher among students living with their families (47.30% vs. 5.66%, p < 0.001). Conclusion: The study revealed different changes in perceived dietary intakes and associated factors among university students during Ramadan. Our research calls on policymakers and public health experts to create health education programs and public health awareness campaigns to impart healthy eating behaviors during Ramadan.
Oppositional chaotic artificial hummingbird algorithm on engineering design optimization
This paper proposes an enhanced-search form of the newly designed artificial hummingbird algorithm (AHA), named oppositional chaotic artificial hummingbird algorithm. The proposed OCAHA methodology incorporates the oppositional learning (OBL) in the population-initialization and at the ending event of each iteration for a faster convergence, and the chaos-embedded sequences of Gauss/mouse map to replace the random sequences of the three population-updating iterative stages of AHA, viz. guided, territorial and migration foraging to employ more diverse population for more solutional accuracy. The effectiveness of the method has been evaluated in two phases. OCAHA, the four state of the art algorithms, namely, PSO, DE, GWO and WOA, their recently developed effective variants, namely, SLPSO, MTDE, SOGWO and EWOA, and the inspiring optimizer AHA have been implemented on the 29 unconstrained CEC 2017 benchmark functions in the first phase. In the second phase, OCAHA has been verified on 10 challenging engineering cases, and compared with the concerned leading performances. Comprehensive analysis of the simulated outcomes using various statistical metrics and of the convergence profiles demonstrates that, the optimization ability of OCAHA on CEC 2017 is superior to all the comparing algorithms except MTDE. For engineering cases, OCAHA provides better searching performance, solution precision, robustness and convergence rate than all competing designs, and, on average, it has lowered the computational cost by 57.5% and 22.63% in term of function evaluations and the fitness objective by 2.4% and 0.23% in comparison to AHA and the chaotic version CAHA, respectively.
Expecting the worst : pain catastrophizing and intolerance of uncertainty in women with fear of childbirth
Fear of childbirth (FOC) is associated with adverse outcomes, for the expecting woman as well as for her baby. In order to prevent and treat FOC, it is important to understand the psychological processes involved. Two potential key processes are intolerance of uncertainty and pain catastrophizing. The aim of this cross-sectional study was to explore intolerance of uncertainty and pain catastrophizing in pregnant individuals with severe vs. low/moderate FOC, and potential differences between nulliparas and multiparas. The sample of 332 individuals filled out a range of questionnaires, and were categorized as severe (n = 66) and low/moderate (n = 266) FOC. The results showed that participants with severe FOC (Wijma Delivery Expectancy Questionnaire, W-DEQ ≥85) reported higher levels of intolerance of uncertainty and pain catastrophizing than participants with low/moderate FOC. We did not find any significant differences between nulliparas and multiparas. Noteworthy, levels of pain catastrophizing in the severe FOC group were similar to those reported in chronic pain samples. Although we cannot draw any conclusions about causality or direction of proposed links, these findings warrant a need for identifying and developing treatment strategies to target intolerance of uncertainty and pain catastrophizing, in both nulliparas and multiparas with high levels of FOC.
An exclusive survey on robust controllers and novel optimization techniques for AGC of power system
This review paper addresses several robust controllers and optimization procedures for developing automatic generation control (AGC) in an electrical supply system under various electrical disturbances. Since, the electrical power system is completely dynamic and non-linear in nature, frequent control over power generation is required as per the new scheduled demand. The action that promptly oversees the electricity generation as per the new scheduled demand is referred as AGC. The AGC action mostly relies over several robust controllers for creating secondary control loop in the system. These controllers sense the error signals of the power system effectively and takes remedial immediately to assure stability in the system. The error signals are the deviation in network frequency (ΔF) and diversion in inter-area power (ΔPtie), which mutually referred as the area control error (ACE). The mismatch between net electricity generation and active gross loading is the main cause of the ACE in power system. The several control schemes like, conventional PID, Fraction value ordered PID (FO-PID), Fuzzy-PID, Fuzzy- TID, Fuzzy ruled sliding mode control (F-SMC) strategy, Type-II Fuzzy controllers etc. are demonstrated to improve AGC of the power system. The proposed controllers offer improved efficiency at their optimum state. So, optimization techniques need to be incorporated in the AGC scenario to optimal design several proposed controllers. Finally, this review article has synthesized few simulation-based case studies to validate the efficacy of the proposed controller and suggested optimization techniques. Robustness of the proposed controllers are also examined through several sensitivity studies.
Accessibility, usability and universal design - still confusing? : Harmonisation of key concepts describing person-environment interaction to create conditions for participation
PurposeTo contribute to an in-depth understanding of how the concepts accessibility, usability, and universal design interact and can be harmonised to create conditions for participation in the 21st century.Material and MethodsIdeas, empirical research, and selected literature from health science, engineering, and design constituted the material for a scientifically grounded analysis.ResultsWe describe recent developments, how the concepts relate to and complement each other, and the synergies they create. Reflecting on the lack of clarity in their application, we argue that definitions are crucial and that the concepts can be combined and harmonised in a synergistic entity: The participation of all is the ultimate goal of society. Universal Design is the value-based vision and approach to design grounded in human rights that, through intersectionality and involvement, should permeate all aspects of society to create the best possible conditions for participation for all citizens. Accessibility and usability are tools for operationalising and translating universal design into practice, applicable at the individual, group, and societal levels.ConclusionIntended for implementation at all these levels, we propose a harmonised model where the concepts are explicitly defined and closely connected, with each other and the conditions to reach participation at scale
Din Digitala Bovärd : Självständigt arbete
The project’s goal was to create a web application for real estate managers. The project followed the MOSCOW method to produce a minimum viable product. Designs and ER diagrams were created for the product, which was named ”Din Digitala Bovärd”. The application’s frontend was created in Vue and styled with Tailwind. The frontend is decoupled from the backend which was create in the PHP framework Drupal. Vue connects to Drupal with REST API and the security method OAuth2. To create the Drupal backend a combination of Drupal’s main functionality, extra modules and programming in PHP was used. The re sult was a web application where real estate managers can list there properties. They can send both manual and automatic email invoices including PDF invoices. The application can also handle fault reports from residents and post information for residents. The application carefully manages personal information and respects users integrity. It complies with GDPR and lets users know which data is collected. Accessibility is important and therefore the application also includes an accessibility statement and have made customizations to follow the accessibility guidelines dictated by the DOS-lagen.Målet med projektet har varit att skapa en webbapplikation för bovärdar. Först planerades projektet enligt MoSCoW-metoden för att skapa en minsta värdeskapande produkt. Därefter skapades designskisser och ER-diagram för produkten som fick namnet ”Din Digitala Bovärd”. Applikationen använder en uppdelad lösning där backend utvecklades i PHP-ramverket Drupal. Backend innehåller en blandning av Drupals inbyggda funktioner, tilläggsmoduler samt egenutvecklad PHP-kod. Det grafiska gränssnittet skapades i Vue och programmera des med TypeScript samt stylades med Tailwind. Vue-applikationen använder en REST API-lösning för att ansluta till Drupal. Säkerhetsmetoden som används är OAuth2. Resultatet blev en webbapplikation där bovärdar kan registrera kon ton, lägga till egna fastigheter samt bostäder, hantera manuell och automatisk fakturering via e-post med PDF-fakturor och ett system för att hantera felanmälningar från boende. Boende kan även logga in för att se aktuell information från bovärden samt skicka in felanmälningar. Integritet är viktigt och därför lägger applikationen stor vikt vid att personuppgifter hanteras varsamt och följer GDPR. Den är även tillgänglighetsanpassad för att fler ska få åtkomst till tjänsten. Applikationen innehåller en tillgänglighetsredogörelse och följer i hög grad DOS-lagens riktlinjer