Rescaling public transport planning in Sweden : investigating the continued planning at the scale 'left behind'

This paper aims to contribute to a qualitative understanding of rescaling and its impact on planning strategies and governance relations across scales. In Sweden, such a rescaling took place in 2012 when 21 regional public transport authorities (RTA) were inagurated, which meant the rescaling of this task from the local to the regional scale. In this paper we will discuss how the scale 'left behind', i.e. the municipalities, continue to plan for public transport, despite being formally deprived this mandate over 10 years ago. Through this discussion, we can illustrate how the effects of rescaling are spatially unevenly distributed between different municipalities, and that the reform of rescaling has qualitative effects on how some targets for public transport planning are prioritized, while others are downplayed. The discussion is guided by 3 research questions: What values guide the municipal planning for public transport in Sweden? In what ways have Swedish municipalities continued to plan for public transport after the rescaling of public transport in Sweden? What are the municipal perceptions of ‘tensions’ between the old and the new scale after the rescaling of public transport planning in Sweden?The empirical material consists of two sets of data: public planning documents and personal interviews with municipal planners. We have analysed comprehensive plans (in Swedish 'Översiktsplan') ratified between 2012 and 2020 in 21 Swedish municipalities. The municipalities are situated in two nonmetropolitan counties in Sweden – Örebro and Östergötland – quite closely located to the Stockholm region. Personal interviews were carried out with planners in ten municipalities during the spring of 2020 and the selection was made to cover a variety of geographical structures such as urban/rural, big/small, as well as locations within each county (central and peripheral). The analysis of the municipal comprehensive plans is based on qualitative content analysis and divided into three steps. The results of the analysis is presented using GIS.</p

The yes way : a catalyst for inclusive change in the Swedish entrepreneurial ecosystem?

This chapter explores the initiative The Yes Way (TYW) as a potential catalyst for inclusive change in the Swedish entrepreneurial ecosystem. The initiative aims to support diversity, equality and inclusion among Swedish business promoters, by offering programs and tools with guidance, knowledge and methods. TYW is studied with the aim of advancing the understanding of the prospects of entrepreneurial ecosystems becoming more inclusive regarding gender, ethnicity, disability and age, through orchestrated measures. The results show that a central mechanism for inclusive change in TYW is the creation of institutional clearings, where participating business promoters are orchestrated in contact zones where they meet, clash and grapple in view of asymmetrical power relations. This enables them to take part, apply and reflect on knowledge and methods for inclusive business support, while also forcing them to navigate asymmetrical power relations, resistance toward change and different approaches to gender in innovation.</p

Conceptual inconsistencies in variable definitions and measurement items within ISP non-/compliance research : A systematic literature review

The rich stream of research focusing on employee non-/compliance with information security policies (ISPs) suffers from inconsistent results. Attempts to explain such inconsistencies have included investigation of possible contextual moderating factors. Another promising, yet not systematically investigated, explanation concerns conceptual inconsistencies in variable definitions and in questionnaire measurement items. Based on a systematic literature review covering 36 ISP non-/compliance articles using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and/or Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), we found four major types of conceptual inconsistencies and unclarities within and across studies; (i) inconsistencies in variable definitions; (ii) inconsistencies between variable measurement items; (iii) inconsistencies between variable definitions and measurement items; and (iv) unclearly/vaguely worded measurement items. The review contributes to the field by demonstrating that the inconsistent results in the field may not only be due to unknown contextual moderators, but also to conceptual incongruences within and across studies.</p

Självkörande fordon kommer inte vara säkrare : bara annorlunda

Under det senaste decenniet har självkörande fordon fått omfattande uppmärksamhet, där ökad trafiksäkerhet ofta har framhållits som en avgörande drivkraft för deras utveckling. Ungefär 90 % av alla trafikrelaterade dödsfall anses bero på mänskliga fel, där alkohol, droger, trötthet och hastighetsöverträdelser är exempel på faktorer som automatiserade system kan hjälpa till att eliminera. Detta resonemang har dock flera inbyggda problem, vilket gör det osäkert om självkörande fordon faktiskt kommer att leda till ökad säkerhet. Dessutom är det oklart vad begreppet "säkerhet" egentligen innebär i denna nya kontext.Studien baseras på en sammanställning av empiriska och teoretiska studier, kompletterat med ett induktivt resonemang för att tolka resultaten och deras övergripande innebörd.För det första är säkerheten kring självkörande fordon i dagsläget höljd i osäkerhet. Det återstår att se om en hög säkerhetsnivå verkligen kan uppnås, särskilt eftersom dagens trafik redan har nått en relativt hög säkerhetsstandard. Introduktionen av denna nya teknik medför också risken för nya typer av olyckor. Även om självkörande fordon kan lösa vissa existerande problem, är det troligt att de samtidigt skapar nya utmaningar. Det finns redan indikationer på en överdriven tilltro till tekniken, vilket kan resultera i att fordonen tillåts hantera situationer de inte är designade för att hantera. Dessutom uppstår nya hot relaterade till cybersäkerhet, såsom risken att fordon kan fjärrstyrs eller att deras intelligens manipuleras. En central problematik i diskussionen om ökad säkerhet är hur begreppet "säkerhet" definieras och avgränsas.Införandet av självkörande fordon kommer troligen inte att innebära en entydig ökning av trafiksäkerheten, utan snarare en omdefiniering av vad säkerhet innebär. Beslutsfattare måste därför utveckla en bredare säkerhetsdefinition som omfattar både traditionella och nya risker, såsom cybersäkerhet. Striktare reglering, kontinuerlig utvärdering och allmän utbildning är avgörande för att hantera dessa utmaningar och säkerställa att tekniken införs på ett sätt som skyddar både individer och samhällsfunktioner.</p

Smoking and the occurrence of larynx cancer in Sweden [Elektronisk resurs] : a population analysis

Aims: To study the importance of decreasing tobacco smoking on the occurrence of larynx cancer in men and women.Methods: The incidence rates of larynx cancer in the Swedish population between 1970 and 2021 were retrieved from the Swedish Cancer Register for ages 50–84 years, stratified for sex, age and calendar year. Data on the population’s smoking habits was retrieved from surveys and from taxation on the sale of cigarettes. The occurrence of larynx cancer was compared to smoking habits, sex and age. The time trends were compared between larynx and lung cancer.Results: Over the years, Swedish men and women have had different smoking habits, especially older persons during the 1970s. In 1963, the prevalence of current smokers in women 50–69 years was 11%, while it was 46% in men. Around 2020, less than 10% of men and women in all age groups were current smokers. However, men had higher incidence rates of larynx cancer than women, even when their smoking habits were similar. For example, men and women 60–64 years of age in 2017–2021 had similar smoking habits during their life but the relative risk of larynx cancer in men compared to women was 3.3 (95% CI 1.7–4.8). However, pipe smoking was much more common in men.Conclusions: The study indicates that other causes than cigarette smoking have an impact on the occurrence of larynx cancer in Sweden. Pipe smoking and occupational exposure to carcinogenic materials such as asbestos may be underlying causes of the difference in cancer risk between Swedish men and women.</p

Tracing Change in Social Media Use: A Qualitative Longitudinal Study

This study reveals a significant shift in how users perceive and engage with social media over time. Our analysis is based on qualitative longitudinal research carried out over ten years, involving a small group of participants in 2012, 2017, and 2022. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were conducted using stimulated recall allowing for retrospection and reflection. Through this methodology, we trace the shifting perceptions of social media users, from initially embracing these platforms for quick, fun, and social activities, to later recognizing their potential intrusiveness and seeking strategies to manage their use. We outline three central trajectories that illustrate shifts in social media use across time: from public performance to private interaction, from producing to consuming and from fun to problematic. For HCI and social media studies, these findings underscore the need to prioritize user agency, ethical design practices, and longitudinal research endeavors to understand the evolving impacts of social media

Optimal Lower Limb Exoskeleton Assistance in Walking Predicted by Musculoskeletal Simulation

Breakthroughs in assistive exoskeletons have occurred in the recent decade; both active and passive devices that provide partial joint moments in the lower limbs have reduced metabolic costs during walking by assisting muscle action. Musculoskeletal simulation is highly useful in describing the interaction between assistive moments, muscle-tendon mechanics, and walking energetics. In this study, we computed optimal assistive moments in ankle plantarflexion and hip flexion that produce minimal muscle activations during walking, described the muscle energetics, and estimated the potential reduction in metabolic cost. We described with analyses of muscle-tendon mechanics and motor control how reductions in muscle activation do not always result in metabolic cost savings.</p

Biosignal Sequence Real-time Prediction for Game Users Based on Features Fusion of Local-Global and Time-Frequency Domain [Elektronisk resurs]

Biosignal sequence real-time prediction (BSRP) is essential for predicting the future emotional experience of game users. However, BSRP for game users faces challenges, including poor real-time performance and limited feature fusion dimensions.To address these issues, we proposed a method for BSRP based on the features fusion of Local-Global and Time-Frequency domain (LGTF) for game users, which integrates real-time capabilities with multi-dimensional features fusion. Specifically, LGTF meets real-time requirements and achieves the features fusion of Local-Global through multi-channel synchronized adaptive convolution. In addition, LGTF implements the features fusion of inter- and intra-band in the frequency domain and the features fusion of time-frequency domain by incorporating the Self-Attention mechanism and Fourier Transform. Furthermore, we conducted comprehensive validation experiments on LGTF using the public dataset.The results indicate that: 1) In the comparison study, LGTF outperformed other methods, achieving the lowest average MSE and MAE values across different prediction lengths of 0.61 and 0.47, respectively. 2) Ablation studies revealed that the addition of time-frequency domain feature fusion (TF) and local-global feature fusion (LG) both have the positive effect on the prediction performance, reducing the average MSE by 0.11 and 0.09, respectively. 3) Generalization study shows that LGTF exhibits stable performance and generalization across different subjects and shows performance advantages in specific game scenarios. 4) Time performance analysis suggests LGTF has the real-time performance.5) Case study demonstrates that LGTF is practical for predicting game users' future emotions and enhancing their emotional experiences.</p