Making sense of complexity in governance: the case of local public management in the City of Stockholm

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way.This study found that the problem-solving capacity of a public organization can be understood in terms of the legitimacy of the formulated problems and solutions. Increasing the problemsolving capacity depends on not only the acceptance of problems and how to solve them but also on formal structures and processes. Sensemaking and framing are important keys to unlocking how legitimacy is built, and consequently, how problem-solving capacity is built in a complex organization. We contend that although governance theory recognizes complexity through concepts such as networks and multi-levelness, empirical research tends to downplay what complexity can entail, thus limiting the theoretical development and practical usability of governance theory. Using complexity as a sensemaking framework, we analyze how the top-tier managers of a capital understand the challenges and solutions of coping with rapid growth. We argue that although complexity theory is no panacea to unlocking the difficulties of public sector challenges, it can be a valuable guide to future research on governance.publishedVersio

En studie av svensk e-sportjournalistik

En studie av svensk e-sportjournalistik. Undersökning av DN, GP, AB. Vi har genomfört en kvalitativ studie av Dagens Nyheter, Göteborgs-Posten och Aftonbladet. Genom att använda oss av Mediearkivet och dess sökfunktion plockade vi fram de artiklar som behandlade e-sport och dataspel

Studies of plasma-facing materials and macromolecules using scanning probe microscopy

The main topic of this thesis is experimental analysis of material surfaces using scanning probe microscopies. These microscopes are used for characterization through high-resolution topographical imaging, but also for controlled modification of surfaces and molecules. The surface characterization includes evaluation and development of fractal methods for surface roughness determination. The term modification is used for manipulating the structures on a microscale by scraping them with a tiny tip. The major application of this technique in the present work is the analysis of effects induced by plasma-surface interactions. Such studies are fundamental in the understanding of erosion and deposition processes on the first wall in controlled fusion devices. In this work, scanning probe microscopes were for the first time used for studying such plasma-facing materials. Both the surface structure and composition have to be known in order to evaluate new wall-materials for fusion reactors. The materials studied here are graphites, SiC/Al coatings, graphite-silicon mixtures and various silicon carbide based composites. They were all exposed to plasmas, either to lowenergy deuterium plasmas and ions in laboratory experiments, or to the plasma in a socalled tokamak. The results show the usefulness of these high-resolution microscopes in the study of plasma-surface interaction. Several other surface sensitive techniques were also applied, at the home laboratories of our collaborators, the most important ones being Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy and nuclear reaction analysis. The scanning probe microscopy in combination with the ion-beam analysis made it possible to trace fine structural features on the surfaces and to measure the surface roughness. The main results are: (i) the detection of the initial stages of bubble/blister formation on CSi mixtures, SiC/AI coatings and graphites; (ii) the morphological changes and the physical properties of the silicon carbide composites; (iii) the distinction of radiation damages on different phases of multicomponent composites; (iv) the estimation of layer thickness with scanning probe microscopy; (v) the determination of the structure of codeposited layers formed during exposure in a tokamak; (vi) the uptake of deuterium by the materials. The atomic force microscope has also been used to study the human protein spectrin, and we managed to image free spectrins with molecular resolution in an almost natural environment. The elongated spectrin macromolecule was found to be 100 rim long and 5 nm broad. Indications of a substructure were observed. The force between the sensor tip and the molecules was crucial, both for sample movement, manipulation and image resolution. Therefore, the instrument was rebuilt to operate with so called tapping-mode in liquid. Preliminary results with this method on spectrin are presented.Godkänd; 1995; 20070410 (ysko

Scanning probe microscopy : Applications

Godkänd; 1994; 20070410 (ysko)</p

Surface characterization with functional parameters

Typically engineering surfaces are characterized with traditional roughness parameters that perform some type of height averaging over the surface. Although these parameters describe the topography of the surface none of them necessarily describe the ability of the surface to carry out its function in a tribological contact. In this study an ICE cylinder liner has been investigated.The traditional Rk parameters (based on the Abbott curve) have been calculated as well as functional ‘flow factors’which modify the Reynolds equation to incorporate the effects of surface topography.To calculate flow factors the homogenization technique has been implemented and a full 3D contact mechanics model has been incorporated so that surface functionality in mixed lubrication can be studied. Furthermore, the cylinder liner surface has been measured with both white light interferometery and an AFM so that the effect of measuring technique on roughness and functional parameters can be investigated.Godkänd; 2011; 20111213 (spencer

In situ scanning probe microscopy studies of morphology and growth kinetics in amyloid-peptide fibrillogenesis with custom designed tapping mode and pulsed force mode systems

We have used a commercial Nanoscope II atomic force microscope (AFM) with a custom designedtapping mode (TM) system to in situ monitor amyloid β-peptide aggregation related to Alzheimer’sdisease (AD). The custom tapping mode setup was successfully used to image the real timeaggregation behaviour of the arctic mutation amyloid β-peptide, Aβ(1-40), in vitro in aphysiologically relevant buffer and compare with the behaviour of the normal wild type of theAlzheimer’s amyloid peptide Aβ(1-40) at the same conditions. The investigation revealed distinctdifferences in fibrillogenesis behaviour for the two peptides. Our results demonstrate a previouslysuggested alternative fibrillogenesis pathway, of highly distinct aggregates with orderedmorphology as on-pathway. Moreover, additional investigations using a pulsed force mode (PFM)are under way.Godkänd; 2004; 20120626 (nils)</p

In situ scanning probe microscopy studies of morphology and growth kinetics in amyloid-peptide fibrillogenesis with custom designed tapping mode and pulsed force mode systems

We have used a commercial Nanoscope II atomic force microscope (AFM) with a custom designedtapping mode (TM) system to in situ monitor amyloid β-peptide aggregation related to Alzheimer’sdisease (AD). The custom tapping mode setup was successfully used to image the real timeaggregation behaviour of the arctic mutation amyloid β-peptide, Aβ(1-40), in vitro in aphysiologically relevant buffer and compare with the behaviour of the normal wild type of theAlzheimer’s amyloid peptide Aβ(1-40) at the same conditions. The investigation revealed distinctdifferences in fibrillogenesis behaviour for the two peptides. Our results demonstrate a previouslysuggested alternative fibrillogenesis pathway, of highly distinct aggregates with orderedmorphology as on-pathway. Moreover, additional investigations using a pulsed force mode (PFM)are under way.Godkänd; 2004; 20120626 (nils)</p

Elastic properties of living cells studied by multimodal atomic force microscopy

Godkänd; 2000; 20120626 (nils)</p