The Role of Identity in Access-Based Consumption

Previous research has shown a wide range of examples of people preferring products and brands that are associated with their identity. However, most of this research has investigated consumption in the form of acquiring ownership over a product. This thesis includes three articles that investigate whether and when identity affects choices when people engage in access-based consumption within the sharing economy. In article 1, we investigate group-based discrimination in the sharing economy. Using a set of carefully controlled experiments (N = 1,599), we find causal evidence for racial discrimination. When an identical Airbnb apartment is presented with a racial out-group (vs. in-group) host, people report more negative attitudes towards the apartment, lower intentions to rent it, and are 25% less likely to choose the apartment over a standard hotel room in an incentivized choice. Reduced self-congruence with apartments owned by out-group hosts statistically mediates these effects, and discrimination disappeared when the apartment was presented with an explicit trust cue. Article 2 investigates how identity and self-relevance relates to consumer preferences for access-based consumption versus ownership. Findings from five studies (N = 2,398), indicate that strongly fashion-identified consumers tend to prefer ownership over access in the clothing domain, but that this correlational relationship is weak, and can be affected by situational factors such as the number of consumption events. Article 3 investigates how consumers using car-sharing services instead of traditional car ownership are perceived by others. We conducted a high-powered experiment in a general population sample (N = 1,194), examining whether users of car-sharing services are perceived as more trustworthy than car-owners, and whether people prefer to socialize with car-sharing users versus car-owners. The results showed that car-sharing users were only perceived as 2 more trustworthy when their motive for sharing was pro-environmental. Moderation analyses were slightly underpowered, but suggest that socialization intentions varied according to participant’s own driving behavior and environmental engagement. In conclusion, this thesis contributes to social psychology and consumer research literatures with novel empirical evidence showing the effects of social and personal identity in access-based consumptio

Inkluderende praksis for barn med spesialpedagogisk hjelp En kvalitativ intervjuundersøkelse av hva støttepedagogen i barnehagen vektlegger som viktig for inkluderende praksis for barn med spesialpedagogisk hjelp

Barnehagens samfunnsmandat bygger på og ivareta barnas behov for omsorg og lek, og å fremme læring og danning som grunnlag for allsidig utvikling. Barnehagens samfunnsmandat skal utøves i samarbeid og forståelse med barnas hjem (Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2017). Rammeplan for barnehagen (2017) tydeliggjør også personalets ansvar om å opplyse foreldre om retten til å kreve sakkyndig vurdering av om barnet har behov for spesialpedagogisk hjelp, dersom det er grunn til å tro at barnets behov ikke kan dekkes innenfor det allmenpedagogiske tilbudet. Et barn som mottar spesialpedagogisk hjelp, skal inkluderes i barnegruppen og det allmennpedagogiske tilbudet i barnehagen (Kunnskapsdepartementet, 2017). Thomas Nordahl (2019) og ekspertgruppen for barn og unge med behov for særskilt tilrettelegging hevder i sin rapport Inkluderende fellesskap for barn og unge at barn og unge som mottar spesialpedagogisk hjelp ikke får tilstrekkelig hjelp og støtte, og mange barn og unge opplever ikke inkluderende praksis (Nordahl m.fl., 2019). Ekspertgruppen, også kalt Nordahl- utvalget påpeker at organiseringen og innholdet i den spesialpedagogiske hjelpen, og den spesialpedagogiske undervisningen for barn og unge, fører til manglende tilhørighet i fellesskapet. Gjennom kvalitativ metode og semistrukturerte intervju av tre støttepedagoger med ansvar for spesialpedagogisk hjelp innenfor § 31 i barnehageloven (2006), søkte jeg svar på problemstillingen: Hva vektlegger støttepedagogen i barnehagen som viktig for inkluderende praksis for barn med spesialpedagogisk hjelp? Med teoretisk forankring i det historiske rammeverket for utviklingen av det spesialpedagogiske feltet og det kategoriske og relasjonelle perspektivet søkte jeg innsikt i, og forståelse av det spesialpedagogiske feltet i dag. Med ulike inkluderingsteorier som beskriver og utfyller begrepet inkludering, har jeg lagt hovedvekt på Mitchells (2014) elementer for inkluderende praksis for å gjenkjenne inkluderings elementer i støttepedagogens beskrivelser. Funn i denne studien viser at det er barrierer for inkluderende praksis for barn med spesialpedagogisk hjelp, men at disse må ses i sammenheng med ytre faktorer, blant annet knyttet til forståelsen og organiseringen av spesialpedagogiske tiltak

Prognostic Impact of MiR-155 in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Evaluated by in Situ Hybridization

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In recent years, microRNAs (miRNAs) have been found to play an essential role in tumor development. In lung tumorigenesis, targets and pathways of miRNAs are being revealed, and further translational research in this field is warranted. MiR-155 is one of the miRNAs most consistently involved in various neoplastic diseases. We aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of the multifunctional miR-155 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Tumor tissue samples from 335 resected stage I to IIIA NSCLC patients were obtained and tissue microarrays (TMAs) were constructed with four cores from each tumor specimen. <it>In situ </it>hybridization (ISH) was used to evaluate the expression of miR-155.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 191 squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs), 95 adenocarcinomas (ACs), 31 large cell carcinomas and 18 bronchioalveolar carcinomas. MiR-155 expression did not have a significant prognostic impact in the total cohort (P = 0.43). In ACs, high miR-155 expression tended to a significant negative prognostic effect on survival in univariate analysis (P = 0.086) and was an independent prognostic factor in multivariate analysis (HR 1.87, CI 95% 1.01 - 3.48, P = 0.047). In SCC patients with lymph node metastasis, however, miR-155 had a positive prognostic impact on survival in univariate (P = 0.034) as well as in multivariate (HR 0.45, CI 95% 0.21-0.96, P = 0.039) analysis.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prognostic impact of miR-155 depends on histological subtype and nodal status in NSCLC.</p

MicroRNA Signatures in Tumor Tissue Related to Angiogenesis in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

BACKGROUND: Angiogenesis is regarded as a hallmark in cancer development, and anti-angiogenic treatment is presently used in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients. MicroRNAs (miRs) are small non-coding, endogenous, single stranded RNAs that regulate gene expression. In this study we aimed to identify significantly altered miRs related to angiogenesis in NSCLC. METHODS: From a large cohort of 335 NSCLC patients, paraffin-embedded samples from 10 patients with a short disease specific survival (DSS), 10 with a long DSS and 10 normal controls were analyzed. The miRs were quantified by microarray hybridization and selected miRs were validated by real-time qPCR. The impacts of different pathways, including angiogenesis, were evaluated by Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) derived from Protein ANalysis THrough Evolutionary Relationship (PANTHER). One of the most interesting candidate markers, miR-155, was validated by in situ hybridization (ISH) in the total cohort (n = 335) and correlation analyses with several well-known angiogenic markers were done. RESULTS: 128 miRs were significantly up- or down-regulated; normal versus long DSS (n = 68) and/or normal versus short DSS (n = 63) and/or long versus short DSS (n = 37). The pathway analysis indicates angiogenesis-related miRs to be involved in NSCLC. There were strong significant correlations between the array hybridization and qPCR validation data. The significantly altered angiogenesis-related miRs of high interest were miR-21, miR-106a, miR-126, miR-155, miR-182, miR-210 and miR-424. miR-155 correlated significantly with fibroblast growth factor 2 (FGF2) in the total cohort (r = 0.17, P = 0.002), though most prominent in the subgroup with nodal metastasis (r = 0.34, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Several angiogenesis-related miRs are significantly altered in NSCLC. Further studies to understand their biological functions and explore their clinical relevance are warranted

Learning from Digitalised Industries: Designing Value Propositions for Disruption

Digitalisation changes the way business is made. In some industries, digital disruption has been caused by companies like AirBnB and Netflix, whereas in other industries the opportunities stemming from digitalisation have still not been fully utilised. In this article, we explore how companies from less digital industries may create digital business opportunities by learning from successful digital companies in other industries. A 3-hour workshop set-up is developed and the findings from two workshops with 17 participants from the construction industry are described. It is shown how an analysis of the customer profiles of well-known companies facilitate cross-industrial learning and aid the creation of new ideas for digital value propositions. Although substantial further work is necessary before the full potential of the ideas may be harvested, we believe the described workshop method represents a tangible first step in creating digital business model innovation