Attention-Based Neural Network for Solving the Green Vehicle Routing Problem in Waste Management

23.08.23: Trekkes tilbake fra visning som løsning på at oppgaven ble ferdigstilt fra studieadministrasjonen litt for fort/IHTIThe transport sector is a major contributor to the emission of greenhouse gases and air pollution. As urbanization and population growth continue to increase, the demand for transportation services grows, emphasizing the need for sustainable practices. Therefore, incorporating sustainability into the transport sector can effectively reduce its negative impacts on the environment and optimize the utilization of resources. This thesis aims to address this issue by proposing a novel method that integrates neural networks into the development of a green vehicle routing model. By incorporating environmental considerations, particularly fuel consumption, into the optimization process, the model seeks to generate more sustainable route solutions. The integration of machine learning techniques, specifically an attention-based neural network, demonstrates the potential of combining machine learning with operations research for effective route optimization. While the effectiveness of the green vehicle routing problem (GVRP) has been demonstrated in providing sustainable routes, its practical applications in real-world scenarios are still limited. Therefore, this thesis proposes the implementation of the GVRP model in a real-world waste collection routing problem. The study utilizes data obtained from Remiks, a waste management company responsible for waste collection and handling in Tromsø and Karlsøy. The findings of this study highlight the promising synergy between machine learning and operations research for further advancements and real-world applications. Specifically, the application of the GVRP approach to waste management issues has been shown to reduce emissions during the waste collection process compared to routes optimized solely for distance minimization. The attention-based neural network approach successfully generates routes that minimize fuel consumption, outperforming distance-optimized routes. These results underscore the importance of leveraging the GVRP to address environmental challenges while enhancing decision-making efficiency and effectiveness. Overall, this thesis provides insights for developing sustainable and optimized routes for real-world problems

Captured by Care: An Institutional Ethnography on the Work of Being in a Rehabilitation Process in Norway

The Norwegian rehabilitation policies and new public management reforms share some features and are divided by others. The features that divide them are so contradictory that they create difficulties for people who are in a process of rehabilitation. Having studied the everyday life of people being in a process of rehabilitation, I argue that the continuous change in organizational structures in general makes the processes hard to endure for service users, specifically the reforms characterized by neoliberalism, because they, to a large extent, contradict the holistic rehabilitation ideology. This further illuminates the paradox that the greater and more complicated the functional impairments are, the more work related to the rehabilitation process a person must do, and by extension, the greater the risk of deprivation

Negotiating Identities and Power : Adolescent Motherhood and Child Marriage in Central Malawi.

Introduction: despite universal efforts, child marriages still occur worldwide. However, not all child marriage unions last, and little is known about how such marriages end. Most critically, there is little information on what happens to young mothers when child marriage unions dissolve. This paper explores the experiences of adolescent mothers who were in child marriages in the cultural context of central Malawi. Methodology: using qualitative methods, data was collected in two districts in central Malawi. One focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with key community members (n=14) and three FGD, guided by an unstandardized interview guide, were conducted with adolescent mothers aged 15-22 years (n=15). The FGD with adolescent mothers were conducted in three groups, ranging from three to nine participants per group. In addition to this, a key informant interview was conducted with a community leader who is traditionally recognized as paramount chief (n=1). The data was analysed using a content analysis. The study applied the concept of ‘doing gender’ by West and Zimmerman (1987) in the analysis. Results: what emerged from the data is that adolescent mothers embodied fragmented identities that are changing over time given the influence of life events. Amid different combinations of roles, several identities were observed: mother, wife, young, adolescent, girl, married, unmarried, victim of child marriage, survivor of child marriage, unemployed, employed, re-enrolled student, and school dropout. While these identities changed, gender did not, thus the changing identifications provided displays for ‘doing gender’ under a diverse set of subjectivities. Expressions of power at the micro-level were demonstrated by adolescent mothers through ‘resilience vs. perseverance’. Conclusions: the study highlights that cultural sensitivity and responsiveness by traditional leaders, such as the chief, play a role in the empowering revisions of one’s identity by championing liberating life events through the termination of child marriage or access to girls’ education regardless of resistance.publishedVersio

Trøblete overganger i et aldersdelt hjelpeapparat

Author's accepted version (postprint)

Romanian Roma : An Institutional Ethnography of Labour Market Exclusion

Roma individuals are struggling to access the formal labour market in Romania. Previous research occupied with this issue has traditionally been dominated by quantitative studies of socio-economic indicators that cling to the characteristics of the ethnic group. The study presented here, however, uses institutional ethnography as a method of social inquiry to demonstrate that this issue needs to be studied from a bottom-up perspective. The article illustrates that there are factors connected to how the system of occupational integration operates that must be taken into consideration in order to explain the difficulties Roma individuals face when trying to enter the labour market in Romania. We argue that these structural barriers create and reinforce processes of minoritising that increase marginalization and discrimination and thereby hinder work inclusion for Roma individuals

Straffer vi av gammel vane, eller? En undersøkende funksjonsanalyse av straffens funksjon i samfunnet.

Straff er blitt gitt til alle tider. Begrunnelsene for den har vært mange, og de har vekslet. Noen ganger begrunnes straffen i dens preventive virkning, andre ganger gjenfinnes den i et gjengjeldelsesperspektiv. Oppgaven er et rettssosiologisk skråblikk på straffen gjennom en funksjonsanalyse av straffens funksjon i samfunnet. Straffen undersøkes gjennom flere tilnærminger. Vi gjør et historisk tilbakeblikk på straffens debatt og rettssoiolog Vilhelm Auberts avhandling om straffen sosiale funksjon. Denne debatten har et utspring i filosofiske retninger, slik som utilitaristiske nyttebetraktninger og pliktetisk tenkemåte. Vi undersøker videre straffens manifeste funksjon i straffelovens forarbeider, og ser latente funksjoner ved den gjennom undersøkelser av domstolspraksis. Rettssosiologien møter så naturvitenskapen gjennom nevrovitenskapen. Nevrovitenskapen utfordrer nemlig jussens og samfunnets etablerte sannheter. Rettsvitenskapen tillegger ethvert menneske bestemte egenskaper, hvorpå atferd enten tillates eller forbys. Forutsetningen er altså at vi mennesker til en viss grad har en fri vilje og at vi vil være ansvarlige for våre egne handlinger. For nevrovitenskapen er avvikende atferd og kriminalitet sett på som en funksjon av genetisk arv. Et slikt sprik i vitenskapene skaper utfordringer for hvordan denne forskjellen skal håndteres i møte med strafferetten

The shifting roles of employers : At the intersection of employment and social work : A case study from Norway

publishedVersio

Planning individually? Spotting international welfare trends in the field of rehabilitation in Norway

International welfare trends are sweeping across the western world and have gained a lot of attention from researchers. However, few contributions have demonstrated the practical effects of these trends. This article will illustrate this using the individual plan as a case showing that some unintended forms of use can be regarded as traces of international welfare policy trends, and are not in line with the original ideologically based intentions

"Bundet av bistand" : en institusjonell etnografi om organisering av rehabiliteringsprosesser

Avhandling (Ph.D.) – Universitetet i Nordland, 201

Negotiating identities and power : adolescent motherhood and child marriage in central Malawi

Introduction: despite universal efforts, child marriages still occur worldwide. However, not all child marriage unions last, and little is known about how such marriages end. Most critically, there is little information on what happens to young mothers when child marriage unions dissolve. This paper explores the experiences of adolescent mothers who were in child marriages in the cultural context of central Malawi. Methodology: using qualitative methods, data was collected in two districts in central Malawi. One focus group discussion (FGD) was conducted with key community members (n=14) and three FGD, guided by an unstandardized interview guide, were conducted with adolescent mothers aged 15-22 years (n=15). The FGD with adolescent mothers were conducted in three groups, ranging from three to nine participants per group. In addition to this, a key informant interview was conducted with a community leader who is traditionally recognized as paramount chief (n=1). The data was analysed using a content analysis. The study applied the concept of ‘doing gender’ by West and Zimmerman (1987) in the analysis. Results: what emerged from the data is that adolescent mothers embodied fragmented identities that are changing over time given the influence of life events. Amid different combinations of roles, several identities were observed: mother, wife, young, adolescent, girl, married, unmarried, victim of child marriage, survivor of child marriage, unemployed, employed, re-enrolled student, and school dropout. While these identities changed, gender did not, thus the changing identifications provided displays for ‘doing gender’ under a diverse set of subjectivities. Expressions of power at the micro-level were demonstrated by adolescent mothers through ‘resilience vs. perseverance’. Conclusions: the study highlights that cultural sensitivity and responsiveness by traditional leaders, such as the chief, play a role in the empowering revisions of one’s identity by championing liberating life events through the termination of child marriage or access to girls’ education regardless of resistance