Social Network Analysis of Open Source Projects

A large amount of widespread software used today is either open source or includes open-source projects. Much open-source software has proved to be of very high quality despite being developed through unconventional methods. The success of open-source products has sparked an interest in the software industry in why these projects are so successful and how this seemingly unstructured development process can yield such great results. This thesis presents a study done on the projects hosted by one of the largest and most well-known open-software communities that exists. The study involves gathering developer collaboration data and then using social network analysis to find trends in the data that eventually might be used to create benchmarks for open-source software development. The results show that several interesting trends can be found.By applying social network analysis on the collaboration of open-source developers for a wide variety of projects a few observations can be made that can give some valuable insight in the development process of open-source projects

Climate-smart greenhouses and their impact on food security in Humla, Nepal

With the basis in two villages in Humla, north-western Nepal, this thesis examined how greenhouses are affecting food security in a high mountainous area. The major focus was on the greenhouse project development in Humla and its impact on food security. Greenhouses, their implementation, possible challenges and how they affect gender relations were other focuses of interest. This was examined in the context of natural, social and economic factors in the area. The current study was based on food security theory and climate-smart agriculture theory, as well as innovation theory and climate change theory. This gave a broad basis for analysing and discussing the research questions. The areas of study were Chhipra village in Lower Humla and Yalbang village in Upper Humla. Both areas had their own set of natural conditions. This was especially evident in that Chhipra village was to a considerable higher degree than Yalbang village exposed to drought. Furthermore, Chhipra village was Hindu (mainly Chhetri caste), while the Yalbangs village was inhabited by the Buddhist Lama ethnic group. The villages therefore had their own social and economic predispositions as well, as Hindu and Lama societies are distinct in Humla. This became evident that socially Yalbang village was more homogenous than Chhipra village and that economically, Yalbang village was perceived as better-off. This gave a good basis for a comparative study between the villages, as well as interviews with NGOs and literature, allowed for exploring generalization possibilities from the village level to a regional level.Masteroppgave i geografiGEO35

Contestation, contingency, and justice in the Nordic low-carbon energy transition

The five Nordic countries have aggressive climate and energy policies in place and have already emerged to be leaders in renewable energy and energy efficiency. Denmark is renowned for its pioneering use of wind energy, Finland and Sweden bioenergy, Norway hydroelectricity and Iceland geothermal energy. All countries aim to be virtually “fossil free” by 2050. This study explores the Nordic energy transition through the lens of three interconnected research questions: How are they doing it? What challenges exist? And what broader lessons result for energy policy? The study firstly investigates the pathways necessary for these five countries to achieve their low-carbon goals. It argues that a concerted effort must be made to (1) promote decentralized and renewable forms of electricity supply; (2) shift to more sustainable forms of transport; (3) further improve the energy efficiency of residential and commercial buildings; and (4) adopt carbon capture and storage technologies for industry. However, the section that follows emphasizes some of the empirical barriers the Nordic transition must confront, namely political contestation, technological contingency, and social justice and recognition concerns. The study concludes with implications for what such historical progress, and future transition pathways, mean for both energy researchers and energy planners

Exploring the role of phase-out policies for low-carbon energy transitions: the case of the German Energiewende

The energy sector plays a significant role in reaching the ambitious climate policy target of limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2°C. To this end, technological change has to be redirected and accelerated in the direction of zero-carbon solutions. Given the urgency and magnitude of the climate change challenge it has been argued that this calls for a policy mix which simultaneously supports low-carbon solutions and also deliberately drives the discontinuation of the established technological regime. Yet, the effect of such phase-out policies on the development and diffusion of low-carbon technologies has received little attention in empirical research so far. This paper addresses this gap by taking the case of the transition of the German electricity generation system towards renewable energies – the so-called Ener-giewende. Based on a survey of innovation activities of German manufacturers of renewable power gener-ation technologies conducted in 2014 it explores the impact such destabilization policies – most prominent-ly Germany’s nuclear phase-out policy – may have on technological change in renewable energies. By drawing on descriptive statistics and combining insights from earlier regression analyses we find evidence that Germany’s nuclear phase-out policy had a positive influence on manufacturers’ innovation expendi-tures for renewable energies and was seen as the by far most influential policy instrument for the further expansion of renewable energies in Germany. The insights resulting from our explorative analysis have important implications for the literature on policy mixes and sustainability transitions regarding the ‘flip sides’ to innovation and the crucial importance of destabilization policies for unleashing ‘destructive crea-tion’. We close by discussing policy repercussions for ongoing debates on policies for accelerating the phase-out of coal to meet climate change targets

Emojis som ett universellt språk : En studie om Apple och Samsungs omvandling av universella koder

Denna studie undersöker hur operativsystemen Apple och Samsung omvandlar universella koder till emojis och om de samspelar utseendemässigt. Med en semiotisk ansats fokuserar forskaren på att analysera emojis och dess visuella aspekter som skapar känslouttryck. Känslouttryck som i sin tur skapar tolkning och förståelse i människors digitala kommunikation. Studien baseras på tidigare forskning av Paul Ekman, Jaram Park, Young Min Baek, Meeyoung Cha och Rachel Scall. Genom en kvantitativ innehållsanalys undersöks 100 universella koder med frågorna: hur väl Apple och Samsungs emojis stämmer överens utseendemässigt vilka universella koder som skiljer sig i Apple och Samsungs emojis vilka visuella aspekter som är de vanligaste skillnaderna   Studiens resultat visar att endast 11 % av Apple och Samsungs emojis stämmer överens helt utseendemässigt. De universella koder som skiljer sig i en eller flera visuella aspekter utgör 89 %, men de som skiljde sig mest var emojikoderna nummer 24, 89, 19, 88, 57, 85, 11, 46, 58, 64, 76, 93, 95 och 99. De vanligaste visuella skillnaderna är emojins färger och muntyp, men inte långt efter även ögonbryn och ögon.   Intresset för studien väcktes av att emojis, enligt forskare, har betraktas med potentialen att växa som ett universellt språk samtidigt som de har uppmärksammats för att se olika ut beroende på operativsystem. Då utseendet på emojis har stor betydelse för hur vi tolkar och förstår dess känslouttryck och budskap ifrågasättes de universella kodernas funktion och väckte frågan om mottagaren av en Samsung verkligen ser samma emoji som sändaren av en iPhone, och tvärtom? Med mobiltelefonen som ett alldagligt kommunikationsverktyg och Apple och Samsung som två av världens vanligaste operativsystem diskuteras deras påverkan att använda emojis som ett universellt språk.   Slutligen svarar studien för att Apple och Samsungs design av emojis kan påverka möjligheten att använda dem som ett universellt språk i vissa avseenden, som designen av mun, ögon och ögonbryn. Detta eftersom människor, beroende på kultur, tenderar att välja emoji efter just mun eller ögon. En mun- eller ögonorienterad emoji kan av samma anledning tolkas olika. Först när människor med olika kultur har möjligheten att kommunicera med emojis som visar samma känslouttryck ökar chansen för en gemensam förståelse och för att emojis ska fungera som ett universellt språk

Var heliga Birgitta en hjälte? : En analys av tre mytologiska, medeltida, svenska-katolska kvinnor, utifrån Joseph Campbell

Denna undersökning syftade att undersöka huruvida Joseph Campbells teori om hjältens resa stämmer in på myter om heliga kvinnor. Frågorställningarna som ställdes med detta syfte var ifall ”de medeltida svensk-katolska kvinnofigurerna en särartad roll från manliga hjältar inom hjälteresan?”, ”Om kvinnornas roll är särartad från ”monomyt”-strukturen, vad har de då för annorlunda roll inom myterna?” och huruvida ”det ett mönster mellan kvinnofigurerna…”. De heliga kvinnorna som valdes var Heliga Birgitta, Elin av Skövde och jungfru Hilleborg. Tillvägagångssättet som vidtogs för att besvara syftet och frågeställningarna var en deduktiv variant av innehållsanalys där berättelserna granskades utifrån Joseph Campbells Hjältens resa och sedermera jämfördes resultatet av vardera undersökningen med varandra. Resultatet pekade emot att kvinnofigurernas berättelser passade in på Hjältens resa. Ett övergripande mönster som identifierades var att samtliga av de tre berättelserna inte inkluderade vissa av stegen i Hjältens resa (2, 5, 8, 12, 16 och 17). Någon särartad roll bemärktes inte i de tre myterna.

How bending affects the ballistic properties of Armox

This thesis discusses how bending of Armox 500T and Armox 440T affects the ballistic properties; it also discusses the bending performance of Armox 500T and Armox 440T. The purpose is to develop new bending recommendations, and to investigate the correlation between bending radius and maintaining ballistic performance and offer more reliable bending recommendations to the Armox customers. The new bending recommendations will satisfy both mechanical and ballistic performance. To achieve the purpose, bending tests was made, and then the bended specimens were used to investigate the deformation from the bending. The method hardness mapping was used to describe the deformation in the specimen, because of the lack of information of deformation mechanism in martensitic steels. To test the ballistic properties, V50-tests were made on bended specimens at Åkers Krutbruk Protection AB. The V50-value is the calculated average value from six rounds, with three stops and three penetrations in a span of 40 m/s. The result from the testing shows that the bending does not have any significantly effect on the ballistic properties on the tested combinations of materials and ammunitions.   The conclusions from the testing results are that the bending does not significantly influence the ballistic properties for the tested materials and ammunitions and the bending recommendations were greatly improved

When life takes a new direction : A qualitative content analysis about young women's experiences of receiving a cancer diagnosis described on blogs

Sammanfattning Bakgrund: När en ung kvinna mitt i livet drabbas av ett cancerbesked kan detta påverka kvinnans syn på livet. Genom att läsa bloggar om cancer skrivna av unga kvinnor kommer sjuksköterskan närmare den vårdsökandes personliga upplevelse. Denna ökade kunskap ska ge sjuksköterskan en ökad förståelse för vad som är viktigt för unga kvinnors hantering av ett cancerbesked. Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva unga kvinnors upplevelser när de fått ett cancerbesked. Metod: Detta är en kvalitativ studie gjord på bloggar. Studien vill belysa hur unga kvinnor upplever att ha fått ett cancerbesked. Analysen sker utifrån en förbestämd vald teori, i denna studie teorin KASAM. Datainsamlingen gjordes via ung cancers hemsida. Totalt resulterade det i 15 bloggar som användes till studien. I utvalda bloggar söktes inlägg om cancerbeskedet fram. Resultat: Studiens resultat har gett två kategorier, känsloladdad tid och betydelsen av stöd vid bearbetning av ett cancerbesked. Till dessa har det framkommit fyra subkategorier. Slutsats: Känsloladdad tid och betydelsen av stöd i samband med bearbetning av ett cancerbesked är upplevelser som uppstår i samband med att unga kvinnor drabbas av ett cancerbesked. Det är viktigt att sjuksköterskor har denna kunskap för att kunna bemöta och ge en så god omvårdnad som möjligt när de möter unga kvinnor som fått ett cancerbesked. För att förstå hur känslorna vid ett cancerbesked hör ihop med känslan av sammanhang, KASAM. Summary Background: When a young woman in mid-life are affected by a cancer diagnosis this may affect a woman's outlook on life.. By reading blogs about cancer written by young women, the nurse will come closer to the patient’s personal experience. This increased knowledge should give the nurse a better understanding of what is important for young women's handling when they got a cancer diagnosis. Objective: The aim was to describe young women's experiences when they have received a cancer diagnosis. Method: The study is a qualitative content analysis using a deductive approach, where blogs are studied. The analysis is based on a pre-selected theory, in this study the theory sense of coherence (SOC). The collection of data was made from ungcancer.se website. In total this resulted in 15 blogs that are used for the study. The search for posts where cancer diagnosis was presented was done in selected blogs. Results: The results of the study are two categories, a time of emotional atmosphere and the importance of support while processing the information about a cancer diagnosis. To these categories four subcategories have appeared. Conclusion: The time of emotional atmosphere and the importance of support in the processing of a cancer diagnosis is the emotions that arise in connection with young women who are affected by a cancer diagnosis. It is important that nurses have the knowledge to respond and provide the best care possible when they meet young women who have had a cancer diagnosis. Understanding of how emotions at a cancer diagnosis are associated with a sense of context, SOC

Professional learning communities - Just talk or successfactor for schoolimprovement : The meaning of collegial learning in teachers development of teaching

Denna studie har som syfte att undersöka om det finns en samvariation mellan kollegialt lärande och hur lärare utvecklar sin undervisning med anspråk att förbättra elevernas resultat. Undersökningen innehåller också en explorativ del där eventuella faktorer som bidrar till kvalitet i det kollegiala lärandet undersöks och om det finns några faktorer som motverkar lärares förbättringsarbete. Undersökningen har genomförts som en webbaserad enkätstudie har distribuerats till tre skolor i tre västsvenska kommuner. Skolorna är en F-6 skola, en 7-9 skola samt en gymnasieskola. Grundskolorna har kommunal huvudman och gymnasieskolan har en fristående huvudman. Enkäten grundar sig på teorier, litteratur och relevant forskning om kollegialt lärande. Som analysverktyg används Timperley´s (2013) modell för lärares undersökande och kunskapsbildande cykel samt Wengers (1998) sociala teori om professionella praktikgemenskaper.   Sammanfattningsvis visar studien att lärarna som deltar i enkätundersökning uppger till hög grad att kollegialt lärande har stor eller mycket stor betydelse för deras professionsutveckling och i något lägre grad för hur de förändrar och förbättrar undervisningen. Undersökningen visar framförallt på att lärare som har varit yrkesverksamma kortare tid tillskriver betydelsen av kollegialt lärande som mycket stor både för deras yrkesutveckling och för deras förbättringsarbete. I undersökningen framträder analys av elevers resultat eller elevers återkoppling på undervisningen som vagt. Det verkar också finnas en skillnad mellan den betydelse som lärarna i undersökningen tillskriver kollegialt lärande för deras utvecklande av undervisningen och hur kollegialt lärande faktiskt påverkar deras ageranden framförallt vad gäller att gemensamt följa upp undervisningen och analys av elevers resultat.   Den faktor som lärarna i undersökningen tillskriver har störst betydelse för kvalitet i kollegialt lärande är tid tillsammans, men faktorer som tillit till varandra och goda relationer uppger de också som betydelsefulla. Skolledningens betydelse eller behovet av annat yttre stöd som t ex handledning, coachning, aktionsforskning ter sig inte som lika viktigt för kvaliteten i det kollegiala lärandet.This study aims to examine whether there is a relationship between teacher learning and collaboration in professional learning communities and how they develop their teaching with claims to improve student achievement. The survey also contains an explorative part in order to investigate which factors contribute to the professional learning communities and whether there are any factors that prevent teachers' improvement of their teaching. The survey was conducted as a survey-study and has been distributed to three schools in three western Swedish municipalities. The schools are a F-6 school, a 7-9 school and a secondary school. The primary schools are municipal schools and the secondary school has an independent trust. The survey is based on theories, literature and relevant research on peer learning. Used analytical tools are Timperley's (2013) model of teacher inquiry and knowledge creation cycle, and Wenger's (1998) theory of social professional practice. In summary, the study shows that teachers participating in the survey indicates the high degree of learning in professional communities has great or very great importance to their professional development, and to a somewhat lesser extent how they change and improve teaching. The survey shows that teachers who have been practicing less time valuates the learning in professional communities as very large both for their professional development and their improvement work. The study emerges analysis of student performance or student feedback on teaching as vague. There also seems to be a difference between the importance of the teachers in the survey attributes to peer learning for their development of teaching and how peer learning actually affects their actions particularly with regard to follow up the teaching and analysis of student performance. The factor that the teachers in the survey ascribes the greatest importance for the quality of peer learning is time together, but factors such as trust in each other and good relationships say they are also as important. School management's importance or the need for other external support such as mentoring, coaching, action research seems not as important for the quality of the collegial learning