With the emergence of the so-called Blue Economy, various conservation finance mechanisms and financial structures are being proposed as a means of simultaneously securing marine biodiversity and profit-making. A novel approach that is being applied within this new conservation finance frontier is the integration of ecosystem-based adaptation and insurance. By synthesizing recent literatures in po

This thesis, comprising four research papers, contributes to the field of systematic and computer-aided analyses and design of first-order methods. The first two papers focus on developing new methodologies, while the remaining two apply these techniques to refine complexity and convergence results, as well as to design new methods. A central theme of the work is the use of Lyapunov-type analyses,

In the last decades Nordic countries have been implementing quota markets and similar instruments to manage mainly the economic performance of their fisheries. Coming from a historical situation dominated by owner-operated fishing units closely connected to their supporting communities, market-based fisheries manage-ment plays a role in promoting company-organised fishing units, non-fisher owner-s

Syftet med denna studie var att belysa och utforska psykologers upplevelser av tidsbegränsad terapi. Tidsbegränsad terapi definieras på så vis att antalet sessioner är begränsade före uppstart av psykologisk behandling. Det övergripande syftet med studien är att belysa olika perspektiv av hur tidsbegränsad terapi påverkar psykologen i sitt arbete och behandling. Fem verksamma psykologer med olika The aim of this study was to explore how psychologists perceive time limited therapy. Time limited therapy is defined as restricting the number of sessions before the beginning of therapeutic treatment. The overall purpose of the study is to shed light on different perspectives in terms of how time limited therapy affects the therapist in their work and the treatment. Five psychologists with diffe

Geomatics is a domain that has gained relevance and importance within the field of Architecture and the Built Environment. Typically, Geomatics education in Delft, Lund, Bochum, Leuven, and Zagreb was best characterised as lecture-based: traditional and relatively passive. This has changed fundamentally after March 2020. In this article, we analyse the development towards more active learning and

This thesis used the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework with the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology to evaluate the environmental performance of packaged fresh chicken. The study compared three modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) configurations, with the difference in their tray: a baseline tray and two mono-material alternatives. The LCA, with PEF guidelines where applicable, fo

Realistic virtual environments offer valuable applications in rehabilitation, especially for individuals with limited mobility. However, most existing virtual reality (VR)-based rehabilitation platforms rely on procedurally generated or low-detail natural scenes, often lacking ecological and spatial authenticity. This study proposes a complete and cost-effective workflow that combines unmanned aer

BackgroundPrevious cross-sectional transcriptomics studies on diabetic kidney disease (DKD) kidney tissue have shown correlations between gene expression and both disease status and kidney function at the time of biopsy; however, longitudinal data are scarce.MethodsWe utilized clinical follow-up data up to five years post-biopsy, linking the transcriptomes of diagnostic kidney biopsies to progress

BackgroundEndostatin is a promising biomarker for predicting acute kidney injury (AKI) and mortality in the intensive care unit (ICU). We investigated plasma endostatin levels at ICU admission as predictors of new-onset AKI within 48 h after ICU admission, renal replacement therapy (RRT) within 7 days after ICU admission, and 30-day mortality.MethodsA retrospective multicentre study was performed

Today the Unified Glare Rating (UGR) tabular method according to CIE 117-195 and CIE 190-210 is practically the only one used for evaluation of discomfort glare in the lighting design process but it is unknown if the method is in line with the subjective perception of glare (SGI). We investigated whether UGR calculation method currently used in lighting design is in agreement with the perceived di

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine the role of logistics and packaging in home-delivery of food and groceries and identify opportunities for sustainable packaging logistics innovations that can enable competitive advantages for retail actors. Design/methodology/approach: This research is based on a case study of a novel home-delivery concept for food and groceries, together with a

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma has one of the worst survival rates among adult cancers, with only 11% in the United States surviving five years after diagnosis. The majority of patients are diagnosed with late-stage disease, since early-stage pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma is typically either asymptomatic or presents with non-specific symptoms. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma thus remains a h

Abstract This study aims to explore the long-term impact of the educational model of rural boarding schools in China on students. Using the theory of social reproduction, the study conducts an in-depth analysis of the effects of boarding schools on students from three dimensions: family, school, and community. By collecting semi-structured interview experiences from rural boarding school graduates

Naturvetenskap, teknik, ingenjörsvetenskap och matematik, på engelska ofta grupperade under akronymen STEM, är traditionellt mansdominerade områden. Särskilt inom ingenjörsvetenskap och teknologi är kvinnor fortfarande kraftigt underrepresenterade. Bristen på kvinnor inom STEM innebär utmaningar i att möta arbetsmarknadens behov, för produktkvalitet på grund av brist på olika perspektiv i designprScience, technology, engineering and mathematics, often grouped under the acronym STEM, are traditionally male dominated fields. Especially in engineering and technology, women continue to be heavily underrepresented. The lack of women in STEM poses challenges for meeting the labor market demands, for product quality due to a lack of diverse perspectives in the design process, and for gender equal

A spectroscopic characterization of the chlorophyll a (Chl) molecule in the monomeric cytochrome b6f complex (Cytb6f) isolated from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis PCC6803 is presented. The fluorescence lifetime and quantum yield have been determined, and it is shown that Chl in Cytb6f has an excited-state lifetime that is 20 times smaller than that of Chl in methanol. This shortening of the Chl

The temperature dependence of absorption and selectively excited fluorescence spectra of B820 subunit of the bacterial light-harvesting antenna is modelled by using the impurity center theory ofoptical spectra. In order toget acceptable agreement between theory and experiment, we suggest that due to the dimeric nature of B820, the electronic transition is weakly coupled to a rather broad distribut

The picosecond time-domain singlet excitation transfer and trapping kinetics in photosynthetic membranes in case of low excitation intensities is studied by numerical integration of the appropriate master equation. The essential features of our two-dimensional-lattice random walk model are spectral heterogeneity of the light-harvesting antenna, inclusion of temperature effects, nonabsolute excitat

We have used ≈ 40 fs pulses from a Ti:Sa laser to investigate the ultrafast energy transfer and relaxation dynamics in the LH1 and LH2 light-harvesting pigment-proteins of photosynthetic purple bacteria. Our results reveal a new feature, not earlier observed in light-harvesting pigments, ultrafast relaxation characterized by a time constant of approximately 20 fs, which we interpret as interexcito