The aim is to examine how health care social workers in somatic care, psychiatric care, and primary care work with social determinants of health, and how this work is influenced by different perspectives on health. The study adopts a qualitative approach, based on nine semi-structured individual interviews with healthcare social workers. The empirical material was analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis and interpreted through the biomedical and biopsychosocial models, as well as the conceptual framework of SDH. The findings indicate that familiarity with the SDH framework is limited among participants, although they demonstrate knowledge regarding the importance of SDH, which is reflected in their practice. Their work includes assessment, information provision, supportive and motivational counselling, and practical support interventions. Differences were identified between healthcare settings, as well as in the scope for action when addressing SDH. The results further show that a biopsychosocial perspective creates more favorable conditions for addressing SDH, whereas a biomedical perspective may constrain such work. The study concludes that applying the SDH framework could strengthen healthcare social workers’ practice and highlight the importance of addressing social determinants of health and promoting health equity within healthcare.  

The aim of this qualitative interview study is to examine how librarians view their work with activities including role-playing games for children and youth in the public library and, from a perspective of critical pedagogy, examine the interplay of role-playing games and literacies in the described activity. Role-playing activities and literature on role-playing is a widespread phenomenon in libraries today and linked to the libraries’ mission to promote literature and reading, and through that strengthen the literacies of children and young people. Although several researchers identify role-playing games as a possible arena for promoting and developing literacies, there is a lack of research within library- and information science on the subject 

The empirical data consists of semi structured interviews with librarians who have been, or are actively, hosting role-playing game activities for children and youth at their library. The material was then thematized and analyzed using a theoretical framework, which consists of critical pedagogy based on concepts from Paulo Freire, and Bill Cope and Mary Kalantzis theory of multiliteracies. 

Results and analysis show that librarians see several purposes for organizing role-playing game activities and their descriptions of the activity shows multiple examples where role-playing and literacy interplay. The results show that playing role-playing games require conversation, collaboration and critical thinking, and the analysis shows that the activity can be seen as a critical pedagogy that promotes dialogue and ”conscientization” among the participants. The study concludes that role-playing games have several purposes in the public library and that the activity can be seen as a critical pedagogy which promotes literacy development for children and youth. 

The purpose of this study is to examine the different conceptions of democracy that can be identified in a contemporary Swedish debate on public libraries, and to illuminate how these may be understood in light of different models of democracy. The thesis takes as its point of departure a panel discussion held at Swedish public library in November 2018. The event attracted considerable media attention after a far-right extremist was included as a member of the panel. The empirical material consists of twenty three articles published in daily and weekly newspapers between 2018 and 2022. The study is conducted as a thematic analysis using ideal types as an analytical tool. The theoretical framework is based on three of David Held’s models of democracy: participatory democracy, deliberative democracy, and liberal representative democracy. The study demonstrates that the concept of democracy is complex and associated with multiple, and at times competing, values. The relationship between public libraries and democracy is perceived as both self-evident and strong, and the library is understood as a fundamentally democratic institution. This is in alignment with previous research. Among the perceived threats to democratic governance, the rise of right-wing extremism is regarded as one of the most significant. The thesis also shows that all three of David Held’s democracy models can be identified within the empirical material. Furthermore, the analysis reveals a strong belief in the compensatory societal function of public libraries. The material also highlights the presence of a pronounced ideal of neutrality in relation to the library, in which the institution’s primary democratic role is to serve as an open arena for freedom of expression and opinion.

Hydropower has become a central pillar of energy security and low-carbon development across the global South, yet its expansion is increasingly shaped by colonial legacies, geopolitical tensions, and financing constraints. This paper examines these dynamics through a qualitative case study of the 5150-megawatt Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) employing a multi-scalar analytical framework and drawing on colonial-era treaties, policy documents, secondary literature, and negotiation records. It traces the evolution of Africa's largest hydropower across interconnected local, regional, and financial domains. At the local scale, the paper documents the socioeconomic impacts of reservoir-related displacement on Gumuz communities, including livelihood disruptions, uneven compensation, and deficiencies in essential services. These outcomes illustrate how large-scale dam projects can reproduce existing patterns of marginalization when social safeguards are weak. At the regional scale, the analysis shows how the GERD challenges Egypt's longstanding downstream hydro-hegemony and unsettles the colonial-era legal framework governing the Nile Basin water relations. While this has strengthened Ethiopia's assertions of water sovereignty, it has also intensified diplomatic tensions involving Egypt and Sudan, prompting mediation efforts by the African Union and deliberations before the United Nations Security Council. At the financial level, the analysis shows how constraints in international development finance contributed to Ethiopia's reliance on domestically mobilized and diaspora-supported financing mechanisms. While focused on Ethiopia, the GERD offers insights into how large hydropower projects in Africa can reshape development trajectories, regional power relations, and infrastructure financing. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research on hydropower, financing, and transboundary water governance.

This paper argues that the contemporary lunar race—centered on the quest to establish permanent bases on the Moon—is fundamentally shaped by status-seeking behavior alongside economic, military, and scientific ambitions. Theoretically, it advances international status literature in three ways: first, by demonstrating how status-seeking is intertwined with ontological security and great-power identity; second, by showing how material and ideational drivers of state behavior are mutually constitutive rather than analytically separable; and third, by extending status theory to include the gendered and masculinized dimensions of hierarchy, competition, and frontier narratives in space politics. Focusing on the United States and China as the principal contenders in the new great-power Moon race, the paper highlights both similarities and differences in how the two powers pursue status through space exploration. While both frame lunar exploration as a marker of national greatness, technological leadership, and geopolitical influence, they articulate these ambitions differently. The United States openly presents the Artemis program as a struggle to preserve American leadership and maintain a US-centered order in outer space. China, by contrast, advances a more restrained discourse emphasizing peaceful co-operation and collective benefit, while simultaneously using the International Lunar Research Station to signal China’s rise as a major space power and strengthen domestic regime legitimacy. The paper concludes that the new lunar race reflects a broader transformation of geopolitical competition, status hierarchies, and international order beyond Earth.

Background: Occupational exposure to blood-borne pathogens remains a significant public health concern in dentistry because of frequent contact with sharp instruments and blood-contaminated materials. This study evaluated differences in blood-borne exposure risk between dental practitioners and students and assessed the influence of study year, Gross Domestic Product per capita adjusted for Purchasing Power Parity (GDP PPP), and gender. 

Methods: A systematic review and quantitative analysis were conducted using studies identified from multiple databases. Random effects meta-analysis and mixed effects meta-regression were performed to compare occupational exposure risk between practitioners and students and to assess the influence of study year and GDP (PPP) per capita on between-study heterogeneity. Quasibinomial proportional logistic regression analyses using the full dataset of fifty-seven studies and a gender-specific dataset of fifteen studies evaluated the association of practitioners and students, study year, GDP (PPP) per capita, and gender with occupational exposure risk. 

Results: Meta-analysis of five studies showed no significant difference in occupational exposure risk between practitioners and students (RR = 0.96, 95% CI: 0.70–1.36, p = 0.82), with moderate heterogeneity (I² = 54.45%). GDP and study year did not significantly explain between-study heterogeneity. In the quasibinomial logistic regression analysis of fifty-seven studies, students had lower odds than practitioners (OR = 0.48, 95% CI: 0.25–0.92, p = 0.03), higher GDP was associated with lower exposure risk (OR =0.999986, 955 CI: 0.999974–0.999998, p = 0.03) while study year was not statistically significant. In the gender-specific dataset of fifteen studies students again demonstrated lower exposure odds (OR = 0.23, 95% CI: 0.09–0.54, p = 0.003), whereas increasing study year (OR = 0.92, 95% = 0.87–0.98, p = 0.01 and GDP ( OR = 0.99996, 95%CI = 0.999951, 0.999979, p <0.001) were associated with lower exposure risk; gender was not statistically significant. 

Conclusion: While meta-analysis showed no significant exposure difference between practitioners and students, broader proportional logistic regression analyses suggested higher cumulative exposure risk among practitioners and lower exposure risk in higher-GDP settings, highlighting the importance of infection prevention and occupational safety measures. 

Denna studie undersöker sambandet mellan styrränta och finansiella indikatorer hos svenska börsnoterade fastighetsbolag under perioden 2019-2024. Fastighetsbranschen är en kapitalintensiv sektor med ett stort beroende av extern finansiering, vilket gör den särskilt känslig för förändringar i ränteläget. Studiens syfte är att analysera sambandet mellan styrräntan och de finansiella variablerna, räntekostnader, skuldsättningsgrad samt förändring i summa anläggningstillgångar hos svenska börsnoterade företag.  

Studien baseras på en kvantitativ forskningsmetod där sekundärdata har samlats in från årsredovisningar för 45 börsnoterade fastighetsbolag i Sverige. Datamaterialet omfattar perioden 2019-2024 och analyseras genom korrelationsanalys samt multipel regressionsanalys för att undersöka statistiska samband mellan studiens variabler. 

Det teoretiska ramverket utgår från Capital Structure Theory, Trade-Off Theory samt Interest Rate Channel of Monetary Policy, vilket används för att förklara hur förändringar i ränteläget kan relateras till företags finansieringsstruktur, investeringsbeslut och finansiella utveckling. 

Studien bidrar till en ökad förståelse för sambandet mellan penningpolitik och fastighetsbranschens finansiella utveckling på företagsnivå inom den svenska marknaden. 

Digitalisation has changed how audit evidence is requested, compiled, transferred and made available between companies and auditors. Digital platforms, secure file transfers and extraction tools have created new possibilities for handling audit data in a more structured, traceable and system-based manner. However, digital information transfer does not automatically lead to a fully automated audit process. Audit evidence still needs to be collected, checked, quality assured, supplemented and interpreted by the actors involved. The purpose of this study is to describe and analyse how digital data transfer and system integration are used in the part of the audit process where audit evidence is requested, compiled, transferred and made available between companies and auditors. The study also analyses how digital solutions affect work tasks, allocation of responsibility, resource use and cooperation between the actors involved in the information transfer process. The study is based on a qualitative case study. The empirical material mainly consists of semi-structured interviews and written responses from respondents with experience of audit-related information transfer. Document studies have been used as a supporting and contextual complement. The material has been analysed through thematic analysis and interpreted with support from a theoretical framework in which Sociotechnical Systems Theory and a process perspective form the main analytical foundation. Continuous Auditing, digital transformation and the Technology Acceptance Model are used as complementary perspectives to deepen the analysis of data access, resource allocation and user experiences. The results show that digital solutions contribute to a more structured, traceable and data-driven transfer of audit evidence. At the same time, the process remains dependent on human control, organisational routines and cooperation between companies, IT functions and auditors. Digital systems can support the transfer and availability of information, but they do not in themselves guarantee completeness, correctness or practical usability. The study shows that system integration functions best when technical solutions are combined with clear responsibilities, sufficient competence, user-friendly systems and established routines for handling questions, deviations and supplements. The study concludes that system integration does not replace the human and organisational dimensions of the audit process, but reshapes them. Its value lies primarily in making the information flow more structured, traceable and accessible, while responsibility, control and work tasks are redistributed within the process. The study thereby contributes a practice-based understanding of digital information transfer as a sociotechnical and processual change, where technology, data, organisation and professional judgement interact.

This study examines the relationship between ESG-score and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) among publicly listed non-financial firms in the Nordic countries. The study is motivated by the growing importance of ESG information in capital market assessments. It also addresses the debate on whether ESG-scores reflect risk-relevant information or mainly summarize information that is already available to market participants.  

The purpose of the study is to test whether ESG-score is related to firms’ total cost of capital. The study is conducted in a Nordic context. This context is characterized by high transparency, developed capital markets and extensive sustainability reporting. The study also examines whether the separate ESG dimensions, Environmental, Social and Governance, are related to WACC. The theoretical framework draws primarily on information asymmetry theory and signaling theory, complemented by legitimacy theory and stakeholder theory. Quantitative panel data are used, covering a five-year period. ESG data are obtained from LSEG. Financial data is collected from Orbis. The relationships are tested through panel regression models, with fixed effects as the main specification. The models control for profitability, leverage and firm size. Systematic risk, measured by beta, is included in the pooled OLS and random effects models. It is excluded from the fixed effects specification, as it lacks sufficient within-firm variation over time and cannot be identified separately from the firm-specific effects.

The results show no statistically significant relationship between ESG-score and WACC in the fixed effects specification, while pooled OLS yields a significant positive association. This divergence suggests that the OLS result is driven by stable between-firm differences rather than within-firm changes over time. These findings suggest that ESG scores may have limited marginal information value in the Nordic context. One possible explanation is that ESG information is already integrated into investors’ risk assessments. Another explanation is that ESG scores are not sufficiently distinct as risk signals in highly transparent markets. The study contributes to the ESG and cost of capital literature by demonstrating that institutional context matters when analyzing the financial relevance of ESG-scores.

This thesis investigates how the design of building facades and volumes can play a part in reducing cognitive load and enhance mental well-being. Combining James Gibson’s ecological perception theory with Rudolf Arnheim’s visual dynamics and landscape architecture frameworks, six architectural design aspects are identified: legibility, volumes, surfaces, tactility, complexity, and mystery. Methodologically, the theoretical synthesis is complemented by examples from two newly built Stockholm districts, Vega and Liljeholmskajen, evaluating how current practices implement cognitive-friendly design. 

The findings demonstrate that balanced facade complexity, tactile natural materials, and distinct legibility significantly lower stress by triggering effortless fascination. In conclusion, architecture directly impacts emotional health, and urban planning must prioritize human cognitive needs to build health-promoting cities.

This study examines whether the relationship between portfolio size and idiosyncratic risk is stable over time on the stock market. Against a backdrop of rising market concentration and algorithmic trading, and increasing economic uncertainty, it tests whether established findings in the diversification literature hold under changing market conditions. Using CAPM-based risk decomposition and Monte Carlo simulation, the relationship is analyzed across two five-year periods: 2015-2019 and 2020-2024, on the Swedish stock market, based on data for 137 companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange. Three dimensions of stability are examined: the asymptotic form of risk reduction, the speed of marginal risk reduction per additional stock, and the minimum level of risk that remains in well-diversified portfolios.

The results show that the curve's shape and speed of risk reduction are robust and consistent with classical portfolio theory. The asymptotic floor, however, is significantly higher in 2020-2024 (2,281% vs. 2.020%, p < 0.001, Cohen’s d = 6.44), indicating a possible structural change in the market. The study contributes the insight that stability in financial relationships is a multidimensional phenomenon. While the fundamental logic of diversification remains intact, the absolute level of risk achieved by a well-constructed portfolio is context-dependent and must be interpreted in relation to prevailing market conditions.

The rise of digital reading communities has transformed literary evaluation by creating spaces where ordinary readers actively participate in the construction and negotiation of literary value. This thesis examines how literary value and legitimacy are constructed, negotiated and maintained within online reading communities through discussions surrounding spicy books, specifically on the romantasy series A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas and The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros. The study is situated within Library and Information Science and approaches literary evaluation as a social process of information assessment rather than as a reflection of fixed textual qualities. Drawing on Erving Goffman’s concepts of face and face-work, the thesis investigates how readers manage threats to reading identities, defend their literary preferences and negotiate within larger cultural hierarchies. The empirical material consists of fifteen publicly available social media posts from Instagram, TikTok and Threads and approximately 75 comments from the original posts comment sections.The material was analysed using qualitative thematic textual analysis combined with a theoretically informed interpretation through Goffman's framework. The findings demonstrate that literary legitimacy within online reading communities is continuously negotiated through interaction. Readers employ various forms of face-work to challenge dismissive labels, normalise sexuality, connect literary stigma to gendered cultural assumptions and construct alternative forms of literary value based on emotional impact, personal transformation and communal recognition. The findings simultaneously reveal internal disagreements regarding which strategies are considered appropriate for defending the legitimacy of spicy literature. The thesis contributes to Library and Information Science by demonstrating how digital reading communities function as alternative sites of cultural evaluation where literary authority, value and legitimacy are socially constructed, contested and maintained through everyday interaction.

As the consequences of climate change deepen amid continued political inaction, questions about desirable futures beyond the current development trajectory become increasingly urgent. In this context, climate movements have emerged as actors that imagine and articulate alternative futures. Therefore, this thesis aimed to scrutinise how Fridays for Future and Extinction Rebellion, as social movements, frame desirable futures in response to the climate crisis. Inspired by post-development thinking and social movement theory, this thesis analyses how these framings of desirable futures reproduce, challenge, or move beyond the dominant development discourse towards a pluriverse, understood as the coexistence of multiple worlds and knowledge systems. The thesis employed qualitative content analysis, with the theoretical framework serving a central methodological role. Empirical material was collected from the official global websites of the two movements, and statements containing elements of prognostic framing, understood as framings of desirable futures, were identified as the primary units of analysis. The study found that both movements frame desirable futures through overlapping yet sometimes conflicting visions centred around ecological care, scientific authority, democratic participation, climate justice, and system change. While the movements frame futures that challenge dominant assumptions of the development discourse, the analysis also showed that these futures remain partly embedded within the structures of knowledge, governance, and progress associated with the discourse. The findings further suggest that while both movements’ vagueness regarding desirable futures could be seen in pluriversal terms, XR explicitly opens space for plural futures. Overall, the thesis concludes that the desirable futures framed by the movements occupy an ambivalent position between critique and continuity: they destabilise dominant development discourse and create openings toward alternative futures, yet do not fully imagine coherent alternatives beyond development itself.

The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has created new opportunities fororganizations to analyze data, understand customer behavior, and develop more data-drivenmarketing activities. At the same time, there is still limited knowledge about how organizationspractically use and integrate AI into their marketing efforts. This makes it relevant to examinehow the technology is applied and which organizational factors influence its use.

The purpose of this study is to develop an understanding of artificial intelligence withinmarketing communication by examining how organizations use and integrate the technology, aswell as which organizational factors influence its implementation and use.

To address the purpose of the study, a qualitative research approach was adopted based onsemi-structured interviews with representatives from eight organizations operating in differentindustries. The collected data were analyzed using thematic analysis, where recurring themeswere identified and interpreted in relation to the study’s theoretical framework.

The findings show that artificial intelligence is primarily used as a tool for analysis, informationprocessing, and marketing-related decision-making. The study also demonstrates that AIcontributes to more data-driven ways of working and improved opportunities to understandcustomer needs. At the same time, the results indicate that the use of AI varies betweenorganizations and that the technology largely functions as a complement to human competencerather than a replacement for it.

Furthermore, the findings highlight that organizational factors such as competence, access todata, internal work processes, and organizational acceptance play a significant role in how AI isutilized in practice. The study therefore contributes to a greater understanding of howorganizations use artificial intelligence in marketing and which conditions are required for thetechnology to create long-term value.

Environmental exploitation has increased significantly; the textile industry is a major contributor to this trajectory. Over the past decades, fast fashion has been a dominant business model, but the waste generated has been a big question; so many companies have adopted the circular fashion model. While companies are frequently reporting progress on circular programs or recycled materials, far less is known about the governance mechanisms, such as who makes the decision, who is accountable, or how the information flows, which shape everyday choices within an organization. This thesis examines the influence of employee perceptions and governance structure on the implementation of circular initiatives. H&M was studied as a single case study. In this study, a qualitative research design is used, in which semi-structured interviews and document analysis of corporate reports were conducted. This study adopts a multi-level analytical framework in which governance acts as central framing; sensemaking theory is used to examine employee perception and interpretation, while organizational change theory is used for structural constraints as a complementary perspective. The research findings show how decision-making is centralized and impacts accountability and traceability. Both are now formalized increasingly due to increased regulatory pressure. The results show that employees view circularity as a means to reduce impact on the environment, and they do not consider it a transformative shift because of structural constraints faced by fast-fashion retailers. One of the major enablers of sustainability was regulatory pressure, while technology, economy, and consumer behaviour were seen as barriers to the implementation of circularity initiatives.  This study contributes to research by showing how internal factors, such as governance, or external factors, such as structural constraints, shape the implementation of circularity initiatives. This research also provides practical insights on the effectiveness of circularity strategies and recommendations. The results of the study highlighted the need for three things: clear governance frameworks, stronger technological infrastructure, and long-term organizational alignment. 

Keywords: Fast-fashion, Sustainability governance, Circular economy, Circular fashion, Accountability, Traceability