Browsing by Author "Karlsson, Niklas"

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    Behavior and cytogenesis following irradiation or isoflurane exposure to the developing brain
    (2010-08-30) Karlsson, Niklas
    In this thesis, the effects of an anesthetic agent, isoflurane, on the young brain and resulting behavioral effects were investigated. Anesthesia is commonly used in young children during surgery or other procedures associated with pain or discomfort. Animal studies have demonstrated serious effects on the brain from exposure to anesthesia and recent human studies have found indications of learning impairments following exposure to anesthesia. It is known from animal studies that anesthetic agents can affect proliferation as well as differentiation and can lead to learning impairments. In addition, the effects of irradiation on the young brain were investigated. Cancer is one of the most common causes of death in children and radiotherapy is commonly used to treat cancer (together with surgery and/or chemotherapy). During the last decades, improvements in treatment protocols have lead to more and more children surviving their cancers. This has however also resulted in more children experiencing long-term side effects, particularly resulting from radiotherapy. These side effects include impaired intelligence and memory as well as attention deficits. From animal models, it is known that irradiation cause cell death and a long term reduction in cell proliferation in the young brain that can result in impairment on some memory tasks. In these experiments, we have used one model of repeated isoflurane exposure and one model for radiotherapy. The animals’ behavior was investigated using the IntelliCage system, as well as other behavioral tests, followed by immunohistochemical analysis of the hippocampus. Isoflurane was found to cause a reduction in cell proliferation, accompanied by a reduction in neural stem cells. No evidence of cell death was seen, and the reason behind the reduction is therefore unknown. In addition, less neuronal differentiation was seen following isoflurane exposure, accompanied by an increase in astrocyte differentiation. These effects were especially clear when the young brain was exposed. Animals that were exposed to isoflurane at a young age later developed severe and progressive memory impairments. Following irradiation, a decrease in cell proliferation in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus was seen. The irradiated animals displayed learning and relearning deficits judged by the IntelliCage analysis, but neither open field nor trace fear conditioning tests could detect impairments. In summary, we found irradiation-induced changes in the hippocampus and saw changes in behavior, using the IntelliCage system, that were not detectable using other methods like open field and fear conditioning. We also found isoflurane-induced changes that suggest that the young brain is particularly sensitive to anesthetic agents like isoflurane and that isoflurane-anesthesia should be used with caution, especially in pediatric patients.
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    Environmental Reporting -An examination of the gap between public and private owned companies
    (2015-02-03) Karlsson, Niklas; Johansson, Erik; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
    Background and problem discussion: Companies’ accounting has expanded to contain more than only financial information, including also sustainability, such as environmental and social issues. Environmental reporting increased rapidly after its origin and several guidelines about how to report these issues were established. However, research of some of the largest private owned companies in Sweden showed that their sustainability reporting was not at the level required by public owned companies. Therefore it would, from a government perspective, be interesting to examine if this gap between public and private companies’ environmental reporting still exist. Purpose of the Study: This study aims to examine how the gap in sustainability reporting has developed between public owned and private owned companies during the last years. Annual and sustainability reports of selected companies, both public owned and private owned, will be examined and compared. Method: Since a deep understanding was desirable, was a detailed examination essential. Only the environmental part of the sustainability area were chosen to be included in the study’s examination. Further was a selection of three public owned companies and three private owned chosen to be examined. The data used in this thesis is collected from the companies’ annual and sustainability reports. The model described by Ljungdahl (1999) was seen appropriate and therefore chosen to compare and analyse the selected companies. Empirical findings and analysis: The empirical findings show that the companies report most of the indicators in Ljungdahl’s model. The most frequently reported indicators are those concerning environmental targets and environmental impact. The companies’ reported information are similar, something that can be explained by stakeholder theory and the fact that all companies are in industries with large environmental impact. Conclusion: In this essay, it has not been found any significant differences between public owned and private owned companies’ environmental reporting. The conclusion of this thesis cannot be generalized in all cases though just a selection of companies is included.
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    Motivations Role in Knowledge Sharing in the Case of Corporate Social Responsibility
    (2017-07-27) Karlsson, Niklas; Källstrom, Mattias; University of Gothenburg/Graduate School; Göteborgs universitet/Graduate School
    With CSR becoming increasingly important for MNEs, having knowledge about CSR is essential for enterprises. Being geographically dispersed and complex structures, exploiting existing knowledge within the organisation can be challenging for MNEs. Sharing knowledge between business units can be difficult, and the complex characteristics of CSR makes it even harder to fully exploit the CSR knowledge. One essential factor for CSR knowledge sharing to be effective is motivation. While there are many factors affecting the motivation to share knowledge, it is important for MNEs to have information about what motivates employees and business units. The objective of this thesis is to get a deeper understanding and contribute to previous research by investigating and analysing how motivation influence knowledge sharing activities within an MNE, and more specifically in the field of CSR. In order to reach this objective, a case study was conducted at the Swedish enterprise SCA. Consisting of eleven semi-structured interviews, the case study found that, while the concepts of knowledge sharing and CSR are as complex as previous research reveals, the role of motivation is significant. Further on, motivation is not something that arises all by itself, but something that needs to be stimulated. The main findings of this study shows that by having the right sharing channels, ensuring a sufficient level of competence and creating a corporate culture where knowledge sharing is encouraged are factors that influence motivation for knowledge sharing. Finally, the result of this study implies that a deeper understanding about what motivates employees and business units to CSR knowledge sharing is recommended in order to facilitate a more efficient knowledge sharing process.