Browsing by Author "Nilsson, Johanna"

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Ageing and Conservation of Silk - Evaluation of Three Support Methods Using Artificiallay Aged Silk
(2015-10-19) Nilsson, Johanna
The general aim of this thesis is to evaluate common remedial conservation support methods used in the conservation treatments of fragile silk costumes that have experienced physical damage. It is based on five papers. Paper I surveyed the methods textile conservators use to conserve historic textile costumes and their criteria for a successful intervention. It also investigated artificial ageing of modern silk and wool fabrics with exposure to ultraviolet radiation to create material for laboratory-based experimental research. Furthermore, it evaluated mechanical methods to imitate natural wear in silk and wool fabrics, to simulate the handling of conserved costumes, and to find a method to evaluate the effect of the conservation methods. The most common conservation method conservators reported using was to insert a support fabric between the outer fabric and the lining of a costume, which was then sewn on by the couching method over the outer fabric. The most important criterion for a successful conservation was aesthetical appeal. Abrasion by Nu-Martindale and tensile testing were found promising to use to achieve natural accelerated wear and to evaluate conservation methods. Paper II aimed at finding an optimal accelerated ageing protocol to simulate the nature and degree of degradation found in naturally aged seventeenth century silk fabric in order to produce surrogates for experimental research. Tensile tests, Attenuated Total Reflection - Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and Size Exclusion Chromatography (SEC), were investigated as methods for evaluating the results. Four environmental parameters were tested: relative humidity (RH), acidity (pH), ultraviolet irradiation (UV) and thermo-oxidation. For Paper III, further investigations were carried out to establish analytical markers for aged silk by additional analytical methods. The investigations were successfully complemented and verified using amino acid analysis, and measurement of pH and brightness. In both Papers II and III it was established that thermo-oxidation at 125ºC was the most suitable ageing method. In Paper IV two types of experimental damage on silk surrogates were conserved with three different methods: brick couching, laid couching, and crepeline. The conserved surrogates were further subjected to accelerated wear by using a combination of washing and tumbling, followed by tensile testing. The three interventions increased the surrogates’ strength from three to more than five times. Surrogates with a tear conserved with laid or brick couching were the least affected by wear; and, after the conservation was removed, the abraded surrogates conserved with crepeline were stronger than those conserved with the other two methods. Paper V explored the factors that determine aesthetic quality of conservation interventions. The study, based upon examinations performed by Swedish textile conservators, resulted in two factors coherence and completeness, that describe aesthetic quality.
Årsredovisningar – Visar mer än vad lagen kräver
(2022-02-16) Gustafsson, Lisa; Nilsson, Johanna; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Att välja det minst onda - en kvalitativ studie om kvinnors skrivna upplevelser av illegal, medicinsk abort via internet
(2016-02-10) Nilsson, Johanna; Broberg, Cajsa; Göteborg University/Department of Social Work; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för socialt arbete
Syftet med denna uppsats var att bidra med kunskap om kvinnorna i studiens skrivna upplevelser av att ha genomfört en illegal, medicinsk abort i hemmiljö genom att inta mifepristone och misoprostol de beställt via en specifik organisation på internet. Syftet var även att öka kunskapen om kvinnornas behov av socialt stöd innan, under och efter aborten samt om kvinnornas åsikter om abort och restriktiva abortlagar. Vi har genom dokumentanalys och tematisk analys studerat 20 skrivna berättelser av kvinnor från Chile, Filippinerna, Polen och Irland, som genomfört illegal, medicinsk abort. Kvinnorna har fått preparaten utskrivna via en organisations hemsida, där de också kunnat få stöd och råd under aborten. Berättelserna vi studerat har kvinnorna publicerat på organisationens hemsida. De övergripande resultaten visade att kvinnornas skrivna upplevelser var relaterade till både positiva och negativa känslor, bland annat lättnad, sorg och rädsla. Dessa framskrivna känslor var i många fall motstridiga. Det framkom även att det sociala stödet var betydelsefullt. Detta fick kvinnorna dels genom anhöriga och vänner, och dels genom organisationen. De beskrev även att de fick stöd genom att ta del av varandras berättelser, samt dela sina egna, på organisationens hemsida. Flera kvinnor uttryckte en negativ inställning till de restriktiva abortlagarna och att abortens illegalitet påverkade abortupplevelsen. Illegaliteten hade således stor påverkan på kvinnornas abortupplevelse, då bland annat känslor av skam var kopplade till upplevelsen av att bryta mot samhällets normer och lagar. Dessutom gjorde illegaliteten att den ofrivilliga graviditeten och efterföljande abort blev stressfylld.
CSF biomarker panels. Focus on synaptic pathology
(2022-08-18) Nilsson, Johanna
Fluid biomarkers of neuropathological features are important clinical tools in diagnostics and patient monitoring of neurodegenerative diseases. For the most prevalent cause of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), several biomarkers have been introduced in the clinic reflecting the underlying pathophysiology features of amyloid-β deposition, tau pathology with hyperphosphorylation, and neurodegeneration (ATN). Together the biomarkers have been demonstrated to have >90% sensitivity and specificity for the early stages of AD. However, in the field of biomarker research, one area which has gained recent attention is biomarkers reflective of synaptic pathology (degeneration and dysfunction of the synapse), which is an early and central part of the pathophysiology of many neurodegenerative diseases, including AD, and clinically relevant since synaptic function is the foundation of cognition. Synaptic biomarkers are thus of interest not only in the routine clinical assessment of neurodegenerative diseases to facilitate diagnosis, disease staging, and progression, but especially to monitor the efficacy and endpoints of treatments in drug trials which commonly aim to halt or reduce synaptic damage. The main goals of this thesis were to develop and optimize methods for quantifying biomarkers of synaptic pathology, to evaluate their potential in AD and across neurodegenerative diseases, and to examine concordance and discordance between biomarker results and other measures of synaptic dysfunction. The work focused on multiplexed mass spectrometric (MS) methods that enable quantification with high specificity and sensitivity of a range of potential biomarkers with different functions and localizations. These methods were then used not only to compare the biomarkers’ diagnostic and disease monitoring potential but also to reinforce the credibility of the results of proteins with similar outcomes, i.e., validating general and specific pathological patterns across and within neurodegenerative diseases. A synaptic panel assay was successfully established, quantifying 17 synaptic proteins, including several SNARE proteins, neurogranin, synucleins, neuronal pentraxins, and 14-3-3 proteins. Together with an in-house-established MS assay quantifying SNAP-25 and synaptotagmin-1, the panel method was used to study synaptic proteins across neurodegenerative diseases in several studies included in this thesis. One of the main findings is that out of the potential synaptic biomarkers, several of them showed specifically higher concentrations in the AD continuum in contrast to other neurodegenerative diseases. Indicating that higher levels of synaptic proteins are possibly generally a specific feature of AD and thus a marker of AD-specific synaptic dysfunction mechanisms compared with other neurodegenerative diseases. The possible exemption to this seems to be 14-3-3 ζ/δ, of which higher levels across neurodegenerative diseases might indicate that it is a general biomarker of synaptic degeneration mechanisms. Particularly, SNAP-25, neurogranin, and β-synuclein, as well as 14-3-3 ζ/δ, seem to be promising AD biomarkers able to both predict disease progression as well as cognitive decline. For SNAP-25, it was also shown that a newly developed Single molecule array (Simoa) assay for SNAP-25 quantification can be used interchangeably with other previously established methods. Furthermore, this thesis work demonstrated that the neuronal pentraxins are present at lower concentrations across neurodegenerative diseases, indicative of synaptic dysfunction and degeneration mechanisms equally affected across diseases. The neuronal pentraxins were also found to be associated with cognitive status in AD dementia and Parkinson’s disease, the latter in which they were also associated with cognitive decline and the progression of motor symptoms and might be useful to predict disease severity. This thesis establishes that the neuronal pentraxins are possible prognostic and monitoring biomarkers for synaptic dysfunction/degeneration that associate with cognitive and motor symptoms across neurodegenerative diseases. Additionally, novel differences in synaptic proteins were found in both parkinsonian disorders and genetic frontotemporal dementia (FTD), with differential synaptic impairment represented by different synaptic proteins. Interestingly, multiple abnormalities were shown in the symptomatic patients with MAPT mutations indicating specific synaptic dysfunction in regard to the underlying proteinopathy found in each genetic FTD mutation. The results demonstrate that differential patterns of synaptic protein alterations across neurodegenerative diseases exist, probably due to differences in synaptic pathology mechanisms. In conclusion, several of the studied synaptic proteins show promise as possible complements to other CSF and imaging markers as diagnostic, prognostic, stage, or monitoring biomarkers of cognitive decline and synaptic pathology. Furthermore, this thesis provided novel insight into synaptic pathology in neurodegenerative diseases. A better understanding of the mechanistic pathways of synaptic dysfunction across and between diseases may thus contribute to improving diagnostics and potentially also to the development of new therapeutic strategies targeting said pathways. The work included in this thesis demonstrates the importance of MS-based biomarker discovery, allowing for the simultaneous quantification and exploration of multiple biomarkers leading to knowledge that can drive the development of biomarkers as well as new, highly precise methods and increase the availability of biomarker quantification.
A FUTURE WITHOUT THIRD-PARTY COOKIES A study of how Swedish small and medium-sized marketing agencies are affected by the loss of third-party cookies and how potential change strategies are communicated.
(2023-02-01) Elmér, Johanna; Nilsson, Johanna; Institutionen för tillämpad informationsteknologi; Department of Applied Information Technology
For years, digital communicators have taken advantage of the phenomena of third-party cookies to help understand online user behavior in order to produce personalized advertising. The increased discussion of user integrity has led to new privacy regulations and the largest web browsers have therefore banned third-party cookies or plan to remove them in the near future. This change is expected to affect digital communicators in their work as they rely on these cookies in their marketing activities. Further, small and medium-sized companies are expected to be affected more as they might not have the same capacities to change their digital communication strategies. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate how Swedish small and medium-sized marketing agencies are, and expect to be, affected by the removal of third-party cookies and further if any change strategies are communicated. The qualitative case study includes interviews with digital communication experts aligned with literature regarding third-party cookies, digital communication and organizational change strategy theories. Results reveal that most agencies are affected by the removal and not fully prepared for the change, however, the majority are researching, communicating internally, and trying to adapt to the new scenario. Further, the level of effect from the regulation did not seem to depend exclusively on the size of the agency but also technical expertise and the number of services offered that did not depend on third-party cookies. Strategies and replacements of third-party cookies are being introduced and discussed such as server-side tracking, taking advantage of first-party data, contextual advertising, email marketing, SEO and content marketing. To conclude, the research highlights that the end of third-party cookies does not mean the end of personalized marketing.
Investeringsanalys– Ökad lönsamhet från restprodukter för Munktorps Träförädling AB
(2009-01-26T12:58:16Z) Johansson, Andreas; Nilsson, Johanna; Göteborg University/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
I detta arbete genomförs en investeringsanalys på ett mindre aktiebolag med en ensam ägare. Syftet med arbetet har varit att upprätta investeringskalkyler som skall kunna ligga till grund för ett investeringsbeslut för företaget inom det närmaste året. Företaget som analysen har utförts åt är Munktorps Träförädling AB. Detta företag inriktar sig på vidareförädling av trävaror genom hyvling och målning. I dagsläget produceras restprodukterna kutterspån från hyvling och restbitar från exaktavkapning som därefter säljs direkt vidare till en extern vidareförädlare. För att öka lönsamheten från restprodukterna så är Munktorps Träförädling intresserade av att analysera ifall en intern vidareförädling av restprodukterna kan vara mer gynnsam. Efter en inledande analys av möjliga produkter, vidareförädlingsmetoder samt marknads- och konkurrensstrukturer har investeringskalkyler upprättats för att finna de mest lämpliga investeringsalternativen. Investeringsanalyserna har genomförts med hjälp av välkända metoder såsom NPV-, IRR- och Payback-metoden som alla har anpassats för att passa tillämpningen för ett mindre investeringsprojekt i ett mindre aktiebolag med en ensam ägare. Svårigheter har då uppstått vid värderingar av både marknadsvärde på eget kapital samt kostnaden för detta. Genom användning av olika värderingsmetoder samt känslighetsanalyser har dock osäkerheten i dessa värderingars betydelse kunnat minimeras. Resultaten från kalkylerna visar att investering i antingen en tillverkningsanläggning för pellets eller briketter kan vara klart mer lönsamt för företaget än den nuvarande försäljningen. Återbetalningstiden för dessa alternativ visar sig dessutom vara lägre än de 3 år som företaget har som önskemål. Då resultaten för bägge alternativen skiljer sig marginellt så kommer vidare kontakter med grossister möjligen att behövas för att kunna få en bättre specifikation om hur gynnsamma försäljningskontrakt som kan upprättas för respektive alternativ innan ett definitivt val kan genomföras. Svagare indikationer tyder dock på att pelletstillverkning kan vara mer fördelaktig för en mindre producent såsom Munktorps Träförädling AB.
Lånecykelsystemet Styr & Ställ - En fallstudie om dess roll i att främja den lokala delningsekonomin i Göteborg
(2020-07-08) Ruscic, Isabelle; Nilsson, Johanna; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Background and problem discussion Sharing economy is a concept that has emerged the recent years and that has gained momentum around the world. The concept is hard to define, but the original purpose is access over ownership to increase resource efficiency, reduce climate impact and contribute to create social relationships between users. The positive associations of the concept have led to more people wanting to attribute their initiatives as sharing economy, which has resulted in a decoupling from the original purpose. Gothenburgs bike sharing system Styr & Ställ is described by the municipality as a sharing initiative that can promote the development of sharing economy in the city. However, the system is not marketed as a sharing initiative and currently it has a relatively low utilization, which may question the initiative’s ability to contribute to the sharing economy in the Gothenburg. Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify different definitions of sharing economy and to investigate how they differ. The purpose is also to explore Styr & Ställ's possible connection to the sharing economy in Gothenburg and how the system contributes to it. Method The essay is written with a qualitative method and an abductive approach. A case study has been executed on the bike sharing scheme Styr & Ställ in Gothenburg. Primary data has been gathered from seven interviews of persons that are employed within the local sharing economy, Styr & Ställ, the City of Gothenburg and sustainable mobility. Secondary data has been collected through a literature study. Results and conclusion The results reveals that there are diverse definitions of the concept of sharing economy in concerned organizations. Some of the definitions can be connected to other proximate definitions. It is considered that Styr & Ställ has potential to contribute to the local sharing economy in Gothenburg. Concluding, by marketing the bike sharing scheme as a sharing initiative, this contribution can become greater.
Nail it! - The impact of creative product variant names on purchase intention for cosmetics
(2014-12-05) Lindstedt, Liv; Nilsson, Johanna; University of Gothenburg/Graduate School; Göteborgs universitet/Graduate School
In this study we examine if creative product names impact consumers’ purchase intention for cosmetics. By combining previous literature about creativity, branding, self-congruity and hedonic consumption we hypothesised that hedonic products, exemplified by cosmetics, should benefit from creative names. An experiment including nearly 700 respondents tested creative product names within three selected categories against alpha-numeric names. The results of the experiment revealed that two out of three categories, Geography and Animals & Nature, increased purchase intention among consumers on a statistically significant level. For the third category, Sex & Romance, the results were not significant. Altogether, we conclude that creative product names, particularly those with strong symbolic meanings, positively affect purchase intention for cosmetics.
Online customer experience, satisfaction and repurchase intention for online clothing retailing
(2017-06-30) Nilsson, Johanna; Wall, Olle; University of Gothenburg/Graduate School; Göteborgs universitet/Graduate School
Purpose – The purpose of this study is to describe and analyze the factors of online customer experience and test their effect on satisfaction in an online clothing retailing context. Additionally, the purpose is test the relationship between satisfaction and repurchase intention within this context. Methodology – A quantitative method developing a questionnaire based on previous literature, distributed to a sample of respondents consisting of bachelor and master students in Sweden. Regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings – Among six factors of online customer experience identified in clothing retailing (ease of use, interaction, security, fulfillment reliability, customer service, store offerings), the findings show that all apart from interaction are important factors in determining satisfaction, which in turn positively impact repurchase intention. Furthermore, the findings show that presence of store, gender and purchasing frequency have no significant impact on satisfaction. Research limitations – The sample for this study was university students of one university in Sweden. This limited sample may affect the generalization of the findings. Practical implications – Managers of online clothing stores can benefit from the findings as these provide them knowledge about which parts of the online customer experience to focus on. Originality/value – This research builds on and contributes to the literature by describing and analyzing the factors of online customer experience, satisfaction and repurchase intention for online clothing retailing in a Western country.
Packaging Design of DVD movies -in what way does the packaging design of DVD movies affect the value perception and the willingness to pay from a sensory perspective?
(2012-06-18) Nordberg, Karin; Nilsson, Johanna; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Shopping Bags -Consumers' Behaviours, Attitudes and Reflections
(2015-06-22) Larsson, Kristina; Nilsson, Johanna; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen
Självförverkligande - På ett manligt sätt. En kvalitativ studie om unga mäns identitetsskapande och självpresentation på Instagram
(2019-02-07) Bengtsson, Carolina; Nilsson, Johanna; Lindqvist, Sandra; Göteborgs universitet/Institutionen för journalistik, medier och kommunikation; Göteborg University/Department of Journalism Media and Communication
Syfte: Att undersöka unga mäns upplevelser, uppfattningar och erfarenheter kring identitetsskapande och självpresentation på Instagram Teori: Identitetsteori, Symbolisk interaktionism, Sociala jämförelse teori Metod: Kvalitativa fokusgruppsintervjuer Material: Fyra semistrukturerade fokusgruppsintervjuer á 16 personer totalt Resultat: Studien fastslår att unga män använder Instagram för att följa vänner, kändisar och profiler men även i syfte att presentera en idealbild av sig själv i form av marknadsföring. Unga mäns användning skiljer sig åt där vissa tycks vara mer frekventa användare än andra. Unga män beskriver sitt användande genom att följa ideal och normbilder och tar avstånd till vad som anses vara kvinnligt kodad användning. Resultatet visar att det finns ett flertal likheter mellan kvinnor och mäns användning av Instagram vilket befäster att användningen inte tycks vara olika bland könen.
Two new disorders of glycogen metabolism
(2014-01-08) Nilsson, Johanna
Glycogen is a polymer of glucose and serves as a source of rapidly available energy. Glycogen synthesis is initiated by autoglucosylation of glycogenin. Two glycogenin genes, GYG1 and GYG2, encode the two isoforms glycogenin-1 and -2, respectively. Glycogenin-1 is ubiquitously expressed whereas glycogenin-2 has been described as being expressed mainly in the liver but also in the heart. This thesis describes two new disorders affecting glycogen turnover. The first disease presented as sudden cardiac arrest due to arrhythmia after exercise in a 27-year-old man. Clinical history revealed minor muscle weakness of the upper extremities. He was found to have a cardiomyopathy with abnormal glycogen storage in the heart and depletion of glycogen in the skeletal muscle. An amino acid substitution was detected from a threonine to a methionine at position 83 of glycogenin-1 that resulted in inactivated autoglucosylation. Detailed studies applying cell-free protein expression, in vitro glucosylation, and mass spectrometry (MS) demonstrated abolished Tyr-O-glucosylation, the initial step of the autoglucosylation. Catalytically active glycogenin-1, but not glycogenin-2, could compensate for this defect by inter-molecular glucosylation. Transcriptome and western blot analyses indicated that glycogenin-2 is mainly expressed in liver and adipose tissue and only to a minor degree in cardiac and skeletal muscle. By applying a automated analysis of glycopeptides from MS data of co-expressed glycogenin-1 and -2, we show that glycogenin-1 enhances the glucosylation of glycogenin-2. The second disease presented as myopathy and cardiomyopathy in 10 patients from eight families. Initial symptoms were leg weakness starting in childhood or adolescence, later followed by generalized muscle weakness and cardiomyopathy. The cardiomyopathy was rapidly progressive, necessitating heart transplantation in several cases. The characteristic morphological features were inclusions of abnormal glycogen, polyglucosan, in approximately 50% of the skeletal muscle fibers that were depleted of normal glycogen. Different truncating and missense mutations were detected in the gene RBCK1, coding for an E3 ubiquitin ligase. RBCK1 deficiency appears to be a common type of glycogen storage disease and is to be considered in cases with dilated cardiomyopathy. In conclusion, we have described two new glycogenoses affecting heart and skeletal muscle and investigated the pathogenesis. The discovery of the genetic background of these novel disease entities is important for correct diagnosis, evaluation of prognosis, genetic counseling and treatment.
What role do social media play in the market entry strategy for SMEs establishing on the global market?
(2016-10-12) Nilsson, Johanna; Selmer, Katrin; University of Gothenburg/Department of Business Administration; Göteborgs universitet/Företagsekonomiska institutionen