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Drylands are water-limited systems that collectively sustain hundreds of millions of people, yet land–atmosphere feedbacks such as terrestrial moisture recycling remain poorly quantified. In particular, the origins of precipitation in China's drylands and their atmospheric water vapor budgets remain unclear. Here we use a Lagrangian moisture-tracking model to quantify atmospheric moisture sources
Single-stranded RNA viruses co-assemble their capsid with the genome, and variations in capsid structures can have significant functional relevance. In particular, viruses need to respond to a dehydrating environment to prevent genomic degradation and remain active upon rehydration. Theoretical work has predicted low-energy buckling transitions in icosahedral capsids, which could protect the virus
The modern construction industry is heavily resource-intensive, generating billions of tons of waste annually and contributing significantly to global carbon emissions. While recycling initiatives have grown, low-grade demolition debris such as broken bricks are systematically downcycled rather than reintegrated into structural architectural components due to their inherent heterogeneity and irreg
By investigating feminised lifestyle trends such as the ‘Clean Girl’ and ‘Trad Wife’, this research seeks to unpack the distinct identity tensions young women experience when navigating the contradiction between the ideal of ‘consuming less’ and the continuous consumption required to perform these lifestyles online. The empirical material is analysed through an integrated theoretical framework com
The Arctic is warming rapidly leading to the development of new thermokarst landscape features. Among the most rapidly developing landforms are retrogressive thaw slumps. The largest known thaw slump is the Batagay megaslump located in the Sakha republic, Russia. This thesis aims to assess the thaw slumps growth’ and yearly retreat rates through systematic digitization of openly accessible satelli
How well an urban flood model performs in predicting water depth and flow depends on the quality and resolution of its input data. Yet, the sensitivity of the model, particularly the relative sensitivity to elevation data and land cover resolutions, remains to be sufficiently understood. This study evaluates sensitivity of the TFM-DYN flood model to varying spatial resolutions of its input digital
African elephants are keystone species facing severe declines due to the ivory trade and habitat loss. To investigate the genomic consequences, we analyze 232 high-coverage genomes from 17 African countries in the first continent-wide genomic analysis treating savanna (Loxodonta africana) and forest (L. cyclotis) elephants as distinct species. We find a deep divergence between species, with forest
Germany remains the only large country in the world without a general speed limit on highways. One of the main arguments for this policy is that lower speeds represent a travel time cost that is not outweighed by benefits, such as a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. As transport decision making in the European Union is based on cost-benefit analysis (CBA), this paper compares the value of tra
Using Swedish Civil Contingency Agency (MSB) as a case study, this paper reviews the implementation of gender mainstreaming across seven DRR capacity development projects implemented between 2007-2017. Documentation and semi-structured interviews with the project managers responsible for the projects were used as main data sources. The overall finding of the study showed that gender was mains
This open access book explores knowledge practices by five women from different European contexts. Contributors document, analyze, and discuss how women employed practices of privacy to pursue knowledge that did not necessarily conform with the curriculum prescribed for them. The practices of Jane Lumley in England, Camila Herculiana in Padua, Victorine de Chastenay in Paris, as well as Elisabeth
Atrial fibrillation is characterized by rapid and irregular atrial activity, where the atrioventricular (AV) node regulates how many impulses are conducted to the ventricles. Rate-control treatment aims to reduce the ventricular rate, but patients may respond differently to treatment. In this thesis, a model-based framework was applied to ECG-derived RR interval data from the RATAF II study to est
Industrial control systems must ensure reliable operation while respecting physical and operational constraints. In practice, PID controllers dominate industrial control, often cited as covering over 95% of control loops. PID controllers are reliable, well understood, and easy to maintain, but they cannot explicitly handle constraints. In contrast, model predictive control (MPC) can enforce constr
This thesis investigates the control of stamping speed in a hydraulic extrusion press at Alleima, with the aim of reducing oscillations at the start of the process and achieving faster stabilisation. A simplified digital model of the press was developed in Simulink to capture the key system dynamics and enable simulation-based evaluation of control strategies. Initial work focused on the existing
Atypical femur fractures (AFF) are rare but clinically important fractures that have been associated with long-term mechanical loading and altered bone remodeling. In this study, a phase-field fatigue modeling framework was developed and calibrated to investigate fracture initiation in the femur under cyclic loading conditions representative of walking. The model was based on a previously publishe
Thesis aim: This study examines how consumers of second-hand fashion navigate and sustain the tension between sustainability ideals and continued consumption, and what this reveals about how ideology operates in circular fashion markets. Theoretical Perspective: The study is grounded in critical Consumer Culture Theory and critical marketing, using Žižekian psychoanalytic ideology as the primary
This thesis examines how urban refugee economic survival is governed within Nairobi, Kenya, through the perceptions of humanitarian-development practitioners. Despite Kenya's Refugee Act 2021 representing one of the region's more progressive frameworks for refugee economic inclusion, the distance between its formal provisions and operational reality remains vast. Fourteen semi-structured i
Marine microorganisms have the potential to disperse widely with few obvious barriers to gene flow. However, among microalgae, several studies have demonstrated that species can be highly genetically structured with limited gene flow among populations, despite hydrographic connectivity. Ecological differentiation and local adaptation have been suggested as drivers of such population structure. Her
Keywords: manosphere, male loneliness, compensatory consumption, consumer responsibilization, netnography Purpose: The purpose of this study is to expand the understanding of how digital communities construct consumption as a collective remedy to affective social problems, examined through the case of male loneliness within the manosphere. Theoretical perspective: By synthesising three theoretic
Understanding factors influencing community resilience to disturbance is critical for mitigating harm at various scales, including harm from medication to gut microbiota and harm from human activity to global biodiversity, yet there is a lack of data from large-scale controlled experiments. Factors expected to boost resilience include prior exposure to the same disturbance and dispersal from undis
