Coming dissertations at Uppsala university
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Accounting, Analytics and Action : Insights from Financial Due Diligence
Link: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-540483
This thesis explores the gap between the expectations toward and the actualities of data analytics (DA) adoption and use in accounting for decision making practice. Based on that, it outlines a practical pathway for effective DA adoption and use in this context.
To these ends, the thesis draws on empirical insights from two qualitative case studies of DA adoption and use in the financial due diligence (FDD) practices of two Big Four accounting firms in Sweden and invokes different theoretical lenses that assume and foreground different logics of action. This translates into four papers that shed light on different aspects of the expectations-actualities gap.
Paper I examines how accounting and commercial logic shape the use of new DA tools in FDD, from an institutional logics perspective. Paper II explores how practical and theoretical judgments are invoked in data-driven FDD, from a Deweyan inquiry perspective. Paper III investigates why accounting professionals continue to rely on spreadsheet software for much of their work, from a systems perspective. Finally, Paper IV analyzes how DA adoption is implicated in the re-formation of accounting, from a Millerian margins perspective.
Collectively, these papers show how DA-related action and inaction in FDD are driven by logics of appropriateness (LoAs) and logics of consequences (LoCs). Connected to that, Paper III furthermore shows how both logics can be considered concurrently in a systems approach.
The thesis’ primary theoretical contribution lies in developing LoC- and LoA-based explanations for DA-related action and inaction in accounting for decision making that – jointly – contribute to a better understanding of the expectations-actualities gap regarding DA adoption and use in accounting practice. These incorporate key links between accounting and commercial logic and DA conceptions and use, practical judgments regarding the feasibility and desirability of DA-related means and ends, suprasystem demands and supplies as well as trade-offs between hard benefits and soft costs, among other influences.
Based on these insights, the thesis outlines an “accounting-spirited” approach to DA adoption and use that is geared toward generating business value from DA without diluting one of accounting’s foremost selling points: actionability.
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Heritage Forests in Inhambane : Negotiating History, Landscape and Environment
Link: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-540875
Heritage forests are gaining greater prominence and importance as places with high cultural and ecological value, and ideal for biodiversity conservation worldwide. However, there are few studies documenting these forests in Mozambique. This thesis presents 88 different cultural heritage sites in Inhambane Province, of which 52 are heritage forests. In this thesis I focus on three case study areas, Luido, Chitanga, and Mapoka showing with satellite images analyses that forest boundaries have remained relatively stable over the last three decades. Heritage forests are connected to discourse and discursive practices of heritage. Chiefs are the main representatives of the local institutions and its associated social codes and system of laws for protection of heritage forests. In post-colonial Mozambique, such local heritage practices were constrained and controlled, however, they were still maintained. Botanical inventories of the forests show that local heritage practices taking place in and around have a fundamental role to the existence of plant diversity. A total of 14 plant species with great conservation value was identified. Most of these locally protected heritage sites are not included in formally protected areas, and they are currently experiencing various types of pressures from within and outside the community, mostly from logging activities. Formal recognition of communities as collaborators and partners to the continuity of these areas is essential and feasible, but such need to be implemented cautiously and driven by communities. There are legal mechanisms at the national and international levels, in culture and biodiversity conservation, to secure these types of heritage sites and conservation areas in Inhambane, Mozambique, and beyond.
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Photochemical generation of divalent lanthanides : Applications in organic synthesis and small molecule activation
Link: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-540771
Trivalent lanthanide (Ln(III)) compounds are known for their luminescent properties. Luminescence sensitization often happens via the so-called "antenna effect": a light-harvesting chromophore which transfers its excitation energy to Ln(III) ions. These compounds have widespread applications in biological detection and as security inks due to their unique and robust photophysical characteristics. However, their luminescence quantum yields are often diminished by several quenching processes, with one of the primary processes being photoinduced electron transfer (PeT) from the excited antenna to the Ln(III) ion. PeT generates a Ln(II) species and an antenna radical cation, which typically quenches both the fluorescence of the antenna and the luminescence of the Ln(III) ion.
This thesis explores inter- and -intramolecular photoinduced electron transfers in Ln(III) complexes, with a particular focus on harnessing the transiently formed reactive Ln(II) species in organic synthesis. Chapter 1 is a brief introduction to lanthanide complexes and their applications in organic synthesis and photocatalysis.
Chapters 2 and 3 focus on the synthesis of novel Ln(III) coordination compounds, specifically those containing reducible Eu(III) and Sm(III) ions. The physicochemical and redox properties as well as the excited-state behavior of these compounds are also examined. The resulting Ln(II) species are utilized in catalytic settings, enabling the development of a practical catalytic system that could replace the well-established SmI2-mediated reduction reactions.
Chapter 4 shifts focus to the modification of ligands designed for the selective reduction of carbon dioxide using a photocatalyst. The mechanisms underlying these reduction processes are explored.
Chapters 5 and 6 involve the interactions between various commercially available chromophores and Ln(III) ions in both their ground and excited states. Additionally, the electron transfer process from different chromophores to Ln(III) ions was investigated. These results show that it does not require the synthesis of complex ligand design to develop an effective lanthanide photocatalyst for Ln(II)-mediated reduction reactions.