The borehole heat exchangers of today suffer from poor thermal and hydrodynamic performance. The purpose of this thesis is to improve the performance of ground source heat pump systems and thermal energy storages by increasing the energy efficiency of the borehole heat exchangers. For this reason, the annular coaxial borehole heat exchanger (CBHE) has been analyzed. This type of heat exchanger is interesting in terms of both thermal and hydrodynamic performance. A model has been set up in the program Comsol Multiphysics in order to investigate the heat transfer characteristics along the borehole.

AbstractThis master thesis is a hermeneutic inspired case study of how the value base regarding the environmental and social responsibility in the Swedish coffee company Löfbergs Lila AB is affecting the company's business. A thesis inspired by hermeneutics means that it is based on two ideas, the one of interaction between entirety and partitions and the one of interpretation (Alvesson & Sköldberg 1994). This cause that the emphasis is on how the reality is interpreted and that it never can be seen as completely objective.The case study was conducted during the spring semester of 2010 at Karlstad's University and consists of both empirical and theoretical material collected during this time. The empirical material in this thesis includes, among other things, interviews with four representatives of Löfbergs Lila AB, written material from the company regarding its work related to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), some information about the coffee industry as a whole and different certifications for "ethical? coffee that exists on the Swedish market.The basic idea with CSR as a business strategy is that it can be financially beneficial for companies to take a social and environmental responsibility outside of the company (Vogel 2005).

Sustainability issues have become increasingly high-profile and important in recent decades. In addition, quality issues have come to play a central role in corporate marketing, strategy and management. The word quality can be defined differently in different contexts. This paper focuses on the concept of quality, based on the Total Quality Management perspective, which in Swedish has come to be known as Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling has been described as a theoretical framework in which an organization continually strives to meet and preferably exceed customer needs and expectations at the lowest cost through continuous improvement, and in which all members of the organization are committed and focused on the organisation's processes. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, to clarify the applicability of the theoretical model Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling as a theoretical explanatory model. Second, to explore how Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB performs according to the values in Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. A multiple case study was conducted in order to explore these topics. The results showed that Max Hamburgerrestauranger AB is working in a dedicated and value-driven manner, aligned with the values ??that form the basis for Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling. The results also showed that the model for Offensiv kvalitetsutveckling could serve well as a theoretical explanatory model, but that the model would benefit from being developed, enriched or integrated with other models.

Dancewalks är ett platsspecifikt danskonstverk skapat och uppfört i olika semioffentliga rum. Den här kvalitativa studien undersöker resultatet och effekterna av en Dancewalks i Malmö där 30 arkitekter och stadsplanerare deltog. Dancewalks är i sig själv ett performance vilket påverkar studien och därför också undersökningsprocessen. Det teoretiska ramverket utgår från Non representative theory och teorier om hur människor interagerar i rum. Tillvägagångssättet för studien är en triangulering av observation, fokusgrupp och semistrukturerade intervjuer.

It's not a secret that most companies strive to get such a high economic return as possible. To successfully engage in a profitable enterprise, there are many elements that come into play. An important element is the motivation of the employees and their work performance. Work motivation is a key factor for the employees to improve their performance and therefore determinant for the successes of the company.This work is a case study in the production at Fresenius Kabi, Uppsala. The work is based on an employee survey that they fill out once a year and the aim is to develop a deeper understanding for these questions and how the employees see on leadership, communication and goal-setting as motivators and how these factors works in the company today.To get this deeper understanding I have used a qualitative approach.

The objective of this thesis is to examine the capital structure of Swedish small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Accounting data from Swedish game developers, combined with the result from a survey, is used to examine their financial conditions and capital structure decisions. We find that non-debt tax shield, firm size, growth opportunities and age are, to various extents, the determinants of capital structure in the game industry, while effective tax rate and asset structure have marginal effects. Our study also implicates that most of the existing capital structure theories can explain SMEs leverage decisions to some extent; however, some adaptation is needed to fit these theories into the SME context. Additionally, we find the existence of a financial gap in the game industry which might need efforts from both demand side and supply side to eliminate..

In this thesis, input data for energy performance calculations on commercialpremises have been studied. In energy performance calculations, where internal heat gain parameters are unknown, template values that, in a reasonable way represent the activity in the room, are necessary. These values can be used as input data for whole-year calculations, or for calculations on shorter periods of time.The purpose of the Sveby project is to create standardized work practice in energy issues for the construction industry. The work in this thesis is conducted to correlate with the purpose of the Sveby project, with aims of contributing with information and guidelines for the continuing work with commercial premises.In this report, suggestions for template values for internal gains parameters, based on research and calculations in the field are presented. Suggestions on how these can be implemented in a user-friendly way for two energy performance calculation software are also given, VIP Energy and IDA ICE.

The first version of the Swedish Code of Corporate Governance was published year 2004, by the code group, Kollegiet, after a mission from the Swedish government. The Code consists a collection of rules and standards about corporate governance and internal control, and the first version was intended to include incorporated limited companies on Stockholm?s alpha stocks, and also listed companies with a stock market value over three thousand million Swedish kronor. Now a few years have passed, and in July 2008 a new, revised version of the Code was implemented, now simplified and shorted, with the intention to include all joint-stock companies in Sweden. The Code contains rules about for example ownership, management commitments, annual stockholders meetings, and the accountant. This study intends to, with a qualitative research approach and an inductive reasoning, through studies of empirics in the subject, review whether the accountant?s profession has been influenced by the Code.

It is not uncommon for math difficulties and reading difficulties to occur simultaneously. Despite this, math and reading difficulties are thought to have different cognitive profiles where math difficulties are linked to number sense; an innate ability to understand, approximate and manipulate both quantities and numerical information, whereas reading difficulties are linked to phonological ability; an innate ability to understand, create representations of and manipulate phonological information. A possible link between the difficulties is that phonological abilities also could affect mathematical ability. Support for this comes from studies where comorbid math and reading difficulties are associated with more severe difficulties in arithmetic ability compared to those with isolated math difficulties. The purpose of this study is to examine whether isolated math difficulties, isolated reading difficulties and comorbid math and reading difficulties can be linked to deficits in number sense, phonological ability or both of these, and whether comorbid math and reading difficulties differ in performance in mathematical tasks compared to isolated math difficulties for children in second grade.

In organizations today Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is becoming a common means to try to gain legitimacy and credibility for their business. A successful CSR strategy has the potential to generate positive outcomes for a company and reaching out to stakeholders about the corporation?s contribution in the field is an important part of the work. In this study I examine how the employees at Max Hamburgare receive the corporation?s efforts within sustainability, how it is perceived and what this means to the employees.

Sahlgrenska Academy at University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: The effect of a high versus low carbohydrate intake on endurance performanceAuthor: Emma Andersson and Josefine DahlqvistSupervisor: Fredrik BertzExaminer: Frode SlindeProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: May 22, 2013BackgroundCarbohydrates play a significant role in the human metabolism, especially during training. Manystudies have investigated the effects on different carbohydrate intakes on training performance. Thescientific researchers have met a consensus in the fact that a higher intake of carbohydratescompared to a lower carbohydrate intake improves athletic performance. Lately, the increasedinterest in low carbohydrate diets has despite these recommendations gained followers globally.ObjectiveTo determine if a higher carbohydrate intake results in a better endurance performance, comparedto a lower carbohydrate intake, for adult males and females, measured as time to exhaustion, totaldistance covered and power output/cadence. To be able to give nutrition recommendations toendurance athletes based on the current scientific evidence and identify if there is need for furtherresearch in this area.Search strategyThe databases used for the literature search were PubMed and Scopus.

Den ekonomiska globaliseringen och ökade världshandeln har lett till att multinationellaföretag till viss del fått ta sig an den roll som stater tidigare har haft och många företaghar börjat använda sig av corporate social responsibility (CSR) som ett verktyg för detta.Frågan är om utvecklingen har gjort att andra aktörer, såsom fackföreningar, som tidigarevarit en självklar aktör på den politiska arenan och en given del av den svenskaföretagssfären, nu kommit i skymundan. Det leder vidare till frågan om vadfackföreningar i så fall har för roll idag. Det föreligger ett gap i forskningen vad gällerfackföreningarnas roll i CSR-diskursen samt levnadslöner i utvecklingsvärlden, som kanses som en del av CSR-konceptet. Ambitionen är att denna kvalitativa flerfallsstudie skakunna bidra till den kunskapsbrist som tycks finnas gällande svenska fackföreningar ochderas syn och roll vad gäller CSR och specifikt levnadslöner. Resultatet av studien visaratt svenska fackföreningar överlag är skeptiska till CSR och att ett införande avlevnadslöner är komplext.

In this paper I argue that the development of innovation ideas within the financial system of scientific research might have a counterpart within the financial system of the social sciences and the arts. The ideas of innovation share a common way to evaluate science in terms of how well it can contribute to economic growth. In the past two decades a similar development can be observed within Riksbankens Jubileumsfond (RJ), one of the largest external financiers of the social sciences and the arts in Sweden. The idea of evaluating research used by the innovation ideas has grown popular within RJ, only it seems they evaluate research in terms of how well it fits into an international research community rather than how much it can contribute to economic growth as is the case within the innovation ideas. By examining the different ways of financing research that RJ has used during the last 2 decades, this paper aims to introduce a new perspective in which it is possible to understand the development within this type research funding as a part of a bigger system of development..

The latest thing in the area of environmental building today is energy-plus-house. The idea behind the energy-plus-house is to create a house that produces more energy than it consumes. To accomplish this, the house uses renewable energy, in this particular case solar energy. With the help from a proper construction and thoughtfully projected installations you can achieve a surplus of energy. The surplus energy can then be sold to the surrounding buildings and thereby conduce to a financial profit for the household.

This thesis investigated the possibilities to resume cultivation of an old manor house built of timber and what this would mean from an energy and moisture perspective. The building in this case study is named Sofiedals mansion and was built in 1858 in Valbo 11 kilometers west of Gävle.The structure of the house was documented and used as a starting-point for carrying out calculations focused on energy and moisture aspects. With the help of a number of computer programs and a conducted air tightness test, the buildings energy consumption were calculated and compared with the current building regulations.In addition, the building was analyzed considering energy retrofitting and what it meant for moisture problems. The energy retrofitting consisted of additional insulation, decreasing the buildings permeability through air sealing; window and door replacements. When a building is equipped with natural ventilation it is difficult to know its precise performance and how an energy retrofitting affects it.