The problem of separating a non-rectangular foreground image from a background image is a classical problem in image processing and analysis, known as matting or keying. A common example is a film frame where an actor is extracted from the background to later be placed on a different background. Compositing of these objects against a new background is one of the most common operations in the creation of visual effects. When the original background is of non-constant color the matting becomes an under determined problem, for which a unique solution cannot be found. This thesis describes a framework for computing mattes from images with backgrounds of non-constant color, using Bayesian statistics.

Background: The increasing globalization of business and research has led to an increased demand for international meetings. This is a market that a number of countries wish to access and the competition is fierce to get the chance to host major conferences. Stockholm has a pronounced good position in the international meeting market and this essay will examine what it takes to be a successful meeting destination for international congresses.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine the fundamental factors that must be met for a meeting destination to be successful in the international market for conventions.Question at issue: How can a city develop into a more attractive meeting destination for international congresses?Method: Persons with key positions in the Stockholm meeting industry have been approached by qualitative interviews by the authors.Theory: As a theoretical framework the authors used the value of the physical meeting, generally on the congresses, the planning process for site selection for the meeting, the meeting platform and image.Conclusion: The authors' findings are based on the empirical material gathered during the study interviews. The results from these interviews show the importance of facilities and hotels, availability, and the image..

Titel: Fostran som pedagogiskt projekt. Bilden av ?problembarnet? i statens offentliga utredningar. (The bringing up of pupils as an educational project. The image of ?the problem child? in governmental committees).   This study focuses on the image of the problem child as it appears in two texts (from the 1940s and 1970s) of governmental committees on Public Health (SOU) and the new school law (Ds 2009:25, will be implemented in July 2011).

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to look into how ex-offenders experience that stigmatization and labeling- processes might affect their possibilities to create an integrated and adapted life in society. It is also of interest to study how and if the interviewees experience their self-image to be affected by these processes. Our research-questions are:-          How do ex-offender males experience stigmatization and labeling-processes to impact their possibilities when trying to re-integrate into society?-          Do ex-offender males experience their self-image being affected by stigmatization and labeling-processes? If so, how are they affected? In order to achieve this we interviewed members of the organization KRIS in Örebro, where we selected males over 23 years of age with a prior prison sentence. The study is based on the labeling-theory of Howard Becker as well as the stigma-theory by Erving Goffman.In the conclusions derived from the results we found that the interviewees experience a more distinct and obvious stigmatization and labeling from authorities such as the police and the legal system, than that from other people in society.

The primary purpose of this thesis is to investigate the operation of membership criteria, which are applied against countries that wish to join the European Union (EU). More specifically, the importance of some criteria in comparison to others is considered. To answer this proposal, three questions are posed: What are the EU membership criteria? Are some criteria more important than other criteria? Does the EU treat candidate countries differently in applying the membership criteria? Three countries are used in this analysis, each country representing one recent enlargement round: Poland (2004), Romania (2007), and current candidate country Turkey. Both official documents, such as EU treaties, and unofficial documents such as statements from EU leaders are used to analyze the application of membership criteria.

Titel: Wermland Forever? En underso?kning om hur Karlstads kommuns varuma?rkesidentitet avspeglas i tv- serien Wermland ForeverSyfte: Syftet med uppsatsen a?r att belysa hur en stads image kan pa?verkas av en enskild marknadsfo?ringsa?tga?rd. I det ha?r fallet sponsring av tv-serien Wermland Forever som efterfo?ljdes av sa?va?l tittarstorm som la?ga tittarsiffror. Karlstads kommun mottog dessutom kritik fo?r sitt samarbete da? ma?nga ansa?g att tv-serien gick emot Karlstads kommuns va?rdegrund.Fra?gesta?llningar: Hur ser Karlstads kommuns varuma?rkesidentitet ut? Hur ser Karlstads kommuns varuma?rkesimage ut? Hur uppfattas bilden av Karlstad som visas upp i Wermland Forever? Hur ser fo?rha?llandet ut mellan Karlstads kommuns varuma?rkesidentitet kontra varuma?rkesimage ut i relation till Wermland Forever?Teori: Uppsatsen baseras till stor del pa? Simon Anholts fyra aspekter av ett varuma?rke samt Hart & Stachows ramverk fo?r att ma?ta Karlstads image.

Today many different types of lock systems are used all over the world. Passwords, finger prints and magnetic strips are a few examples. When the key is a three dimensional object, lika a physical metal key, the security depends, in a high degree, on that you can?t copy the object without access to it. One approach to copying the object is photographing the object, and from these photographs create a copy.

The purpose of this essay is to shed some light upon the children who grew up in Sweden after their parents fled the war in former Yugoslavia. Did the parents spread their own opinions about the other ethnicities which they fought against in the war to the children, even though they live in a new country? And if so, was it an act of patriotism for the country they once lived in and who was to blame for the war? Did the children who grew up in Sweden share the same attitudes as their parents? To find out about this we used interviews with four people, all with heritage from former Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Croatia. What we found out was that the thoughts from the parents partially were passed down to their children, even though the children thought that they had formed their own opinions. In this case the thoughts didn?t relate to any kind of patriotism or who to blame for the war, they rather believed that they shouldn?t blame the other ethnic groups for the war.

Problem: Småortshotell har andra förutsättningar än storstadshotell för att kunna överleva. Det gäller både distansen till samt utbudsnivån i hotellen. Den geografiska placeringen gör att resenärer inte passerar dem utan gästerna kommer till småortshotellen för att uppleva deras utbud. Syfte: Vårt syfte är att undersöka hur småortshotell strategiskt arbetar med imageskapande ur marknadsföringsperspektiv. Frågeställningar: Vilken image vill småortshotellen förmedla?Vilka samarbetsformer har småortshotellen?Vilka underliggande betydelser förmedlar småortshotellen? Metod: Vi har använt oss av kvalitativa metoder som består av två delar, datainsamlingsmetoder och semiotikdokumentanalys.

Since the 1st of May 2004 Cyprus is part of the European Union. The Republic of Cyprus as a whole is part of the Union, but all of the advantages of the Union membership cannot be enjoyed in all parts of the country. Since December 1963 the Cypriot administration has been separated into two, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, and since 1974 the country is also territorially divided. The Greek Cypriot political administration is considered to be the legitimate representative of the Republic of Cyprus, the Turkish Cypriot administration is only recognised by Turkey. Since the disruption of the country in 1963 the UN has been trying to get the Cypriot parties to agree upon a peace solution in order to reunite the country.

The aim of this study is to examine how European companies? stock price is affected by an announcement about foreign direct investment in one of the BRIC countries. Another aim for the study is to examine if the market reacts differently to the three modes of entry methods in a given BRIC country and to examine if the market reacts differently to different European countries. The study also set out to answer if there were any effects of the three modes of entry that was visible a short time after the announcement. To answer and examine this, the authors used the event study approach. The study was conducted with a sample of 47 companies from France, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Germany.

This thesis intended to examine how small enterprises within the retail industry work with brand building of their corporate name. More specifically it intended to examine how they do to choose corporate name and corporate logotype, and how they work to create a desired corporate image. A case-study was performed with three case-companies from different industries. The method was deductive as the empirics were brought in with starting-point in the theoretical frame of reference. The study showed that there are differences in the way small enterprises within the retail industry work with the brand-building of their corporate name.

This essay has the ambition to examine and compare Croatia?s and Bosnia and Herzegovina?s development towards a consolidated democracy. By applying Linz & Stepen?s theory on how to consolidate a democracy and put focus on political society, behavioral patterns, attitude and constitutional structure the purpose is to find similarities and differences between Bosnia and Croatia within this field.The focus of this study is to compare two similar countries that have developed in very different ways. By applying the theory and a comparative method the purpose is to examine why two so similar countries with so much in common have developed in so different ways?In order to better answer the question there are two part questions and these are:What difficulties, concerning consolidation of democracy, have Croatia and Bosnia faced since the democratic transition in the beginning of the 1990s?What similarities and differences in the area of democratic consolidation (with focus on political society, behavioral patterns, attitude and constitutional structure) are there between the two countries?As the analysis shows, the main reason why these two countries differ so much is that Bosnia is a divided country with different nationalities and each nationality only wants to realize its own interest and does not care about what is best for the country as an entity.

On the 12:th of April 2011, the Swedish tabloid magazine Expressen publishes a story, claiming that Ola Lindholm, presenter of critically acclaimed TV-show ?Wild Kids? has been suspected and apprehended on cocaine allegations. The serious allegation called for Ola Lindholm to defend himself against the allegations. His only public response was a blog-post where he claimed his innocence, albeit with some reservations.  The purpose of this paper is to analyze Lindholm?s rhetorical defense.

Since the 2006 election, the debate surrounding the Swedish labour market policy has intensified. There has been a discussion about a need for change towards a more flexible labour market. An example of this is on the other side of the strait, in neighbouring Denmark. Their flexicurity model, ?the golden triangle?, is characterized by a flexible labour market, generous unemployment benefits and active labour market policies.