The purpose of this study is to examine how participants perceive virtual agents shown on a computer display. In particular, it is explored to what extent participants transfer gender and attraction stereotypes that are commonly applied in the physical world to virtual agents. Previous related studies have often explored only text or voice interfaces, without any visually appearing agents, and here indeed found evidence for a transfer of gender stereotypes. Our hypothesis was that the addition of a visual agent interface would reinforce this effect. The results support our hypothesis that participants transfer human gender and attraction stereotypes onto virtual agents, as well as that these processes are affected by the visual representations of the agents..

When using the digital halftone proofing systems, a closer print match can be achieved compared to what earlier couldbe done with the analogue proofing systems. These proofing systems possibilities to produce accurate print match canas well lead to producing bad print matches as several print related parameters can be adjusted manually in the systemby the user. Therefore, more advanced knowledge in graphic arts technology is required by the user of the system.The prepress company Colorcraft AB wishes to control that their color proofs always have the right quality. This projectwas started with the purpose to find a quality control metod for Colorcraft´s digital halftone proofing system(Kodak Approval XP4).Using a software who supports spectral measuring combined with a spectrophotometer and a control bar, a qualitycontrol system was assembled. This system detects variations that lies out of the proofing system´s natural deviation.The prerequisite for this quality control system is that the tolerances are defined with consideration taken to the proofingsystems natural deviations.

This is a qualitative study based on two focus group interviews with a total of six social workers who work with assessing financial aid in two municipalities. The study aims to examine how the social workers experience and handle their ambiguous professional role, on the basis that they are expected to support and control the client. The theoretical framework is the theory about discretion and role theory. The results show that social workers find it difficult to combine these different approaches. Two different groups of strategies that social workers use to manage their professional role have been distinguished, the first is used to combine the different approaches (combination strategies), which are: empathy, to be distinct and to "blame" the organization.

This is a qualitative study whit purpose of showing how teachers work whit students in need of special support in school. The purpose has been to study what teachers mean whit special aid, and if the support is individually adapted for each students needs. I have trougt interviews, observations and examinations of diverse documents found paradoxes where teachers and the scool leaders claim that they work whit the integration of all the students at school, while the teality shows a different picture. I have found a clear segregation of students, where they have on repeated occasions had to leave the classroom to receive tuition. The school stuff has a wide iiew of wich students are included in the term "students in need of special tuition".

Principles that guide how a classification system should be structured have existed for more than a century. Traditional classification principles can be of great value for the design of classification schemes directories on the web. However, there are differences between the library context in which these principles originated, and the web. This thesis aims at investigating how changes in the context of classification affect the application of traditional principles of classification on the web. Another purpose is to see what implications this has for the design of classification schemes on the web.

According to the curriculum the teachers have a responsibility to adjust the activities in the classroom in order to suit the pupils and to give them the means of assistance the pupils need to be successful in their learning. The teachers should also stimulate the interest to learn and support the pupils? self esteem. One of the problems a dyslectic pupil faces is an often weak self esteem. Another is the weak phonological awareness which makes it hard to fully understand the context and to recognize different phonemes when writing.

This essay is about how working with children with autism works with the laws and regulations that fall under the Compulsory School Ordinance and Lgr11 (Compulsory for primary school, preschool classes and kindergarten). The aim of this work was to examine various educators thoughts, experiences and practices related to children with autism in primary school. The study is based on three questions: what kind of rights regarding support do children with autism have in the Swedish primary school, according to the primary regulation and Lgr11? How do the selected primary schools work with the support of children with the diagnosis of autism? And how well does the affected educator?s think that the support works?To answer these questions, four qualitative interviews with various educators, were made. My results show that all four educators believe that inclusive labor of children with autism is a good thing for everyone, as long as it is done properly and with the right order, so that the child with autism gets the opportunity to be part of a social group.

This paper examines the reasons behind firms considering backsourcing. While firms experience problems with their outsourcing activities, backsourcing emerges as an alternative solution. Firms primarily take cost considerations into account when reconsidering their outsourcing practices, but this only scratches the surface. A deeper analysis is needed, since cost increases arise from issues such as quality defects and cooperation problems. Even though production costs are low, outsourcing always implies transaction costs.

Talented people are recognised as being the most important corporate resource over the next twenty years and a competitive compensation system is an important tool in attracting and retaining talent. Traditional pay systems are recognised as being neither cost effective nor motivating people to do more. Often these systems do not contribute to strategic objectives. This study outlines what constitutes an intelligent remuneration system that will enhance the mind value added by knowledge workers, reward knowledge creation, and contribute to organisational strategies..

The overall purpose with this thesis has been to study the strategic development of the Swedish Green Party, Miljöpartiet de Gröna. From its first appearance in the Swedish parliament 1988 to its decision to cooperate with the Social Democrats and the Left Party in 1998, the Greens has gone from a radical antiparty to a pragmatic support party. The analysis has concentrated towards identifying the causal factors behind this strategic move made by the Greens, and to determine how this party change has affected the party's strategic goals. In order to do so, a qualitative case study has been conducted where an integrated theoretical approach has been used. By studying official statements and internal debates the thesis concludes that the strategic change made by the Greens was due to the evolvement of a new dominant coalition of within the party.

Background: Miscarriage is a common phenomenon in our society. It is reported that approximately 17 % of all pregnant women in Sweden go through a miscarriage every year. For many women miscarriage is a tumultuous life event that often has a deep emotional impact. Miscarriage is a subject that often is prohibited to talk about in our western society. Consequently this means that nurses have an important role in the emotional support for these women.

The present study examines the demolition of a house on Hammarkulletorget in 1996 and the discourse of Hammarkullen, Gothenburg(Sweden), drawn from the perspective of historicization [?historisering?]. I have examined how the past played role inpresentations of Hammarkullen and how the past affected the decision to demolish a house. By examining which role the neighbourhood?spast time played in the perception of the neighbourhood, the thesis aims at providing a better understanding of howthe past can influence and legitimize major changes in the urban environment.In the early 1980s the image of Hammarkullen as a victim of negative publicity is established and this reputation lives beyond thesimplistic and negative descriptions themselfs.

Together with Hälsoteknikalliansen the project team recognized the need to improve availability in the staircase environments. This is a difficult environment, especially for our elderly. The staircase leading to and from apartments is such a major obstacle that many people do not dare to go into the staircase leading to their front door. The market study that the project team conducted showed that many were in need of a living support, often a relative, who helped and supported them when they went into these stairs. It also appeared that these people manage everyday life just fine, but they suffer the problems that stairs to and from their apartment causes.

In system development it is today increasingly common to use a model-based system development method. These methods that are suited for Agile work with simple and quick updates and implementations of new applications in systems conform to the requirements that are becoming more important today, namely more flexible and less expensive system that still maintain high quality and safety.A company that has been working with this type of system development method for a long time is Genicore AB, which also has developed their own tools and model language in order to better model the information management systems in complex and abstract operations. Genicore AB is trying to spread their method other developers and have therefore taken the initiative to start this study. The method is evaluated and tested by two students with relatively little experience in model-based systems engineering in order to gain a new perspective on how the method functions. The method has been applied to an educational activity in order to test it in a new domain, and this led us to our research question;?What criteria are of particular relevance in the implementation of a MBSD method on on complex businesses??Through literature reviews and interviews, we formed an idea of how model-based system development works from a theoretical perspective, and then continued to the case study conducted on the educational activities at the faculty of IT at University of Gothenburg.

The purpose of our study is to examine whether stress among social workers is present, and ifso, what strategies they and their supervisors use to manage work-related stress. The study isbased on a qualitative method. The data consist of interviews, with six social workers andthree supervisors. The study?s theoretical framework is based on KASAM, SOC-sense ofcoherence by Antonovsky, demand- control- support model by Karasek & Theorell, stresstheory by Hans Selye and coping strategies by Lazarus.