The rainforests of the world are important not only to the countries in which they grow but to the world as a whole. They influence oxygen and water circulation as well as carbon sequestration which in turn affect global radiation and global warming. The forest also have great value and in Malaysia as in many other tropical countries large volumes are harvested which leaves great areas of degraded forest with little growth and biological diversity. Due to their low financial value these forests are often transformed and used for other purposes than forestry such as oil palm plantations. The trees are often transported out of the forest using large bulldozers. They are heavy which causes compaction of the forest floor and during transport the top soil layers are moved to improve mobility.

The purpose of this Master's thesis is to find possible explanations of variation in light scattering in a fine paper. Samples were collected from each second tambour during a time period of two weeks from a paper machine at MoDo Paper, Husum. Two data sets, consisting of 20 and 95 observations, were selected for extensive analysises of tensile and structual properties. The data was evaluated with multivariate data techniques using the programs Simca and Extract. The results of PCA- and PLS- analysises pointed out 3 of 52 variables as important for the variations in light scattering.

This thesis aims to examine problems that occur when determining the fair value of investment properties. It also takes into consideration the reliability and relevance of the reported fair values on behalf of the key stakeholders. The study has been conducted by interviewing representatives at real estate and external valuation companies. The study shows that there is a need for assessments in the valuation process and that real estate companies have room for their own interpretations. The conclusion is that determining fair value is an estimate, not a fact.

This thesis describes an optimising compiler for translating from SMV to CLP(B). The optimisation is aimed at reducing the number of required variables in order to decrease the size of the resulting BDDs. Also a partitioning of the transition relation is performed. The compiler uses an internal representation of a FSM that is built up from the SMV description. A number of rewrite steps are performed on the problem description such as encoding to a Boolean domain and performing the optimisations.

In Korsnäs district Dala Väst there were problems with information concerning their younger forests, mainly those in pre-thinning stage. They were divided into large, heterogeneous stands with often poor stand data quality. In 2006 an aerial photo interpretation of the young forests was conducted to fix these problems. Necessary information to get from the interpretation were silvicultural management suggestions, new stand delineation and new stand data. This thesis is supposed to evaluate the quality and usability of the interpreted data. To evaluate the interpretation an objective control inventory was conducted in 60 stands, either through callipering or counting stems.

The Sub-Saharan countries have for a long time struggled with poverty and conflicts which might have proven hostile for investors. The analysis aims to see if there is a significant correlation between foreign direct investments (FDI) and economic growth and which cultural and institutional factors seem to be significant in this correlation. Considered are also other variables and their influence that might explain what motivates and gives incentives for foreign direct investments (FDI) and are used in the construction of a regression analysis. This to see whether there is an effect on the economic growth in relations to FDI. The results show that FDI is of significance to the economic growth in the region and the study shows that corruption seems to be the most significant institutional factor in the correlation with effect on economic growth and the ability to attract FDI..

Although previous research conclude that mergers and acquisitions do not always lead to improved profitability or increased shareholder return, the number and size of M&A?s is steadily increasing. In this thesis we examine why an acquirer pays a price higher than the market value. Can accounting data explain the size of the premium? 618 European transactions between 1997 and 2008 are examined and relationships between the targets? accounting data and the premium is analysed through statistical regressions.

Sammanfattning Titel: Lågkonjunktur ? En studie i vilka skillnader som finns för variationen i antal anställda inom IT- respektive industribranschen Författare: Emilio Nilsson, Oscar Kacprzak Handledare: Emil Numminen Institution: Blekinge Tekniska Högskola Kurs: Kandidatarbete i Företagsekonomi Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka och analysera för hur företagets ekonomiska data för den relativt unga IT-sektorn förklarar antal anställda gentemot hur företagets ekonomiska data förklarar nyckeltalet för en äldre mer erfaren bransch som industrisektorn. Metod: Vi har samlat ihop kvartalsrapporter från 1999 års första kvartal till 2009 års första kvartal för totalt 10 stycken företag som vi bedömt lämpliga för studien, 5 företag från IT-branschen samt 5 företag från industribranschen. Vi har därefter fört regressionsanalyser med antal anställda som Y-variabel och totala intäkter, aktienivå, rörelsekostnader samt rörelseresultat som X-variabler för att finna korrelationen däremellan. Slutsats: De framkomna resultaten från regressionsanalyserna pekar på att det finns skillnader branscherna emellan.

This study explores the different effects on attitude and behaviour three frequently used advertising techniques have. The techniques compared are social influence and egoistic and altruistic benefit-appeals. The results showed that ads featuring social influence had statistically significant higher mean values regarding attitude towards the ad compared to both the other ads, and significantly higher mean values regarding brand attitude compared to the ad appealing to egoistic motivations. Though, all advertising effectiveness measures used in this study - that is, attitude and intention variables - indicated that social influence was more effective than the other advertising messages. Thus, in accord with earlier studies, it can be stated with confidence that social influence is an effective tool to use in marketing communications..

This paper investigates the automatic stabilizer and the underlying factors behind its function. The paper includes both a literature review and an empirical analysis. The literature review discusses the IS-LM and Mundell-Fleming models and different ways to quantify the automatic stabilizer. Based on the theory, the relationship between volatility in GDP and the size of the automatic stabilizers is then analyzed with the help of regressions. Our main result shows a negative relation between these two variables.

The purpose of this essay is to examine which factors that influence the design of internal control in municipal context and how well it works. We choose seven municipals, where we interviewed the administrative managers, the chairmen of the committees and two persons of the staff in each activity unit. The interviews were performed by telephone, due to the keeping of the essay?s timeframe.The theory in our essay comprises eight hypotheses. These hypotheses were operationalised into different variables aiming to make statistical tests possible.

AimThe aim of the present study was to evaluate physical performance according to ?fysprofilen? in skiers of the Swedish mogul ski team and to compare their physical performance at three test occasions during one year.MethodsAll eight elite mogul skiers at the Swedish national mogul ski team during the seasons 2011/2012 and 2012/2013 participated voluntarily in this study. The test battery ?fysprofilen? was performed at three test occasions, October 2011, May 2012 and October 2012. Muscle strength was evaluated with squats, bench press and grip strength; power was evaluated with power clean, squat jump, countermovement jump with and without arm swing, Harre´s test and the 30 meters sprint.

Sammanfattning Titel: Lågkonjunktur ? En studie i vilka skillnader som finns för variationen i antal anställda inom IT- respektive industribranschen Författare: Emilio Nilsson, Oscar Kacprzak Handledare: Emil Numminen Institution: Blekinge Tekniska Högskola Kurs: Kandidatarbete i Företagsekonomi Syfte: Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka och analysera för hur företagets ekonomiska data för den relativt unga IT-sektorn förklarar antal anställda gentemot hur företagets ekonomiska data förklarar nyckeltalet för en äldre mer erfaren bransch som industrisektorn. Metod: Vi har samlat ihop kvartalsrapporter från 1999 års första kvartal till 2009 års första kvartal för totalt 10 stycken företag som vi bedömt lämpliga för studien, 5 företag från IT-branschen samt 5 företag från industribranschen. Vi har därefter fört regressionsanalyser med antal anställda som Y-variabel och totala intäkter, aktienivå, rörelsekostnader samt rörelseresultat som X-variabler för att finna korrelationen däremellan. Slutsats: De framkomna resultaten från regressionsanalyserna pekar på att det finns skillnader branscherna emellan.

The official statistics on communication and transports in Sweden is administered by Statens Institut för kommunikationsanalys (SIKA). SIKA?s commission includes production of statistics on the Swedish vehicle fleet. These statistics provide important information tofinancial institutes, ministries, industry and mass media among others. Furthermore, the vehicle statistics include measures of comparison between different counties and municipalities.

Earlier research has shown the difficulty of defining insulting behaviour in the workplace. It has been noted that the individual and subjective definition is connected to the specific situation in which the potentially insulting incidence occurred. In this study we designed a quantitative questionnaire in order to hopefully elucidate the comprehension of insulting behaviour and furthermore enable a more in-depth investigation on how important the contextual meaning is. This study examined 140 (n=140) working adult?s attitudes towards insulting behaviour in the workplace and the importance of the contextual variables.