The spontaneous blink rate is found to be a non-invasive but functional, reliable and useful way to monitor central dopaminergic activity. Dopamine is associated with a range of functions such as reward, motivation and learning. It plays an important role in goal-directed behavior and in maintaining a behavior once a task is learned. As far as the author knows, there are today no publications that discuss the topic regarding the possible link between training and spontaneous blink rate in dogs. Therefore, eight privately owned dogs were included in this study to determine if there was a significant difference in the spontaneous blink rate before and after the process of learning a task.

The determination of the optical properties of biological tissue is an important issue in laser medicine. The optical properties define the tissue´s absorption and scattering behaviour, and can be expressed by quantities such as the albedo, the optical thickness and the anisotropy coefficient. During this project, a measurement system for the determination of the optical properties was built up. The system consists of a double integrating sphere set-up to perform the necessary reflection and transmission measurements, and a computer algorithm to calculate the optical properties from the measured data. This algorithm is called Inverse Adding Doubling method, and is based on a one-dimensional transport model.

Vid stabilisering av betongstommar är det komplicerat att välja en korrekt elasticitetsmodul. Detta då stommens laster verkar under både kort och lång tid. I detta examensarbete utförs en noggrann kryptalsberäkning för varje plans vertikala element, där hänsyn tas till den varierande byggtiden. Utifrån det analyseras kort- och långtidslaster med respektive elasticitetsmodul för att erhålla en ekvivalent elasticitetsmodul som tar hänsyn till de olika belastningstiderna. Denna elasticitetsmodul bestäms efter förhållandet mellan stommens knäcksäkerhet, snedställning och den vindlast som verkar på byggnaden.Den ekvivalenta elasticitetsmodulen ligger till grund för mer noggrann indata än tidigare vid stabilitetsberäkningar och redovisas i diagram som sedan kan användas i det praktiska ingenjörsarbetet.Där inget annat anges utförs beräkningar enligt Eurokod 2.Där inget annat anges är figurerna ritade av författarna..

In this paper I study how the repeal of the Swedish wealth tax (1 of January 2007) has affected people´s labour supply behaviour. This particular issue is relevant because it may help us understand some of the effects of the earnings tax changes that have taken place in Sweden. Accoring to standard economic theory a repealed wealth tax is similar to an income effect for the persons who previously paid the tax. That means that they theoretically will want to consume more leisure, that is decrease their labour supply. The method I am using to test this hypothesis is a difference-in-difference approach where the treatment group consists of persons who previously paid the tax and the control group of comparable persons who did not pay the tax.

Previous studies have shown that there is a relationship between voluntary disclosure and analysts' forecast accuracy. However, there has been no research conducted specifically on bridges. Bridges contain information on how components such as price, volume, foreign exchange rates and acquisitions have impacted the financial performance between two periods. The main purpose of this thesis is to investigate the usage of bridges in quarterly financial information of companies listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. We provide a descriptive mapping of bridges and find that 30 out of 268 companies are presenting bridges as a part of their voluntary disclosures, with large firms being the most frequent users.

This paper aims at assessing the relationship between female and male part-time employment and the business cycle in Sweden during the years 1987?2005 using quarterly time-series data and two alternative indicators of the business cycle. It further aims at determining whether the share of women working part-time has changed over time. Key results include that the relationship between the business cycle and female part-time employment is found to be significant and countercyclical. No significant effect is however found for men.

This project is about development of virtual drums for iPhone and iPad. The project aims to provide the company Toontrack AB with a good foundation to build drumbased apps. The focus has been on getting a quick response when playing and that user interfaces should be easy to use, intuitive and customizable. The result is impressive and both audio and graphics are of excellent quality thanks to good collaboration with Toontrack, that previously has developed drum-based software. The drum kit offers a variety of articulations and even the ability to play various dynamics, although the screens are not pressure sensitive..

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate whether placement, using a special display, of ecological products, will have an effect on consumer buying behaviour and thereby sales of these products. When talking about sales we refer to the amount of ecological products that are being bought, habitual and unplanned, as a response due to the placement of the products in-store. To further elucidate the purpose, the thesis will focus on if the placement of the products itself will have an impact on the customers? attitude towards buying ecological products. A deductive approach was applied where we did a quantitative study using triangulation to receive data to reveal if the placement of ecological products had any effect on the sales of these products.

Syftet med denna studie är att jämföra hur förekomsten av resultatmanipulering ser ut i företag med olika ägarstrukturer noterade på de svenska börslistorna under åren 2005-2008. Vi har valt att definiera tre grupper av företag: familjeägda företag, företag ägda av investmentbolag och övriga företag. För att identifiera skillnader i resultatmanipulering väljer vi att jämföra medelvärden på godtyckliga periodiseringar hos de olika företagsgrupperna genom ett oberoende t-test, sedan utförs regressioner för att försöka förklara potentiella skillnader. Studiens resultat visar i likhet med tidigare forskning att förekomsten av resultatmanipulering är lägre i familjeföretag i jämförelse med övriga företag. Vårt resultat tyder även på att det inte existerar någon signifikant skillnad mellan företag ägda av investmentbolag och övriga företag vad gäller förekomsten av resultatmanipulering..

Bakgrunden till studien ?r att unders?kningar och statistik visar att elever med utl?ndsk bakgrund i Sverige har st?rre utmaningar att f?rst? texter j?mf?rt med elever med inhemsk bakgrund. Att kunna avkoda och f?rst? en text har en avg?rande betydelse f?r elevernas skolframg?ng. En god l?sf?rm?ga ?r dessutom av central betydelse f?r att kunna delta i ett demokratiskt samh?lle.

In July 2011 the journalists Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson are arrested in Ethiopia when on a mission to report the activities of the oil exploration company Lundin Petroleum. Following a trial, closely observed by media, the two journalists are convicted to a prison sentence of eleven years. The Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Carl Bildt, is now to act on their behalf to preserve their rights as Swedish citizens. However, doubts are raised as to whether Bildt has a conflict of interest because of his former engagements as a board member in Lundin Petroleum.

SAPA´s resource of waste heat is the basis for this thesis to investigate the possibility of energy assets in their cooling water and possible uses for it. The energy in the waste water is greater than the current need which has three uses which are (1) heating the factory, (2) converting liquid propane to propane gas and (3) local domestic heating. The average energy load that is available is 1, 7 MW and the average temperature in the cooling water is 41°C. The total energy load at dimensioning out side temperature is approximately 1,6 MW for the three current uses. The temperature is currently too low to be used directly in the existing systems so an upgrade is needed.

Background: The basis for a price valuation of a company is dependent on both its assets net worth and earnings calculations. While the assets are an important part of the valuation of a company, it is important that the valuation is reliable and resource usage can be measured and allocated to each time period. Purpose: The purpose of this essay is to illustrate the difficulties when valuating and allocating own produced fixed assets. Accomplishment: We have chosen a case study where the aims are to understand and explain the difficulties with valuating and allocating own produced fixed assets. The research is based on nine personal interviews.

This Master?s thesis provides insights into adult women?s fictional reading within the conceptual phrase ?a good book?. Eight qualitative and semi-structured interviews were performed in order to examine the nature of response and perceived benefits. The collected data were analyzed by Louise M. Rosenblatt?s reception-oriented transactional theory of reading and the cognitive psychology-based model of reading developed within the joint Nordic project SKRIN.

The Swedish building stock accounts for nearly 40 percent of the total energyconsumption in the country. Properties built today are likely to last for 100 years orlonger. This places high demands on long-term and smart energy solutions that willkeep the future Swedish building stock energy consumption at low levels. This thesishas focused on examining how the energy performance of buildings is affected bydifferent choices of window types in different cardinal directions. The objective wasto obtain a basis for recommendations on how window properties can be optimizedfor different types of buildings and orientations.