It is important to investigate the potential of biological control measures in agricul-ture, especially where economic issues restrict the use of expensive inputs or when there are environmental concerns about toxicity of agrochemicals. The bacterium Bacillus subtilis has proved promising as a biocontrol agent (BCA) in suppressing various plant diseases and it has also been shown to promote plant growth in certain cases. During this study, the effect of B. subtilis on Fusarium wilt (caused by the fungus Fusarium oxysporum) on tomatoes, as well as its effect on the earthworm species Pontoscolex corethrurus was investigated. Furthermore, the combined ef-fect of the BCA with P.

Abstract Syftet med uppsatsen är att empirisk testa om fondförvaltare uppvisar timing och selektivitetsförmåga, det vill säga om de har förmåga att förutse aktiemarknadens rörelse och att hitta vinnaraktier. Våra undersökningsdata sträcker sig under en tvåårsperiod och omfattar 40 globalfonders dagsavkastningar. Vi har utifrån två olika modeller undersökt om det går att påvisa förmågorna timing och selektivitet. Undersökningen genomförs via ett antal OLS?regressioner där timing och selektivitet kan påvisas.

Myanmar?s entry in Association of South Eastern Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 1997 brought about several economic and social changes. One important change is tariff reduction through the Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT-scheme), which increased Myanmar?s export to countries outside the ASEAN. The increase in exports facilitated trade creation and investment creation for Myanmar.

This is an examination of the Swedish unemployment insurance system and the effects it has on the Swedish long-term unemployment. A search model is explained to give an understanding to the incentives of the unemployed. Different mechanisms that create unemployment and that could create long-term unemployment are investigated, but primarily the unemployment insurance is in focus.The Swedish unemployment insurance has undergone several changes the last fifteen years that have improved its efficiency. The introduction of a finite duration of unemployment insurance entitlement was an important step and so was the decrease in the replacement ratio. Even so, I assess that there is still room for improvements of the incentives to search for work among the unemployed.

This article starts with a review of the literature regarding the normal reproductive physiology of the mare, prolonged luteal phase and medical drugs used within reproduction of the horse, with emphasis on Ovuplant®. The purpose of this article was to measure the progesterone level in blood, of mares implanted with deslorelin acetate (Ovuplant®). The study was performed at the Department of Clinical Sciences, SLU, in Uppsala. There were seven mares included in the study. They were divided into two groups, one experimental group (four mares) and one control group (three mares).

Several studies have investigated the relationship between different measures of innovative activity, such as patent statistics and R&D expenditures and some have looked deeper into the differences between large and small firms regarding number of patents issued per employee or per R&D dollar. In this paper, the objective is to find out if there are any indications of a barrier to entry (due to economical factors, lack of knowledge etc) for small firms to get into the field of patent handling. The approach is to first set up a hypothesis based on some simple assumptions about how firms would make decisions about whether to apply for a patent or not and thereafter use econometric methods in an empirical investigation. The data used for this study are figures on number of employees, number of patents granted and R&D expenditures for the Swedish firms in the pulp and paper industry. The main conclusion is that, based on the analysis of the data from this rather limited group of firms, no such barrier can be seen..

The transition from a planned economy to a market economy was initiated in Russia in the beginning of the 90s. The three components: privatization, liberalization and stabilization constitute the trinity of the transition theory. This thesis has its focus on the privatization, that also can be referred to as a piratization of Russia. The purpose of the thesis is to explain what went wrong with the privatization, and also why it went wrong. A few men, called oligarchs, got their hands on great wealth which has lead to an abuse of power.

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.

Through trading with countries that have a relative aboundant supply of labor, Sweden changes it's effective supply of labor, in a Factor Content perspective. This essay does two Factor Content analyses, one for year 1995 and one for 2000. The first comparison of these analyses shows that Sweden exports about 27 600 labor-years more year 2000 than 1995. However, since Factor Content analysis arguably underestimates the imported labor, some assumptions are made in order to correct for this. This correction has great importance for the final analysis.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om ryssladsspecifik räntevolatilitet smittar av sig på de baltiska staterna. Efter den asiatiska krisen 1997 är contagion ett av det mest debatterade ämnena inom internationell finansiell ekonomi och definieras som kriser som smittar av mellan regioner. Metod: 1998 utförde Sebastian Edwards en studie baserat på en bivariat GARCH-modell där han undersökte om volatilitet i den korta räntan sprids från Mexico till Argentina och Chile. Jag följer Edwards (1998) metoder för att undersöka om Baltikums räntevolatilitet är påverkad av rysslandsspecifik volatilitetsspridning. Resultat: Med bristande tillgång till långa tidsserier för emerging markets kan jag inte påvisa någon volatilitetsspridning.

Today the competition in the automobile industry is getting all tougher. The technology behind cars becomes more advanced. To get ahead of competitors car companies has to look into new areas of innovation.One important area is vehicle safety. Bigger companies have come so far in vehicle safety that difference between cars more depends on the car type (size) than the technology behind it.There is one area where vehicle safety that still has great opportunities for improvement, which is in active safety. The term active safety states that the car has the ability to identify treats and automatically respond to the treats.

The purpose of this Bachelor thesis in Economics at Lund University is to try to establish the correlation between the value change of retail real estate buildings in Sweden and macro economic variables. The principal method is the multiple regression model and it is used to estimate the basic model. The basic model is enhanced by estimating some 30 models and the result is two good models. The difference between the basic model and the two better models are small but important. In the lagged basic model, the same variables are used as in the basic model but with different time lags.

The purpose of this project was to further develop and complete a quadcopter that had been built in an earlier course at KTH, so that it could be used for demonstration and education at the school. The quadcopter was at the beginning of the project completed when it came to hardware, and there was some software functionality implemented but no system for automatic stabilization. The main goal of the project was to implement such a system, and to combine it with the previous functionality to make the quadcopter operable and able to fly. To create a functioning and stable ground multiple basic software features has been implemented, and on top of that additional software to improve the safety, stability and functionality. The most important part is the control system that is responsible for converting sensor and control signals to suitable motor values.

The background for this thesis is that at the beginnings of 1980´s the National Board of Forest started an experiment of lime dressing to reduce acidification in forest soil and in ground water. The purposes of this report are to explain organization?s, government?s and private landowners viewpoint on lime dressing and vitalization fertilization, some socio-economic aspects are presented. The general conclusions are that the majority of the interested party?s are positive to vitalization fertilization but the forests owner?s in generally need much more information about this topic..

The aim of this thesis is to discuss and analyse the American cotton subsidies? effect on the world market in general and developing countries in particular. The amount of U.S. subsidies is substantial compared to most other countries, but a great deal of the effect is due to the USA?s significant share of the market.