This paper evaluates the effect of exchange rate risk on the sum of bilateral trade. To distinguish the effect between different types of countries, two groups are defined: advanced and developing economies. Economic theory on exchange rate risk and trade proposes ambiguous effects of increased volatility. However, the ex ante hypothesis is that developing economies are more sensitive to volatility. Contrarily to the hypothesis, the empirical results suggest that advanced economies would benefit up to twice as much from a removal of exchange rate risk.

Pheromones are chemical substances representing very specific signal messages within a species. Although a lot remains unknown about their precise effects, it is known that pheromones influence the behaviour of the receiver. Since the mid 1990s, when it was first possible to synthesise analogues of two fractions of feline facial pheromone, F3 (Feliway®) and F4 (Felifriend®), these have been used in so called pheromonotherapy to treat behavioural problems in cats. The initial use of pheromones for specific behavioural problems has been extended to cover the wide field of stress related issues. This studycontains a questionnaire where veterinary nurses and surgeons at 50 Swedish veterinary hospitals and clinics were asked about their use of synthetic analogues to feline facial pheromones in the care and treatment of cats.

This thesis explores the possibilities of avoiding the issues generally associated with compression of noisy imagery, through the usage of vector quantization. By utilizing the learning aspects of vector quantization, image processing operations such as noise reduction could be implemented in a straightforward way. Several techniques are presented and evaluated. A direct comparison shows that for noisy imagery, vector quantization, in spite of it's simplicity, has clear advantages over MPEG-4 encoding..

Aerated steam treatment is a modern and environmental friendly method for seed borne fungus sanitation, mainly used on cereals. The method involves exposure to heat and high humidity, factors which are known to induce a fast ageing of seeds, thus resulting in reduced storability. This thesis clarifies the interdependence between seed age and the aerated steam treatment intensities. Two studies were carried out in this thesis. In the first study the storage longevity of seeds treated with aerated steam was examined. The second study investigated the shelf-life of the pre-tests used to determine the aerated steam treatment tolerance of a seed lot, by testing the treatment tolerance of seeds aged prior to the treatment.

The Squares Family is a game developed as a learning aid in mathematics. With its graphical representation of the decimal system, the four basic arithmetic operations and positive and negative numbers together with a learning agent as pedagogical approach, the game?s primary purpose is to motivate students in their learning of mathematics. Although the game is strictly based on mathematical rules it attempts to encourage students to play and work with math without experiencing it as mathematics as this is initially not obvious. The game being internationally tested on normal performing students, this project introduced the game to six Swedish students who experience low motivation for and/or difficulties in mathematics.

This study has been conducted on behalf of Vectura Consulting AB with the purpose to examine how different actors perceive the dimensions of sustainability and sustainable construction. The purpose is also to provide an understanding of existing barriers and opportunities for sustainable construction within the industry and exemplify with different directions for the actors in order to develop sustainability. The study has approach the research problem by using systems theory, developed by Checkland, to identify the relevant system. Other systems theories has been used as an theoretical framework in order to identify barriers and opportunities, which in this study are based on Hughes?s theory about reverse salients and salients.

The purpose of this study was to examine health promotion and ill-health prevention in the workplaces of the City District Committees in the City of Malmö. More specifically, we wanted to find what types of health problems there were and what kinds of strategies were applied to prevent them. Furthermore, the aim was to examine whether the leaders of the City of Malmö saw any effects of the strategies in use and if so, which. Finally, the intention was to compare our empirical results to previous research in the field of health promotion and ill-health prevention in workplaces. We conducted a qualitative study consisting of semi-structured interviews with five leaders in different levels, two personnel secretaries, two employees assigned to improve the health of the personnel in the City Districts, and one safety representative.

This thesis aims to explore the process where strategies for music artists are created by record companies. We describe and analyze how decisions regarding signing, distribution, marketing, bookings and co-operations are made. Through our study we find that the strategy process can be described as a pattern according to Mintzberg's definition. The "inside-out" perspective is dominating and the record companies base their strategies on internal core competencies and the artistry and will of the music artist. The underlying causes of this are the uncertainty that characterizes the industry; the focus on social relations; and the importance of cultural legitimacy..

Commercial strategies are becoming more common in an increasing number of sports - Swedish golf is no exception. Previous research shows that new opportunities for non-profit organizations, to assign parts of their operations to a limited company, do not have any economic importance. The supplementary question arises why more golf clubs nonetheless choose to corporatize its activities? Is the purpose of commercial strategies generally linked to business- or sport-related success? This paper, containing two studies, aims to create an understanding of the underlying drivers of commercialization, and furthermore to quantitatively demonstrate how commercialization is reflected within Swedish golf in terms of strategy and marketing. Swedish golf clubs were categorized as more or less commercial, and examined based on business-related variables such as communications, brand awareness and price discrimination, as well as sports-related variables as success factors and success indicators.

This paper examines possible applications of fuzzy logic on the field of artificial intelligence in digital games. It describes fuzzy logic in contrast to crisp logic. The paper will give several examples of possible applications of fuzzy logic-based decision making for game AI. These examples include the choosing of weapons for AI agents and the gas-break decision of an AI-controlled car. The paper will also analyze the impacts of game AI which makes decisions based on many factors.

To support uniform and fair assessment of Swedish students? English language competences, mandatory National tests are provided both for secondary and upper secondary education. The current thesis may be seen as a contribution to the further development and validation of these tests, with regard to the likely introduction of computerized testing methods. The aim is to gain further knowledge from current research in the field, to study and elucidate international experiences of implementation, and to gather and analyze feedback from students and teachers. Based on my findings, some tentative conclusions will be drawn, and recommendations made concerning future developments.

Although English is commonly used in Swedish advertising, little is known about its effects. The purpose of this paper was to investigate how a Swedish or English language choice in product advertisements affects the effectiveness of the ad. Further, a local/global dimension of the advertisement was created to investigate how the results differ for local and global brands. Subsequently, an experiment was conducted where the effect of language choice on several well-established measures of ad effectiveness such as awareness, comprehension of the ad message, credibility, attitude and buying intentions was analyzed. In line with previous research, English in product advertisements is not completely comprehended since English is not the local language in Sweden.

Acquiring a former station building can mean that the property owners must familiarize themselves with a lot of planning and building regulations. After the new Planning and Building Act code into force in 2011, the responsibility lie on the developer to ensure laws and regulations. Based on the regulatory framework that is available occurs sometimes balance issues, between care requirements and building codes. The station building in Ormaryd was acquired in 2009 by two individuals who intended to accommodate office and retail space in the building. In doing so a new local plan of the area was established, including regulations on how the building could be used. By including road safety and noise, the risk was not considered appropriate to use the station building for housing.

Purpose and aimThe purpose of this thesis has been to create a deeper understanding about the impact that the digitalization of the music business in the early 2000s and also the latter change, that in this paper is referred to as the sociodigital change, has had on artist brands. We will also analyze the positive and negative effects that this development may have had on the already existing brand environment and lastly also review the true importance of the professional industry?s competence. We have chosen the following research question in relation to the purpose; In what way has the basic conditions for artist brands within the music industry changed since the digitalization of the music industry in the early 2000s? MethodFor this study we initially took an inductive approach as we formed hypotheses based on experiences and previous knowledge which we then corroborated with theories.

Marketers are today confronted with new forms of media and tend to use different strategies to exploit these media. The podcast medium has emerged in a time of changes in terms of media planning. By using stimuli containing identical context with different forms of advertising, this thesis seeks to explore whether ads, sponsorships or product placements is more favourable for an advertiser to practice in the podcast medium. The purpose of this study is to investigate the differences in communication effects, such as attitude towards the brand and purchase intention, depending on the form of advertising. Testing if previous research, made on the same format but in different media, is applicable in the podcast medium carries out the study.