Title: Audit teams ? what affects the efficiency?Authors: Petter Johansson and David RubinSupervisor: Andreas JanssonCourse: Dissertation Accounting, 4FE03E, 30 ECTS, Spring 2011.Key Words: Audit team, Efficiency, Team WorkBackground and problem: Theory and literature in the field of audit teams?efficiency are limited. The theory and literature that existed was not conducted inSwedish context. It was identified that no one had examined the factors thatinfluence the efficiency of the Swedish audit team's. Efficiency affects howresource-and cost-effective an auditing firm can be while the audit is performedwith quality and therefore it is of interest to be examined.Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore and explain what may affectSwedish audit teams? efficiency during the work processMethod: The thesis has been based on existing theory and literature to explainwhat affects audit teams? effectiveness.

During the past 20 years, the price of forest estates in Sweden has raised more than the price of timber. The purpose of this study is to investigate if it, despite this development, is possible to buy a forest estate based on economic grounds. Different forest parameters will also be studied to analyse their effect on the profitability. The study is done in cooperation with the company LRF Konsult. Purchase price of 34 forest estates near the coast of Norrbotten, Sweden, has been compared to yield valuation. For the valuation, guidelines from the Swedish author Lantmäteriet was used.

Poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are a group of environmental contaminants that have gained increasing attention due to their potential to bioaccumulate, environmental persistence and potential toxicity. PFASs have been found in surface water, sediment, air, soil, sludge and ice caps globally, as well as in wildlife and humans. Furthermore, PFASs have also been detected in drinking water, leading to raised concerns for human health, since drinking water is one of the most significant sources of PFASs for the general population. Conventional water treatment techniques have shown to be ineffective removing PFASs, highlighting the importance for further research to develop efficient removal techniques. The aim of this study was to investigate the removal efficiency of PFASs in water using two treatment techniques; granular activated carbon (GAC), type Filtrasorb 400®, and anion exchange (AE), type Purolite A-600. Additionally, the effect of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) on removal efficiency was studied.

This master thesis in energy optimization was made during the autumn of 2006 at Käppala wastewater treatment plant in Lidingö, Stockholm. A preceding thesis, where all electricity consumption was mapped, showed that the aeration in the biological treatment is the single largest consumer in the plant, and it is therefore of interest to reduce this cost. The oxygen control strategy used at Käppala WWTP is working well from a nutrient removal point of view, but not from an economic one. The last aerobic zones have a very low oxygen consumption during low loading periods which give rise to enhanced dissolved oxygen concentrations with excessive costs and reduced denitrification as a result. But also during periods of normal loading unnecessary high oxygen concentration are sometimes given.By modifying the aeration control strategy three full-scale experiments have been made, with the intention to reduce the air consumption.

Swedish healthcare is in continuous need of cost savings and efficiency improvements in order to meet the increased demand for care. The theories of lean, developed from the industry, are applied more frequently on healthcare systems to increase effectiveness and reduce waiting times in patient processes. However, some processes seem to be more successful in their lean implementation than others. In this thesis, factors influencing flow efficiency in lean healthcare are examined. Through interviews with the top executive board at Capio St Göran's hospital, data is collected in order to analyze reasons for success.

Today dairy farmers in Sweden are obligated to have lights turned on during night time in addition to the mandatory daylight inlet. This presents a cost for the production but many argue that it can be economically beneficial, especially in loose housing of dairy cows. In loose housing and even more so in herds with automatic milking, well functioning cow traffic during all hours of the day is crucial to optimise production. In order to keep the cow traffic flowing, lights may be an important management tool. It is also perceived among farmers with tied up stall that night light decreases the incidents of cows accidental stepping on their own or neighbours udders.

The main focus of the essay is to investigate if bugging can be justified from two ethics perspectives, the teleological and the deontology. I?ve chosen to emanate from two specific values which I believe is especially relevant to the ethical problems of bugging, efficiency in fighting crime and the personal integrity. To be able to illustrate this conflict between different values did I do an analysis of an official report which had the task to explore if Sweden should introduce bugging as a new means of compulsion. The official report's statement was that the police should have modern instrument to fighting crimes efficient, including bugging.My examination of the report showed that they used several arguments derived from both the efficiency in fighting crime perspective and the personal integrity perspective.

This study aims at norming a new objective method to track and measure jaw movements in 3D (three dimensional) during chewing in the young adult population (n=41, age 22-30). Norm values of the range of movements and the duration were calculated. Intra and inter rater reliability was high. Masticatory efficiency among participants was evaluated with a two-colored wax, analyzed with picture analysis software. Regression analysis was used to calculate the relationship between movement and duration variables and masticatory efficiency.

This study is an evaluation of the runtime watch function in a OEE software, knownas ProTAK. OEE stands for Overall Equipment Effectiveness, it?s a way to measurethe factories process efficiency. The runtimewatch function allows the user to setup and monitor certain critical objects that are of importance for the pulp and paper process at the mill. The data from the runtimewatch can be correlated towards the suppliers specification for the components.

The purpose of this thesis has been to determine experimentally how good a peltierelement is to convert waste heat from wood burning. Three different peltier elementswere used in a comparison study. The comparison was mainly done to know howmuch power could be obtained from each element. Even, a circuit with a step-upfunction has been created to give a higher output voltage than the peltier elementitself. The result of the experiments was a low output power, the highest valuereached 2.18W.

Efficient energy use in the housing sector is crucial for achieving a sustainable society. The expansion of this sector only represents a fraction of the existing houses, hence it?s within the existing houses the potential for energy savings lie. This potential has been analyzed in order to determine if it?s possible to cut the current energy demand in half.

In healthy dogs, heart rate fluctuates during the day. Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects the autonomic nervous system´s regulation of the cardiovascular unit. Heart rate variability shows the balance between the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, also called sympathovagal balance. Heart rate variability can be measured by time domain - and frequency domain analysis. In a time domain analysis you study the beat-to-beat-interval (RR-interval) in an electrocardiogram (ECG), while a frequency domain analysis can be used to determine the size of the variability.

As a result of globalization, multinational teams are being more frequently used in today´s businesses. This specific type of team can be described as heterogeneous when it comes to nationality and linguistics. The aim of this study was to explore the concept of multinational teams. This was made using culture as a main concept, and nationality, linguistics, and organizational culture in order to describe it. We intended to say something about how this type of team´s efficiency; when it comes to satisfaction and performance; was affected by national and linguistic heterogeneity within the team.

The Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine is promising in terms of lowNOx, low particulates and high efficiency. Due to its homogeneous charge, where thecombustion starts almost simultaneously from a number of points in the combustion chamber,only lean mixtures are possible to burn because of the resulting rapid combustion, which is muchfaster than the combustion in an SI-engine or a diesel engine. When richer mixtures are used thecombustion will start earlier and also be more violent.To phase the combustion later and lower the combustion speed, external cooled EGR can beused. The EGR-system used in this thesis uses a divided exhaust channel where one channel andits corresponding valve are used only for transporting EGR back to the intake system.Consequently the EGR-valve is connected to the intake pressure. This system is called Direct-EGR (D-EGR).Engine tests verified that the CA50 indeed is phased later when cooled EGR is used.

We have chosen to write our essay in collaboration with Varbergs kommun, where our starting point is to improve energy efficiency by management control. Their occupation separates from a pure profit driven corporation and therefore the management controls have to be adapted accordingly.  The reason why we have chosen to write an essay about the management control opportunities to improve the energy efficiency depends on two different reasons. The first reason is that we find it very interesting, how with support from the management control it is possible to improve different parts of the operation. And the second reason is that Varbergs kommun expressed a wish that they wanted to improve their energy efficiency process.The purpose of the essay is to describe and analyze the opportunities with support from the management control to help improving the process of energy efficiency in a municipal operation.