The composition of the board of directors and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are two widely researched subject and discussed by the media. This study aims to examine the impact of the board of directors' composition on CSR performance among the largest companies listed on Nasdaq OMX stock exchange 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. A linear regression analysis is applied to investigate the relationship and evidence is found that board attributes have an effect on CSR performance. Among these; the size of the board, outside directors and employee representatives all have a positive impact on environmental performance. Furthermore; female, outside directors and employee representatives have a positive impact on social performance.

Background: Palliative care is a type of care, which does not cure but eases the suffering caused by the disease. The goal of palliative care is not to extend or shorten the patient's life, but to relieve pain and distressing symptoms and to promote the patients? quality of life (QOL). QOL can be understood as a subjective sense of happiness of existence, which means that the patient is experiencing life when her total life situation is consistent with her ??wishes.

In the Philosophy of Right Hegel develops the concept Sittlichkeit (Ethical life) that represents Hegel´s view of how the State should be constituted. In Critique of Hegel?s ´Philosophy of Right` Marx provides a critical so called ?Prussian? reading of Hegel as ultimately a defense for the Prussian empire of that time. The study focuses on a close reading of the chapter on the state, which includes the paragraphs 257-313 in the Philosophy of Right. It examines how Marx?s philosophy developed from this Criticism including some of his basic concepts, notably Gemeinwesen and Gattungswesen, that he takes over from Hegel and includes in his own theories of human alienation.

Kenya is a country of 35 million people and is situated in Eastern Africa. 70% of thepopulation works within the agricultural sector and for many of them food insecurity is amajor problem. Maize and beans are today the staple food for many households. Goodfarming conditions enable two harvests per year and a potential maize yield of 4-5 tons perhectare.A major problem for many farmers in this area is the increase of the weed striga. The weedcauses severe yield losses, and has a major economic impact on smallholders.

Background: Obesity has expanded to a nationwide issue that affects millions of people. The healthcare system struggles to handle the epidemic as the problem grows. Studies show that healthcare workers have negative attitudes toward obese and overweight people and that they lack knowledge and proper tools to support this patient group. Motivational interviewing (MI) is a known technique for initiating lifestyle changes with patients. Aim: The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of MI as a tool for weight loss and sustainable lifestyle changes for people with obesity and overweight. Method: This study uses a literature review methodology with a systematic perspective. Data is gathered and analyzed to investigate how MI affects weight loss.

ABSTRACTBackground: Most cases of lumbar disc herniation are asymptomatic. When symptomatic, LDH may cause a significant physical and mental distress. Initially, most patients are treated conservative but sometimes operations may be required.Aim: The aim of this study was to provide a review of the scientific basis of physiotherapy, including behavioural therapy, as a treatment to lumbar disc herniation regarding pain, function and the size of disc herniation in people suffering from lumbar disc herniation.Method: Four databases were used in the searches of literature. Assessment of the validity of the studies was done with the PEDro-scale and valuation of evidence rate was made according to guidelines made by the Swedish Council on Health Technology Assessment (SBU).Result: Nine RCT-studies were included with a total of 713 participants. The scientific basis is moderate to support a pain reduction and limited regarding improvement of physical function when it comes to physical exercises, including MDT.

This degree project contains a summary of all existing patents dealing with roller hemmingdevices to provide the client with a basis to develop its own roller hemming devicewithout infringing on existing patent. It also aims to describe all the patents on operationand function and provide a review of patents and give a proposal to a new roller hemmingdevice. The project is carried out in cooperation with Epsilon Industrikonstruktioner AB..

This thesis explores how verbal and nonverbal signs communicate attitudes and the rhetorical functions of such attitudinal signs. Attitudes are regarded as rationalized evaluations of attitudinal objects, and through their manifestation in signs an attitudinal gestalt is communicated. This gestalt is regarded as the audiences perception of the rhetors attitude. It is shown that the attitudinal signs function as ethical, logical and pathetic proofs and that they can create identification between the audience and the rhetor. The signs can have effects on the audiences perception of the attitudinal objects, their perception of the rhetor and influence the social dynamic of the discourse.

Background: In Sweden about 19000 people fall victims of sudden death every year. This covers around 20% of all deaths. Relatives are those who are closest to the patient, regardless of the type of relationship. When a patient suddenly dies this affects the relatives and they can suffer from high risk of complicated grief reactions or crises. Being the nearest professional contact in these situations, the nurse has an important role in supporting and guiding the relatives.Aim: The aim of this literature review was to nominate the relatives' needs of support from the nurse when a loved person suddenly dies.Method: The literature review was based on seven articles with a quality approach.Results:The analysis resulted in four themes; "to be seen and confirmed", "information", "take farewell" and "follow-up ".To be able to give support both mentally and physically, it is important for the nurse to give proper attention to the relatives.

Background: Animals have been shown to have a positive effect on people. The nursing science approach says that a person can experience well-being despite illness. The positive attributes of animals can be used in health care to help ill people experience well-being. An animal-assisted intervention can be a form of activity or therapy involving pets (AAA / AAT) or horses (EAT).Aim: The purpose of this study was to elucidate how animals in health care promote well-being for people with long-term illness.Methods: Literature review based on fourteen original scientific articles, with both qualitative and quantitative approach.Results: The compilation of the results led to four main categories with two subcategories respectively. These were: Physical aspects with subcategories Physical well-being and Bodily functions; Psychic aspects with subcategories Psychic well-being and Reduced psychiatric symptoms; Existential aspects with subcategories Quality of Life and Safety; Social Aspects with subcategories Social behavior and Relationships.Discussions: Review and discussion of the selected method.

In this report, we review various methods for generating valid sudoku with few hints. The report begins with a bit of terminology and anoverview of various methods that can be used to generate sudoku. Subsequently we go through the results of these generating methods, where wecan see that in order to generate sudoku with few clues, one must takespecial care how to place the clues of the sudoku. Finally we come to theconclusion that one of the neighbour-generating-method wasthe fastest algorithm for generating sudoku..

It is estimated that approximately 10 000 people are living in Sweden after having been rejected residence permit or asylum, meaning that they have to hide from the authorities while facing a risk of being deported by means of violence as they do not wish to leave voluntarily.For their existence, a vast number of people employed by the public administration can be expected to contribute to the wellbeing of the hidden people through their professions as bureaucrats.The bureaucrats can thereby be expected to be torn between different sets of value systems, roles and obligations towards the state and towards the hidden people.In this master thesis, I examine how five bureaucrats motivate their acting for the sake of the hidden people in terms of legitimacy, legality and morality in their administration, towards their ethic responsibilities and towards society as a whole.The results show that the bureaucrats see themselves as saviours of ethical values in an illegitimate administration where economic efficacy and arbitrary decision-making constantly transgresses The Human Rights, ratified by the Swedish Parliament..

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to investigate how contemporary Swedish picture-books describe ethnicity. The analysis is based upon eight books that were published during the period 1996 to 2006. The thesis is based upon a qualitative content analysis and a model of analysis that has been constructed with inspiration from Maria Nikolajeva and Pil Dahlerup and their conceptions of analyzing literature. The study?s theoretical framework is primarily based on the sociology of literature and the perspective of the society in literature.

The most common types of smartphones in Sweden are iPhone and Android. Development in the IT feld is constantly changing and Windows Phone is a new operating system that has been introduced on the Swedish market in 2010. However, Windows Phone user interface is quite different from iPhone and Android.The numbers of applications for smartphones are increasing, and users are making greater demands on better  usability. Users want the application to be easy to understand and fast to bring into play.  If the application contains a bug or has other user problems, it can ruin the entire experience. If the user does not have a good experience of the application, the user will quickly stop using the application.Companies that do not have any mobile applications would probably begin with an iPhone application.

Visitor Centers were first established at various national parks in North America. Most Visitor Centers were built in the ten-year period following 1952. The purpose of the Visitor Centers was to welcome visitors and enhance their experience of the national parks. Today there are Visitor Centers all around the world, connected to different places or attractions. Many of the Visitor Centers that exist today, especially those in the national parks in North America, were built during the information society.