As a result of increased energy prices more and more energy-efficient homes are coveted. An energy-efficient alternative is passive houses, which is characterized by an extremely well insulated building envelope that recovers the heat without the use of radiators or under floor heating. But a passive house requires a higher investment cost than a conventional building project, since it will require more construction materials, training of construction workers, greater land area, and long construction period. But the lower operating cost expects to pay back the higher cost of investment. We therefore question how profitable a passive house is in relation to houses built according to modern conventional building techniques.The aim of our study is to investigate the viability of passive houses compared to convent­ional houses.

Stockholms- och Uppsalaregionen tar sitt dricksvatten från Mälaren och dess tillflöden. Med ett varmare och fuktigare klimat, vilket är ett scenario i framtiden, kommer troligen kolhalten i vattnet att öka vilket kan leda till att nuvarande reningstekniker måste utvecklas. Organiskt material i dricksvatten kan orsaka en rad problem så som desinfektionsbiprodukter, biologisk tillväxt i distributionssystemen samt även dålig lukt, smak och färg. En lovande metod för rening av organiskt material har visat sig vara anjonbytaren MIEX® (Magnetic Ion Exchange resin process).Syftet med detta projekt var att utvärdera MIEX® förmåga att rena vatten från löst organiskt material (DOC), då anjoner (Cl-, HCO3- och SO42-) som kan konkurrera finns närvarande. Detta gjordes genom experiment med vatten som innehöll olika kombinationer och koncentrationer av de fyra ovan nämnda jonerna.

The purpose of this master thesis was to examine how the corporations quoted on the A-list on the Stockholm Stock Exchange were affected by the introduction of IFRS 3 Business Combinations. Their opinion about the accounting rule and the acquired goodwill in particular was focused as well. The authors wanted to see if there were any changes in ROE, return on equity, after the introduction of the new accounting standard.Data for this study was collected through interviews, questionnaires and annual reports. Interviews were held with corporate accounting managers of Assa Abloy, WM-data, Electrolux, Ericsson and SCA. Questionnaires were sent by e-mail to 50 companies and were answered by 30 of them.

The eutrophication of inshore seas, lakes and watercourses is mainly due to leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus (P) from agriculture. Many efforts are made to reduce the lea-kage of phosphorus in Sweden and the Baltic Sea countries. Phosphorus is also a finite resource and the mining of good quality raw material gets more and more difficult. Se-dimentation dams in combination with filters is one relatively new method to separate P from run-off and drainage water from agricultural land. This study was a part of an IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute?s project which tests the capacity and func-tion for separation of phosphorus in four phosphorus filters.

Facilitated by the breakthrough of the internet, new ways of organizing internet-based projects that harness the power of the crowds are becoming increasingly common. Today there are ways of using the crowd as paid labour, as funders of your new project ventures and even for helping scientists doing science. Staying true to its traditional principles of objectivity and trustworthiness while asking the crowd to contribute, crowd generated ?Citizen Science? does not provide even the slightest amount of pay in exchange for the time and effort put in by their contributors. Surely there can not be many people willing to do such a thing voluntarily? Actually, practice is showing the exact opposite with contributions counted in their millions among the more popular Citizen Science projects.

Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka och skapa förståelse för vilka framgångsdrivarna är för företagsekonomiska institutioner.För att kunna uppfylla syftet har vi tagit fram BEN-modellen. Modellen består av ett antal framgångsdrivare som kan leda till konkurrensfördelar samt bestående konkurrensfördelar för en företagsekonomisk institution. Dessa leder i sin tur till framgång, något som vi själva definierat med fyra olika mätbara variabler; söktryck, genomströmning av studenter, ställning i arbetslivet samt forskningsproduktivitet.Studien har genomförts på tre olika företagsekonomiska instituitioner där intervjuer och samtal genomförts med personer i ledande befattning på respektive institution. Som komplement till intervjuerna har empiriskt material insamlats i form av statistik för att kunna utröna hur framgångsrika de är enligt BEN-modellen.Studien visar att ambition och entreprenörsskap är två viktiga framgångsdrivare. Dessa två drivare kan en institution erhålla genom finansiella resurser.

Recent accounting scandals, often led by managers trying to improve results and thereby their own bonuses, have severely damaged the publics view of management. In the aftermath of scandals such as Enron, Parmalat and Skandia, demand has increased for Corporate Governance codes and similar regulation. The Swedish code for Corporate Governance came into effect on July 1, 2005. The code requires all Swedish companies listed on the Swedish Stock Exchange (OMX A- and O-list), with a turnover exceeding 3 billion SEK, to disclose a report regarding Corporate Governance, attached to the annual report.The purpose of this paper is to examine whether the new disclosure required by the Swedish Corporate Governance code will have a measurable effect on stock prices. The authors have applied event study methodology examining daily returns around the announcement of the Corporate Governance reports.

The purpose of this study is to hightlight experiences of living in a relationship where BDSM is being exercised. The acronym is an umbrella term for bondage/discipline, dominance/submission and sadomasochism. The study is based on qualitative interviews with five persons who define themselves as BDSM practitioners. The overall questions of this study are: How does the BDSM practice appear in everyday life? How did the practice start and how has it developed over time? What's included in the sexual BDSM practice? The empirical material has been analyzed with interactionism as the theoritical framework. The picture that emerges is complex.

Holmen Skog, region Norrköping, is located in an area with good potential for backhauling because a large number of geographically scattered mills. However, despite these factors there are many difficulties preventing the realization of this potential. The purposes of this study were twofold. First, from a hauling contractor perspective, to calculate backhauling profits and suggest a profit sharing scheme. Second, to identify and quantify obstacles and possibilities for realization of backhauls.The study required the use of three different types of methods.

Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka varför bloggare bloggar och varför bloggare använder sig av affiliate programs. För att svara på syftet har både kvalitativa och kvantitativa metoder använts. Den kvalitativa datan samlades in genom 15 telefonintervjuer med bloggare som använde sig av affiliate programs och en enkätundersökning genomfördes som ett komplement till den kvalitativa studien. För att genomföra den här studien och få tillgång till respondenterna var det nödvändigt för oss att bli bloggare. Genom vår blogg kunde vi kommunicera och bli accepterade av bloggarna och på så sätt bli en del av ?bloggkulturen?.

The Innovation- and Design Engineer program at Karlstad university is a three year long engineer education. In the last phase a final piece is to be done and in this case Boda Borg in Skellefteå is the company in need of product development. Boda Borg is a company in the experience industry and they are located in nine cities from Gällivare in the north of Sweden to Karlskrona in the south. Boda Borg is a franchise company where every facility is their own. As a visitor you will experience physical challenges as well as intellectual in adventure rooms which are serial linked.

The Innovation- and Design Engineer program at Karlstad university is a three year long engineer education. In the last phase a final piece is to be done and in this case Boda Borg in Skellefteå is the company in need of product development. Boda Borg is a company in the experience industry and they are located in nine cities from Gällivare in the north of Sweden to Karlskrona in the south. Boda Borg is a franchise company where every facility is their own. As a visitor you will experience physical challenges as well as intellectual in adventure rooms which are serial linked.

My master?s thesis is a study of acquisition of photographies during 1958-2008. The questions I proceed from is what patterns lies behind the Royal library's acquisition of photography and how the process of acquisition looks like. The theoretical base which I lean on consists partly of a problematization of the process of cultural heritage and partly of organizational theory. The problematization of the process of cultural heritage is my foundation of this essay.

Water hardness indicates the concentration of calcium and magnesium ions in water. Water with high concentrations of these ions is described as hard water and water with low concentrations is described as soft water. Water that is too hard or too soft can lead to technical and economical problems. In collaboration with Midvatten AB, groundwater hardness in the Badelunda esker between Leksand and Avesta has been mapped, and an attempt has been made to explain the variations. For this purpose, different GIS programs, such as ArcView, ArcInfo, IDIRISI, and one geochemical modelling program, PHREEQC, has been used.

Both the German and the Nordic power markets are seeing dramatically changed conditions due to an ongoing process of expanding the share of renewable production in the systems. For the German part this comes from heavy subsidies which have led to an explosive development in installed capacity of photovoltaic and wind based production. After the Fukushima incident it has been decided to shut down all Germanys nuclear plants. This capacity drop is however not of the same magnitude as the increase in renewables, but will impact the stability of the power system. The Nordic power system which already has a surplus of power sees an even further increase, coming mainly from construction of new nuclear plants in Finland and a general increase in wind farms.