This paper investigates the relations between the fantasy genre and the phenomena of escapism. It also delves into the factors which motivates consumption of various fantasy mediums. This is done through interviews with six different fantasy-consumers, along with two observations; of which one is performed at a science fiction convention and the other at a table-top role playing game. The study resulted in a basic understanding of escapism ? it is not limited to the fantasy genre, and fantasy consumers do not deny that fantasy is a form of escapism.

The success of self-service technology in retail grocery stores cannot be ignored, and the fact is that every other grocery store in Sweden has implemented the self-scanning or self-checkout systems. The trend is that the technique is spreading into other markets with potential to increase productivity for companies and enhance the service for customers. Fast fashion is one branch that is left untouched by the development in payment processes, and despite the leading companies extensive focus on fast service, the concept of self-service technology has not yet been tested. This paper undertake a quantitative, experimental approach to the issue and examines the effect self-checkout would have on Fast fashion- customers. By presenting a scenario with and without self- checkout and afterwards asked about the respondents experience, we can provide the marketing world with new insights.

This paper presents techniques for speeding up commonly used algorithms forbounding volume (BV) computation, such as the AABB, sphere and k-DOP. Byexploiting the possibilities of parallelismin modern processors, the result exceedsthe expected theoretical result. The methods focus on data-level-parallelism(DLP) using Intel?s SSE instructions, for operations on 4 parallel independentsingle precision floating point values, with a theoretical speed-up factor of 4 ondata throughput. Still, a speed-up between 7?9 are shown in the computation ofAABBs and k-DOPs.

Environmental enrichment is of high importance for zoos. Borås zoo asked SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) for a student to perform a bachelor thesis for them. The task was to develop and evaluate environmental enrichment for their Humboldt penguins. A structure was made, consisting of a sinking skeleton with a floating bridge attached to it. It was presented in an area of the pool that the keepers had experienced that the penguins did not use to any extent.

The purpose of this report is to examine various roof structures that can operate in a warehouse with large spans. The building that is examined in the report is currently under construction, and the roof construction has already been selected. The selected roof system will therefore be compared with some other structures and materials that have been possible. The report will evaluate three different frame materials, two insulating barriers and two overlaying materials. Another important part in major construction projects is the roof safety.

The regulations for energy consumption are consistently getting more and morestrict. This leads to a higher customer demand for energy analysis early in the buildingdesign process. Many building planners and architects use powerful modeling softwareto visualize their projects. These digital models contain sufficient information aboutthe building?s physical characteristics for reliable energy analysis.

The research of today shows that natural environments are importantfor children's physical and mental development. It alsoshows that children often opt out of the traditional equipmentplaygrounds have to offer. By breaking the boundary betweenthe playground and park, is it possible to create a new spacethat will encourage rather than demand play? Through gatheringinformation and talking to landscape architects, designers,and children, I realized that today's parks already have environmentsand objects that could be used for playing. But whatthey need is something that makes the environment even moreinviting for children to play.

This essay contains material of how the competence maintenance works on a chosen company and how a web based tool developed for its use can help companies with competence insur-ance. As competence maintenance is a major factor to have a long term profit it´s necessary to be aware of the company?s future needs in the competence sector. This essay describes the company?s competence maintenance occupation needs taken from internal documents; it also identifies the need for competence maintenance and presents multiple areas of possible im-provements.

Under vår tid på lärarutbildningen har vi tagit del av en omfattande mängd litteratur som behandlar hur lärare ska väcka och upprätthålla elevernas drivkraft och intresse för skolarbetet. Med hänvisning till detta uppstod frågan om vad som driverlärarnaoch vad som får dem att känna tillfredsställelse i sitt yrke. Syftet med denna uppsats blev av den anledningen att belysa de faktorer som är mest bidragande till att hämma eller främja lärares motivation och arbetstillfredsställelse. För att finna svaren utfördes en intervjustudie med kvalitativ ansats. Resultatet av intervjuerna diskuterades utifrån HerzbergsThe two factor theory.

Denna studie undersöker hur människor engagerar sig med och på elektroniska sociala nätverk (OSN). Syftet var att undersöka på vilket sätt som personligheten påverkar hur vi använder OSN. Data från sextio deltagare insamlades genom ett webb-baserat formulär baserat på femfaktormodellen (?Big Five?) och instrumentet Big Five Inventory. Deltagarnas aktivitet på Facebook uppskattades genom frågor utformade för denna studie.

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of how parents of children in need of special support have experienced their interaction with the pre-school. Our three main areas of interest were to investigate how several parents experienced their contact with the pre-school, if there were any experienced factors that had played a part in the contact with the pre-school and if we could conclude anything about how the curriculum had been followed in these cases, with assistance of the parents? experiences.Our study is qualitative and we chose to interview six parents. We both participated in all of the interviews. The theoretical base of this study is rooted in the phenomenological theory and we also used the framework factor theory to complement our analysis.One of our conclusions was that the parents expressed so many different experiences that we decide not to try compare them in general.

This bachelor thesis in European studies examines the perceived effects ofEuropeanization among officers, soldiers and seamen in the Swedish Armed Forces(SAF) through the use of semi-structured respondent interviews. The study focuses onchange in rules, values, identity and organizational changes.The study shows the most important parts of what is believed to be the biggestfactors behind the major change in the SAF during the last 20 years. The biggestfactors are shown to be the fall of the Warsaw pact and the increasing influence ofNATO in Europe. Interviews show that staff within the SAF has difficultiesseparating change coming from the EU and the above-mentioned factors, partially dueto the fact that most members of the European union are also part of NATO. Although in some areas, such as the completion of the Nordic Battlegroup, EU has played an important role and presents itself as a major factor in the ongoing change of the SAF..

The purpose of this qualitative study is to investigate how some teachers make use of the results of the national tests in mathematics to plan their teaching. The questions are how they plan their teaching in mathematics and if they use the results of the national tests to compare with their own teaching.   Five teachers in mathematics has been interviewed. I have used unstructured interviews with open-ended questions, and I have been able to ask follow-up questions based on their answers. The analysis of the survey is made from a systems theory approach.  The result of the survey shows that teachers make use of student performance to look at their own teaching of the current group of students. However, there is not enough time to rehearse and repair the deficiencies discovered in the national tests, which for some is perceived as a stress factor.

Since Africa?s decolonization a number of foreign economic actors have begun toemerge in several African countries and they prove a vital role in many ways. China isone of the largest actor and they have a long history of political and economic ties withAfrica. China act primarily in Africa to meet their growing economy?s demand fornatural resources, and by providing aid and trade with development countries in Africathey get important natural resources like oil and iron ore in return.

Syftet med föreliggande studie är att undersöka om möjliga själv är relaterade till personlighet och känsla av sammanhang samt huruvida kön och ålder påverkar dessa relationer. Studien genomfördes på kadetter genom en enkätundersökning. Enkäten bestod av bakgrunds frågor, yrkesrelaterade möjliga själv (The Possible Selves Statements Test), personlighet (The Five Factor Personality Inventory) och känsla av sammanhang (KASAM). Resultatet visar att kluster (K-means) av personlighetsprofiler inte skiljer sig signifikant åt vad gäller möjliga själv, däremot uppvisades skillnader mellan personlighetsprofilerna vad gäller känslor och förväntningar kring möjliga själv. Liknande resultat erhölls avseende relationen mellan KASAM och möjliga själv.