After the mandatory rules for clearing was removed in 1994, the clearing area has increased in Sweden. After the storms Gudrun and Per, the areas became planted with new plants, mainly spruce, but also other tree species. Storm areas are now being invaded by naturally rejuvenated birch in the tilling tracks. Since the birch often is initially growing faster than the spruce it is inhibiting the growth and is also damaging the spruce. The purpose of this thesis is to study the new brush saw with chain and compare it with the conventional clearing saw, mainly in terms of performance and ergonomics. The results show that the new brush saw with chain is very good in almost all clearing operations compared to the conventional clearing saw.

The executives of a firm possess considerable influence over a company's financial reports. The numbers can be adjusted in a favorable direction by engaging in Earnings Management, which harms the reliability of the financial reporting. Previous research suggests that Earnings Management can differ between genders. In recent years the debate about a woman's role in the business world has received generous attention in media. Moreover, the presence of women in leading positions has become a relevant issue for firms.

During the past twenty years, the Swedish school systems have slowly changed to becomemore and more performance-driven. Private schools have been growing in general and, likeindependent schools and schools managed by municipalities, they profile themselves. Schoolsare becoming more performance and result-oriented, which has changed the roles of teachersin a dramatic way and is in general, still changing.By profiling students based on theirindividual performance, schools are able to help students identify themselves and their owngoals. The process of profiling is a slow one in which some teachers adapt more quickly thanothers, and one that is critical for other teachers to learn in order to keep up with the demandsof society.Schools, like ordinary businesses, are in constant competition with each other to keep up withthe newest and greatest models of teaching and to rank among the best in high achievements.Perhaps the downside of this modern school structure is that it is often difficult to have aschool where both school management and teachers see eye to eye. School management must heavily focus on the school?s results as a whole.

This thesis examines the effects of proximity operators and query expansion with synonyms on retrieval performance. The queries were expanded with synonyms and structured with proximity operators where the permitted distance between terms varied from 1 to 3. The expansion terms were selected from the online lexical reference system WordNet. Initial query terms were selected from 28 topics that contained compound words and were chosen on the basis of their expandibility. The English morphological analyser ENGTWOL was used for normalization of query terms.

This report is the result of a thesis work carried out on the Risifrutti production at the company Procordia Food AB. The thesis is at a master level and is the final work for the author to receive a Master of Science in Innovative production at Mälardalen University. The thesis comprises 30 credits and has lasted for 18 weeks. The thesis is mainly a research on whether it is possible to perform an Environmental Value Stream Map (E-VSM) in a food processing industry and an evaluation if the tools E-VSM and Green Performance Map (GPM) are useful in this type of industry. An extra part to this research is to use the results from the E-VSM and give Procordia Food AB information on improvement potentials in the Risifrutti production. The author has found it difficult to collect some of the quantitative data to the E-VSM, mainly regarding energy, but by using the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) tool and other Lean tools the author was able to identify and quantify several wastes in the Risifrutti production. Recommendations for improvements based on these wastes have been given to the company. In the research part of this report the utility of the Value Stream Map, Environmental Value Stream Map and Green Performance Map in a food processing industry have been analyzed. The author has found that the Value Stream Map has been a useful tool since waste and unevenness in the tact of the production has been identified. The Environmental Value Stream Map and the Green Performance Map are also great tools when a company wants to analyze their environmental impact and then invest in environmental improvements. However, no profound energy analyzes has been done in the Risifrutti production because of the lack of energy meters for steam, electricity and compressed air in the production lines..

Performance Management är en process som syftar till att säkerställa att alla inom en organisation arbetar i samma riktning. Detta uppnås genom att öka tydligheten kring organisationens strategiska mål samt koppla dessa till medarbetarens individuella mål. Vidare är det viktigt att kommunicera vad som förväntas av medarbetarna i termer av arbetsprestationer samt hur detta skall uppnås för att lyckas med uppdraget att minska gapet mellan medarbetares arbetsprestationer och ledningens ambitioner (Armstrong & Baron, 2005).Uppsatsens övergripande syfte är att undersöka vilka erfarenheter ledare inom det multinationella telekom- och IT-företaget Logica har av att arbeta med Performance Management samt vilka delar av implementeringen som har varit lätta respektive svåra att genomföra. Vidare vill jag undersöka hur organisationen ytterligare kan förstärka arbetet med Performance Management-processen baserat på ovanstående.Den empiriska undersökningen har genomförts med kvalitativ metod i form av tre stycken fokusgruppintervjuer med ansatsen Experiential Focus Group. Som komplement till fokusgruppintervjuerna har analys av interna dokument som beskriver Performance Management-processen inom Logica, genomförts.Resultatet av undersökningen visar att ledarnas upplevelser av Performance Management-processen varierar beroende på vilken typ av arbetsgrupp man är ledare för.

It is a common view that companies should focus on building brands to increase profitability and stabilize cash flows. However, building and keeping brands alive is costly. Many firms spend large sums on branding only because they are supposed to, without knowing if they will actually gain from it. Up to date, there is limited convincing evidence that branding actually contributes to shareholder value creation. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between brand strength and profitability and shareholder value.

The aim of this study was to evaluate whether gallop training, rather than regular drive training, is worthwhile for trotters race performance. Another aim of the study was to expand the author?s riding- and driving capacity, and get more practical experience on the impact of interval training on trotters. The sample population in the study was two trotters, one Standardbred, and one cold-blood. Given the small sample population, the results of the study is only indicative on the effects of gallop training on trotters, and not conclusive.

The past and ongoing structural change in Swedish agriculture has led to an increasing number of large-scale farms. The biological factors associated with large-scale farming operations may cause increasing variability, risk and reduced yields due to sub-optimal timing and management of field operations. The theory of economies of scale suggests that largescale production may benefit from lower costs due to scale efficiencies. Thus, large-scale farms may face cost reductions in terms of long term inputs factors, e.g. agricultural machinery.

Normally the operational amplifier is used as a component in active filter design. The goal for future components in filter design is large bandwith and the use of low supply voltages. The use of current-mode instead of voltage-mode circuits gets a step closer to the required performance. A component that use current as the signal conveying part is the current conveyor. In this report a comparative study between two current conveyor structures of second generation (CCII) is performed.

The world's natural resources are constantly being reduced, which increases the pressure on companies to actively engage themselves in environmental activities. Meanwhile, stakeholders focus is being broadened and it is now important not only to supply a particular product or service but also show that they are actively pursuing an environmental agenda. Companies can use various tools to aid in environmental efforts, but also to demonstrate to the world that the company is actively engaged in environmental activities. One such tool is the environmental standard ISO14001 which provides the company with guidance and support on how the business must manage its environmental efforts. To show a business' progress in environmental performance, it is advantageous to use environmental performance indicators as they enable stakeholders to easily understand how the business works with environmental issues.Authors in the field explain that the environmental management system propagation is limited in service organizations.

Cloud Computing är det stora modeordet i IT-världen just nu. Det har blivit mer och mer populärt på senare år men frågor har uppstått om dess prestanda och säkerhet. Hur säkert är det egentligen och är det någon större skillnad i prestanda mellan en lokal server och en molnbaserad server? Detta examensarbete tar upp dessa frågor. En serie prestandatester kombinerat med en litteraturstudie genomfördes för att få fram ett resultatet för detta examensarbete. Denna rapport kan komma att vara till nytta för de som har ett intresse av Cloud Computing men som saknar någon större kunskap om ämnet.

The aim of this thesis is to examine interactivity in the context of performance-based interactive art. The questions asked are: what are the conditions of interactivity, how interactivity happens, and what artistic results it may yield. The method is an analysis based on close studies of three performance-based interactive artworks by applying theories of interactivity, audience participation, and collaboration.First, current theories are outlined, after which, the three artworks are introduced in detail. Next, the artworks are examined, thematically rather than individually, expanding on parameters such as the degree of artistic direction of the artwork, the degree of agency allowed to the spectator in their interaction with the work, and the idea of the ?passive? spectator as being ?activated? by interactive art.

Idag anva?nds 1:1 datorer, d.v.s. en dator fo?r varje elev, i svenska skolor. Detta a?mne a?r intressant att underso?ka i va?rt va?xande globala digitalsamha?lle da?r kommuner och skolor stra?var efter att erbjuda en ho?g tillga?nglighet och kompetens till eleverna.

By conducting interviews, studies as well as scanning the current scientific landscape, this paper examines the opportunities of increasing current capacity within the public transportation system in Stockholm with simple financial means for the benefit of the travelers. The paper focuses on the central station of the subway system and how adjustments of processes carried out in relation to the turnstiles could increase performance within areas of interest, given the preferences of the travelers. The theoretical framework of the paper includes models from the field of capacity management as well as theories related to the pedestrian behavior. Applying these theories and models to the collected data, the paper derives some main conclusions. First of, people using the public transportations system, and especially the subway, consider speed and dependability as the most important performance objectives for the caretakers of the public transportation system, SL and MTR to master.