This paper replicates a test performed by Burgstahler and Dichev (1997), which identifies a kink in the frequency distribution of earnings for companies listed on American stock exchanges. Their claim, that the kink is evidence of earnings management, has however been dismissed as a methodical consequence. To address this concern, this paper not only replicates the test in general, but also performs tests on a split sample, where founding family-owned companies are separated from the others, since earlier research has shown that founding family ownership is correlated with less earnings management. The results are in line with the findings of Burgstahler and Dichev, with a significant kink in the frequency distribution in the general test. The findings also show that the significance of the kink increases in the non-family-owned sample, while it disappears in the family-owned sample.

Hazel (Corylus avellana L.) is a common feature of meadows and pastures where it can grow in large populations and become very old. Is it possible to use the size of hazel stools for age determination and is it possible to use the size distribution of a population to provide information about how the land has been used? Hazel populations on ground where the lake-water level had been lowered, has been studied to validate an already developed growth model of hazel clones. Different hazel populations, on wooded meadows affected by mowing or grazing or overgrown meadows, were studied to evaluate the method utilizing hazel as land use indicator. The growth model was used to compare the size distributions of hazel populations with historical periods, which has been important for changes in agriculture or demography.

Outages in the electric grid can be costly for society. Because of this, reliability is one of the parameters used to regulate network companies. Reliability in electrical grids can be measured with SAIDI, system average interruption duration index, which for Fortum Distribution has increased in Stockholm?s distribution network (11 kV) in the early 2000?s.By using outage data for Stockholm from 2011-2013, sets of parameters to be used for reliability calculations in the network information program Tekla NIS were derived. Two different options for investment were then analysed: changing old cables with high fault frequencies, and installing automatic switching in distribution substations.

The aim of this thesis was to develop an objective and automatic method for identifying capillaries in microscope images of the skin. Furthermore, statistical data about the identified capillaries and the capillary distribution should be computed and stored in a database. The method was implemented using the platform independent programming language Java. An analysis of microscope improvement using various polarization filter setups and wavelength filtershas also been performed, as well as a pilot study of the effect of applying a local anaesthetic cream on the skin. The method is developed and aimed at research on various pathological skin conditions affecting the capillary distribution.

The aim of this thesis is to get a better understanding of how the management control system works at V&S Distillers. V&S Distillers went through an organizational change in the beginning of 2005. The marketing function went from being a country-driven to a category-driven organization. Among other things this resulted in increased cooperation between employees in different geographical locations. We aim to analyze how a geographical distance affects relations and the use of management control.

This paper describes the rules of the Swedish unemployment insurance as regards the demands on the individual, the obligation posed on the individual based on these demands and the considerations taken by the law regarding the specific situation and personal circumstances of the individual. Special attention is paid to the demand to be available to the labour market and what is considered suitable employment from the viewpoint of geographical mobility. This paper treats ?Arbetslinjen? (Everyone able to work, thereby contributing to his/her own and others' support, shall have the opportunity to do so.), and the amendments of ALF, the law (1997:238) about unemployment insurance, that became active between 1/1 2007 and 1/1 2008, since many alterations were introduced in this period.The result illustrates the demands posed on the individual for him/her to be entitled to unemployment benefit, and the far-reaching demands posed on the unemployed for him/her to be considered available to the labour market from the viewpoint of geographical mobility. The result also shows some of the specific situations and personal circumstances of the individual taken into consideration, but since the amendments are as recent as 1.5 years, the list can not be considered complete, as practice is limited in this field.This paper also treats the Official Employment Agency's monitoring function of the unemployed's willingness to work, and the effect of the regulations not being followed as strictly as per the letter of the law by the Employment Agency officers, leading to insecurity regarding the rights of the individual..

The dependency of continuous electricity supply is high in the Swedish society today, at the same time no one is willing to pay for a too costly or over dimensioned power distribution system. The owners of the distribution systems are the ones responsible for this balance act of maintaining a high quality of electricity delivery to customers at a reasonable cost.In this master thesis a limited part of the primary distribution system (10 kV), owned by Mälarenergi Elnät AB and located in the city centre of Västerås, was chosen for a deeper analysis of its reliability. Its ability to handle outages of system components (N-1 and N-2 contingency analysis) was investigated to find out potential weak spots and parts of the grid that showed signs of being overdimensioned.The results of the performed simulations showed that in 74 % of the studied N-1 contingencies cases, consisting of outages of a bus bar in a distribution substation, the system could handle this without causing outages in other parts of the grid. For the N-2 contingencies 61 % passed the test. It was also found that one of the two included high voltage substations could alone supply the investigated part of the grid.

This report treats two assignments that concerns the biofuel furnace at Billerud Skärblacka AB and how these assignments were solved. The assignments were: reducing the number of CO-spikes and tuning the overfire air control loop. To reduce the number of CO-spikes the possibility that skewness in mass distribution affects the number of CO-spikes were study. The skewnwss of mass distribution was controled and adjusted with two experiments. The conclusion that was made is that the skewness of mass distribution were not sufficient enough to affect the number of CO-spikes.

The aim of the analysis in this essay will be divided into two cases. In the first, I will study the formation of a new State and why a geographic area of a country decides to make an secession. The focus will be on the secession of Biafra from Nigeria in 1967 and how the causes and explanations behind this secession, get in the Swedish literature as well as the international literature. In Case 2, I will use a explanation games, as a means to give pupils more understanding and to make it more clear, why a geographical area chooses to make a secession, and where I will use the secession of the Biafra from Nigeria as my example (Case 1). To more easily understand and answer  the question, why the geographical area of Biafra in south-eastern Nigeria chose to do an secession, I have chosen to study my Case 1 from a social and political context.

This essay reviews the situation for small actors in the Swedish clothing industry. In this essay we assume that loyalty is a requirement for survival on the competitive clothing market. Four small actors have been analyzed up on theories on loyalty, brand equity, relationship marketing, service marketing, quality, interactive marketing, distribution and value creating activities. The chosen actors are Fifth Avenue Shoe Repair, Boutique Sportif, Jenny Hellström and Ida Sjöstedt. The conclusion of the essay is that it is possible for small actors on the Swedish clothing market to build loyal relationships with their customers.

Structural changes on the grocery market usually take place when the consumer is persuaded to take on the more labourintense parts of the distributionprocess. Internettrade changes this by causing competition between the unpaid work done by consumers and the labor performed by employees. In this master thesis grocery shopping on the internet is analyzed in a economic perspective with focus on distribution, changing marketstructures, driving forces and the future potential of internet as a saleschannel. The main conclusions are that consumerdemand and the belief in electronic commerceas a costreducing mechanism as well as a powerful new marketing tool were the driving forces behind the fast growth of grocery shopping on the internet. Electronic commerce introduces a new model of distribution with changing roles for consumers and grocerychains.

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is a quality control system created by the European Union (EU) to protect integrity of certain food and drinks that are produced in a specific area in a unique way. By protecting these products, the EU can certify that the traditional region-specific methods of food and drink production are preserved. The EU countries that follow such a system are mostly from Southern Europe. For instance in France, the PDO system has helped improve the income for farmers, boosted the rural development and assured protection for farmers against the abuse of their brand and the selling of their products by outsiders. In Sweden, there are no PDO products yet, instead there is Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) and Traditional Speciality Guarantee (TSG) that are not as protective as PDO.

The aim of this master´s thesis is to explore how a library through it´s spatial distribution expresses, and is an expression for, a view of knowledge. This is done by an analysis of the Orkanen library at Malmö Högskola. Questions posed in this study are: What view of knowledge is mediated through the spatial system and in the shelving of books? What view of learning is expressed in the spatial distribution of functions and artefacts?The theoretical framework of this thesis has two fundamental features. One, which focuses on theories of social space, a part that is mainly influenced by the theories of space syntax.

Various Fusarium species causes some of the most common cereal diseases worldwide. Besides the yield losses that can be a result of these diseases, strains from several Fusarium species can produce mycotoxins, some very toxic. The aim of this study was to investigate which Fusarium species and how many that occurred in winter wheat grains from Mälardalen and Kalmar län, if there was any difference in the distribution of Fusarium fungi between the regions and the potential within species to produce mycotoxins belonging to the group trichothecenes. Winter wheat grains collected in 2009 from ten fields (unsprayed plots) in the two regions were analysed for Fusarium species. PCR was used to amplify the TEF region where after the samples were sequenced.

The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the Geographical distribution of everyday criminality in the town of Borlänge during the year 2002 and to analyze which measures to be taken in the physical social planning to decrease this everyday criminality there. The term everyday criminality is here to be understood as those categories of crime that appear most frequently in the records of reports to the police every year. Here two kinds of crime have been in focus, thefts from cars and office burglary.In fulfilling this aim two main questions have been answered. The first one is how the everyday criminality was distributed geographically in the town of Borlänge during the year 2002. The second one is which measures to be taken in the physical social planning to decrease this everyday criminality in the town of Borlänge.In order to answer the first question a spatial autocorrelation analysis, Local Moran LISA has been used.