Within the interconnected global markets of today; people, products, and information travel at a pace never met before. In light of the global retail markets recent integration, consumers are opened up to new products and are beginning to develop a vetted interest in the heritage of those products. Within literature this process has been coined "Country of Origin" COO, and its impacts on consumer attitudes, product value- assessment, and overall behaviors has been one of the most emphasized areas of "international business" studies, during the last three decades. Numerous studies have shown a correlation between positive or advantageous associations to a country of origin, and the actual products representing and coming out of that country. It is by this synergetic process that so-called positive COO-effects are brought forth.The goal of this thesis stems directly from the still unexplored potential for Swedish firms to differentiate their products and brands on new international markets, through a strategic and coherent communication of relevant Swedish COO-effects.

Cultivable land is a limited resource and agriculture contributes to some of the most serious environmental problems facing the planet like, global warming, eutrophication and loss of biodiversity. The specialized, industrial agriculture with monoculture and extensive input of external energy, commercial fertilizer, and chemical pesticides are all essentially unsustainable. An adaptation to other methods of production is necessary to preserve the environment for future generations. The aim of this study is to describe the factors that distinguish sustainable from unsustainable agriculture. The results will be used to examine if and how the European Union (EU) works in order to create a more sustainable agricultural industry and to analyze the preconditions for such development.

 In the global society of today it takes more and more to become a successful purchaser. One part of this is to understand distinctions between different countries. The first and the biggest thing that you think about are the languages. Of course this is a big obstacle but there are also big cultural differences to be considered. According to Van Weele (2002) this is something that not, until these days, have been prioritized but today it is becoming more common in the industries.The biggest question we asked ourselves before the work started was how cultural and verbal differences affected the global procurement on Husqvarna.

Trees in urban environment are exposed to extreme conditions, foremost the ones that grow in the hard packed soil along our streets. They are also exposed to damaging insects and fungal diseases both local and new ones spreading from South Europe. The global warming with warmer temperatures provides a longer growing season, making it easier for insects and fungus to establish a habitat. Based on these facts new tree species need to be available for future urban plantings.To determine what these trees would be an interview study began. Six people were selected who have experience in the field of urban environment planting.

As a part of the fight against the global warming the energy production needs to be more efficient and redirected towards sustainable options. One alternative is cogeneration, which means that electricity and heat is produced in one plant. The purpose with this survey is to examine if there are any commercial available combined heat and power techniques, based on combustion of solid moist biomass, which are suitable to small-scale applications. The technique must be able to produce between 2 and 10 MW thermal and the heat demand is a Swedish district-heating system. When already published reports had been studied, the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) was chosen as the most suitable technique.

On ocean beds around the world sinking particles of residual biomass from animals and vegetation have, over time, accumulated into thick layers of sediment. For researchers these layers of sediment contain valuable information about the earth?s past climate, information that can be used to predict future climate change and to estimate natural vs. human causes of today?s global warming.The Institute of Geosciences at Stockholm University studies sediment cores that have been acquired with an apparatus called piston corer.

Influenza is a viral infection that affects global health and economy with its endemic and sometimes pandemic spread. Rapid detection of Influenza viruses enables antiviral use and can bring financial savings. It is also essential for the global surveillance of prevalent Influenza strains. RT-PCR is considered the most specific and sensitive method for detection of Influenza, but Influenza mutates at a high rate and it is therefore crucial that RT-PCR methods are updated regularly.In 2014, Cepheid released their Xpert Flu/RSV XC assay, which can detect Influenza A and B and RSV by multiplex RT-PCR in approximately one hour. The aim of this study was to evaluate this assay at Laboratoriemedicin Västernorrland by using the laboratory?s previous PCR assay for detection of Influenza viruses as reference method.Real-time RT-PCR was used to compare Xpert Flu/RSV XC to the reference method.

Den statsvetenskapliga forskningen har påvisat ett ansvarsskifte från offentliga aktörer till privata. I samhällen där gränsen mellan offentligt och privat luckrats upp har frågor som tidigare riktades enbart mot offentlig sektor numera även adresserats gentemot privat sektor. Sedan 2000-talets början har frågan om vem som bör bära ansvaret för de mänskliga rättigheterna blivit viktigt på den internationella dagordningen. År 2000 lanserade FN ett initiativ om Global Compact som baseras på ?corporate social responsibility? med mjuk reglering.Denna uppsats belyser frågan kring detta ansvarsskifte utifrån de teorier som utvecklats om corporate social responsibility och mjuk reglering.

Intelligent IT-based solutions, often called Smart Grids, are considered to be the future balancers of renewable energy sources. One area within the Smart Grid concept is called demand response, which is focused on making customers more consumption flexible by making them more active in their consumption. In this thesis the aim is to analyze a business model by investigating the income potential for a demand response solution as well as its market potential. This has been done through literature studies, interviews and development of a computational model.The use of 5000 households with flexible consumption can provide a cost reduction of 17.2% or 2.4 million SEK for a balance responsible party during an average year. If the solution is used to make strategic bids on the regulation markets the study indicates that the largest potential for revenues lies within this strategy.

A possible way to reduce pollution and slow down the process of global warming is to increase the usage of renewable energy sources. One of these renewable energy sources is solar power. With the aid of solar panels and solar cells the energy from the sun can be transformed into both heating and electricity. The requirement to use the sun in this fashion is a suitable surface, for example a big roof, an angle between 40-60 degrees and that the surface should be exposed to the south. Almost every farm meets these requirements.

Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka om kön och etniskt ursprung var relaterade till global självkänsla. Urvalet bestod av 61 deltagare. Medelåldern var 18.13 år (SD = .43). Tre hypoteser användes: a) manliga adolescenter kommer att uppvisa högre självkänsla än kvinnliga adolescenter, b) deltagare med annan etnicitet kommer att uppvisa högre självkänsla än deltagare med svensk etnicitet, c) en interaktion mellan kön och etnicitet kommer att finnas. Metoden var självrapport där Rosenberg self-esteem skala (SES) (1996) användes.

Nya fo?rutsa?ttningar pa? marknaden har resulterat i att ett nytt globalt fenomen uppkommit. Detta fenomen bena?mns som Born Globals, och karakta?riseras av sma? och medelstora fo?retag som expanderar pa? den internationella marknaden tidigt efter grundandet. Dock har inte andelen svenska Born Global-fo?retag o?kat genom a?ren.

Today we are living in a time were impulses from other places and cultures constantly grow and the contact over the boundary is getting bigger. We se satellites pictures over the world, we hear about worldwide ecological problems, we learn about other different lifestyles, we cock food that are inspired from the worlds many kitchens, we shop more and we can travel to different parts of the world. My problem was to find out how cultural phenomenon spreads to a greater extent global and how this transference take place, but also be able to se what factors that has a part in the cultural spread.What I found with help from my literature study was that trough improved communication and transports has gained mobility in the world and people can take part off others culture.The world is shrinking and this means that human beings identity is changing and this create a so-called hybrid mixture. Culture is what we human beings create. Culture can be seen as a community phenomenon for the most parts.

Syftet med denna uppsats har varit att studera på vilket sätt stadsbyggnadsprojektet Arabiastranden i Helsingfors kan ses som ett exempel på en generell trend inom samhällsplaneringen. Denna trend handlar om att använda sig av varumärken och estetiska uttryck i den byggda miljön för att marknadsföra och konkurrera på en global marknad. Uppsatsens fallstudieområde är stadsbyggnadsprojektet och stadsdelen Arabiastranden, som representerar konst, historia och design i Helsingforsregionens ambition att uppnå ett varumärke som en ?Art and Design City?. Metoden är baserad på personliga intervjuer, guidning, föreläsningar, planeringsdokument och litteratur.

An increased awareness about the global warming has created a demand for more information on how the climate is affected by different activities.This master thesis was initiated by Tricorona, a Swedish company that offers its customers analysis and calculation of their climate impact. Tricorona also supplies climate neutralisation with CERs, in accordance with the Kyoto protocol and controlled by the UN. This work demands updated emission factors for greenhouse gases. An emission factor gives information about the greenhouse gasintensity of a service or a product [kg CO2-eq./ functional unit].The purpose of this thesis is to examine how electricity, district heating, hotels, taxis, food and materials affect the climate and how emission factors for these areas can be calculated.This was done by reviewing and comparing different studies and by interviewing experts. The information was evaluated and recommendations on calculations and emission factors were made.The consumption of energy is the main source of greenhouse gas emissions for district heating, electricity, hotels, taxis and materials.