Ever since it was first introduced in an article in the Journal of Finance 1952, Harry Markowitz? mean - variance model for portfolio selection has become one of the best known models in finance. The model was one of the first in the world to deal with portfolio optimization mathematically and have directly or indirectly inspired the rest of the world to develop new portfolio optimization methods. Although the model is one of the greatest contributions to modern portfolio theory, critics claim that it may have practical difficulties. Partly because the Markowitz model is based on various assumptions which do not necessarily coincide with the reality.

The aims of the study were to investigate the prevalence and antibiotic resistance of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli in chicken and chicken products, and to investigate farmer awareness of antibiotic resistance development. The study was conducted in the Can Tho province in Vietnam during six weeks in October to November 2008. Ninety-six samples from raw chickens were collected from twelve market places and analysed for the presence of Campylobacter. A total of 96 cloacal swabs from 20 farms were obtained and analysed for the presence of Campylobacter. Farmers were asked to answer eight questions concerning the housing of the chickens, modes of handling sick animals as well as use and knowledge of antibiotics and resistance development to antibiotics.

There are several reasons why organic chicken production is scarce in Sweden. Lack of slow growing (SG) strains combined with higher production costs, lower meat-yield and uncertainty of consumers? willingness to pay seems to be the main reasons. EU-legislations imply use of indigenous slow- or medium growing strains in organic production, nevertheless, fast growing (FG) broilers are often used due to their effectiveness. Increased consumption of processed food creates a market for conventionally rearing of very heavy broilers.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how a group of students experience their learning when working in groups, and determine if they prefer to work individually or in groups. This study will also investigate what the students believe that they learn when working in groups. The study is based on these two questions:How and what do students perceive that they learn from working in groups?Do the students in my study prefer to work in groups or individually?The method I have used to retrieve information has been to interview four different students. The interviews were individual; I did so to get a deeper view of how students perceive their own learning in groups.

Many of the schools premises are neglected and the physical environment has not been prioritised. Instead the focus is set on scientific learning methods and pedagogic. The need for an environmental shift has not got an essential place in the governing documents for schools, although the focus on school premises should be suited to the purpose of the activity and for the pupils needs. Today the interest and the need of research within the physical environment is evermore increasing. The Swedish Work Environment Authority, present in their activityplan for 2006, that the schools premises and equipment is not adjusting to today?s activity and it is in bad condition that can lead to work-related injuries.The purpose of this essay is to bring to light a different pedagogic train of thought around the surrounding environments importance, for students learning and to compare these with our study of a selection of classrooms and what the teachers to these classrooms consider about the environments importance.

This thesis examines the environmental benefits resulting from the choice of environmental certification scheme, with focus on energy. This was carried out by studying the measures that were implemented as a result of the certification of Sweco's three largest office buildings in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö. The office property in Stockholm has been certified with the Swedish Environmental Building, Gothenburg with the British BREEAM and Malmö with the U.S system LEED.The results from the study indicate that an environmental certification can reduce the energy consumption by up to 59 percent and the water consumption by 20 to 66 percent. However; the interviews, literature study and simulations in MATLAB indicate that the size and scope of these environmental benefits depend on several identified factors: the type of building and its conditions, system selection, grade level, the choice of indicators, the ambition of those involved and when in time the certification process begins. The comparison between Environmental Building, LEED and BREEAM showed that Environmental Building for the office property in Stockholm gave the largest environmental benefit in terms of reduced energy consumption thanks to several large measures.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to investigate the information use in teacher education students? degree projects. The first study is a reference analysis used to categorize the cited sources in 33 degree projects from the teacher education program at one Swedish university. The aim was to find out what types of sources were used, in particular the amount of citations to scholarly publications. The results of the reference analysis showed that the majority of sources used were text books.

AbstractThis study deals with NTA in preschool and the purpose of the study is to find out how the NTA project works out in practice. In the empirical study I have used questionnaires as a research method (Trost2001). Questionnaires have been sent to preschool teachers in the whole of Sweden to get as good a selection as possible. The responses received have been processed and analyzed. The results are reported below.The majority of the teachers thought it worked well to work with the NTA.

Background: Charity and other non-profit organizations have traditionally not been subject to any particular regulation enforced by Swedish law. Recently though, accounting standards have been altered which, through the new "Bokföringslagen" as of first of January 2001, have affected accounting standards for non- profit organizations. One of the implications which the new"bokföringslagen"has for non-profit organizations in Sweden is the link which it establishes with other accounting regulations enforced by the "Årsredovisningslagen". This link will, in turn, determine which rules that apply for any particular organization. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to examine how accounting regulations are handled by Swedish non-profit organizations.

The aim of this thesis is to study the market for fantastic fiction in Sweden, focusing on the minor publishers and their relationship with the three major publishing groups. The fantastic fiction in Swedish today are generally dominated by bestselling anglo-american authors, especially at the major publishers. The selection of fantastic fiction that is not originally in English and that diverges from the classic, epic high fantasy is often provided by minor publishers. By researching the range of fantastic fiction in Sweden today, and combining that research with qualitative interviews with informants from five minor publishers and Sweden's largest book shop for fantastic fiction, I wish to examine if the minor publishers provide an important alternative for Swedish readers of fantastic fiction. I also intend to investigate whether those publishers actively try to broaden the Swedish market and if they see themselves as a complement and an alternative rather than competing with the major publishers.This is a study in sociology of literature, focusing on a literary genre that is generally regarded as popular or trivial literature.

Inbreeding has become a problem in some horse breeds. Studies show that it may lead to inbreeding depression which affects e.g. reproduction traits. In the wild there are mechanisms that make horses avoid mating with close relatives. When selection is done by humans this mechanism is removed and intensive breeding for a few traits, for example good racing results, can become a problem.

This thesis was commissioned by Volvo Powertrain, where manufacturing and assembling of transmissions is performed, which is used in the company's trucks and buses. The thesis has consisted of a case study that intends to study the problem areas in the current proposed activities and continuous improvements in the assembly department in the Volvo Powertrain facility.In the current situation, the proposals that are submitted by the employees suggest mainly minor improvements. The proposals concern for example, labelling of materials boxes and holders for tools, which do not generate any significant profit for the company. Directors and executives want an increased amount of proposals with a more results-oriented type, in terms of reduced costs, time consumption and stops, and improved quality. The company would also deal with the problems that arise when implementing improvements in the production.

Det finns ett flertal studier som beskriver och diskuterar olika aspekter av standardiserade arbetsmetoder och personbedömning i arbetslivet. Till vår kännedom finns dock ingen studie som belyser möjliga effekter av den nyligen lanserade bedömningsstandarden ISO 10667 i förhållande till rekrytering och urval, vilket var ambitionen med denna studie. En ökad förståelse för hur standardiserade bedömningstjänster i arbetslivet kan påverka och motivera organisationer är viktigt ur så väl ett teoretiskt som ett praktiskt perspektiv. På en teoretisk nivå kan forskningsresultat bidra till den allmänna förståelsen om fenomenet standardisering, och på en praktisk nivå hjälpa företagare att bedöma och utvärdera standardens betydelse för den enskilda verksamheten.Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka och förklara hur standardiserade bedömningstjänster i arbetslivet kan påverka risken för felrekrytering, diskriminering och subjektiva bedömningar vid rekrytering och urval. För att uppfylla syftet genomfördes kvalitativa intervjuer med representanter från två företag som medverkar i nätverket för ISO 10667samt representanter från två rekryteringsbolag som i dagsläget står utanför nätverket.Resultatet av denna studie visar att ISO 10667 i viss mån kan minska risken för felrekrytering, diskriminering och subjektiva bedömningar vid rekrytering och urval.

This thesis aims to explore the use of costumed interpreters at museums. Firstly the thesis examines how extensivethe use of historical costumes is in Sweden, along with some international comparisons. Later on the differentways that the clothes are used is examined, and the costume as a resource for learning is discussed. In the lastpart of the thesis the ?function? of the costume is examined.

Timber floating operations in Scandinavia during the 19th and 20th centuries has contributed to severe negative impacts on riverine ecosystems. Increase in water velocity and lack of stream bed heterogeneity as a result of stream channelization lead to increased bed load transport. Since availability and recruitment of new suitable spawning substrate in Scandinavian watercourses is sparse, spawning habitats for salmonids has become a scarce commodity. Lately, increasingly more attention has been given to the recreation and improvement of brown trout (Salmo trutta) spawning habitats in restoration projects. While much of the research on spawning habitat has been focused on evaluation of the influence that the constructed spawning grounds have on fish populations, few studies have been conducted to evaluate the persistence of these constructions over time. I evaluate erosion of constructed spawning beds as an effect of sediment transport attributable to water discharge.