Titel: Thinking outside the box: Goals and Salary boxes as motivational factorsAuthors: Anna Ceder and  Karin Barwinger PlogareSeat of Learning: Uppsala UniversityPurpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate if the imposition of salary boxes in Uppsala municipality has had any influence on the organisation?s employees? to improve their work motivation. The reason for the study was to look deeper into employees? motivational factors, this with a focus on salary as motivational factor in structures of salary boxes where it is possible for the employee to work towards goals which affect their salary. The primary purpose of the study was to look into if employees? ability to advance their performance had any connection to the impostion of salary boxes.Methodology: In order to collect as much data as possible for the Measurements one of the largest occupational groups in Uppsala municipality was chosen, which represents the group of pre-school teachers.

Investment in hedge funds is a relatively new phenomenon for investors compared with other forms of savings. In recent years, the interest has increased among investors in investing their money in hedge funds, given the protection against declines in the market they are aiming for. Their main purpose is to generate a high return at a low risk regardless of market trends. This they can achieve by having fewer restrictions that offer more flexible investment strategies and freer investment opportunities.The purpose of this paper is to identify how the selected hedge fund strategies have performed during the recent economic downturn. We also want to clarify the claim that hedge funds exhibit a positive absolute return regardless of what the market is performing.In order to answer the purpose of the essay and its problems, we have used a quantitative method with a deductive approach in the processing of data.

With background in the rapidly growing need to find solutions for sustainable energy production and the increasing interest for wind power, this report was written. With take-off point from the wind power plant Big Glenn, which has been built in the harbour of Gothenburg, a model of the adjacent power grid has been created in Simulink/SimPowerSystems. Parameters for the power grid and its components has been provided by Göteborg Energi Nät, that has also been the supplier of measurement data of produced power, the power need from loads in the vicinity, voltage levels, current values and also the variation of power factor at the wind power plant.The SimPowerSystems model has been used to perform simulations of power flow in the grid. These simulated values have then been compared to the measured values to verify the functionality of the model. Further, the model has been used to perform simulations of a grid fault, which causes a voltage drop.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is a correlation between the actuarial assumptions, of listed groups in Large Cap on the Nasdaq Stockholm, equity ratio and their pensionplans funding status.Method: The study is based on a quantitative research method, where the analysis of annual reports takes place. The quantitative research method has enabled the paper to perform related analyzes and comparisons of means between groups, for listed companies equity ratio and pension obligation, and the relation to its actuarial assumptions. Correlation Measurements are made using a non-parametric method, Spearman's rho, then further tested using one-sided hypotheses t-test.Theory: The backbone of the thesis is presented using two theories, earnings management and the principal-agent theory. These theories are intertwined with the previous researches, which also dealt with the essay topic of earnings management in previous years and in other countries.Empirical: Correlation analyzes between the studied actuarial assumptions and corporate groups solidity and pension financial status is presentedusing tables and charts. These are further analyzed using hypothesis tests and scatterplots.Conclusion: All tests resulted in very weak correlation between the different variables and can there for not be classified as significant.

Dokumentet är ett resultat av studier gjorda under kursen Kandidatarbete I Datavetenskap. Arbetet utforskade, genom fallstudie, två egenskaper av distribuerade informationssystem och relation mellan dessa: säkerhet och prestanda. Målet med fallstudien har varit att belysa nackdelen med användning av Secure Socker Layer (SSL) dvs. dess effekt på hastigheten och fördelen med SSL, dvs. SSL:s roll i informationssäkerhetsarbetet. Arbetet visar hur prestanda i ett tillämpad distribuerat informationssystem kan påverkas av en SSL tillämpning.

Swedish agriculture has gone through big changes in the latest 60 years. The farm sizes have increased, which has led to raised tractor and machinery sizes and therefore increasing problems with soil compaction. A method to reduce these problems is to implement controlled traffic farming, CTF. All field operations are then concentrated to specific tracks by using GPS guidance. The aim of this work was to study how the tillage regime, with or without CTF, affects the soil, with the main focus on macroporosity. In Säby close to Uppsala, and Alnarp close to Malmö, randomized block trials has been carried out, and the data has mainly been taken from these trials.

This essay is a case-study of a phenomenon called ?ostalgie? which could be described as GDR-nostalgia. ?Ostalgie? is a compound of the two German words ?ost? (east) and ?Nostalgie? (nostalgia.) It is, like a similar phenomenon referred to as ?communist nostalgia?, a type of nostalgia. However, if one were to define ?ostalgie? as ?communist nostalgia? important aspects of the phenomenon would be left out.

Background Calprotectin is a protein expressed in the cytoplasm inside the neutrophile granulocytes. During inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the neutrophile granulocytes are involved in a complex interaction at the inflammatory area where they die and release their content into the intestinal lumen. Therefore, calprotectin in stool is a suitable marker for diagnosis and measurement of the disease-activity in patients with IBD. The most commonly used method to detect calprotectin in stool is ELISA, but the process of manual preparation of stool samples is time-consuming.Aim The objective of the study was to evaluate an extraction method that could replace manual preparation of fecal samples and to compare different methods for measuring Calprotectin in stool using two ELISA-methods from two manufacturers and one rapidtest.Methods For extraction of calprotectin from stool samples we used sample collector tubes from Epitope Diagnostics and fecal preparation kits from Roche. Two different ELISA-kits for measuring calprotectin concentration in stool were compared.

This essay discusses the Laholm?s bay and its eutrofication problems. The question of issue is: Have the efforts to limit the eutrofication in the Laholm?s bay been effective? What is the local actor?s opinion whether the measures have been effective or not? What efforts have been made to prevent the leakage of nutrients from fields and forestland? The Laholm's bay is located in the south part of the Swedish west coast. The problem was noticed in the 1960´s by local fishermen that experienced a lack of catch.

The objective of this thesis is to map the resources and methods used at the department OPPC, at AstraZeneca, and derived from that give suggestions on possible solutions that will increase their productivity.Mapping of the product flow, as well as gathering of process data, has mainly been done using observations, but consultation with the process technicians has also played a great role. Further have theoretical methods been used, based on literature studies, within the areas of Lean production and statistics.The work has incrementally gone forward since the steps taken has been restricted by the irregularity of production which led to the need of creating a fictive production flow. This has affected the lead-time calculations in the way that they are meant to give an indication, rather than an absolute truth, on how different methods described shall be used.The current state analysis showed multiple areas of improvement when defining capacity as value adding time in relation to total throughput time. Using the "standard scenario" as a basis showed that the actual production flow only constituted 50% of the total project time. Further it showed that the workflow contained more non-value adding activities than value adding activities, which is a result of how the work is distributed within the department as well as in the different projects.

AbstractPURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe and compare possible differences regarding selected prognostic factors for disability between patients with non-specific chronic pain who were about to start a multidisciplinary treatment program (MMR), either within primary care (MMR1) or hospital care (MMR2).METHODS: The study had a descriptive and comparative cross sectional design. Eighty-nine patients were recruited consecutively when they were about to start their team treatment (50 in MMR1,39 in MMR2). The Measurements were; Evaluation of self-reported self-efficacy for eight daily activities (STIVA-8), The Pain Belief Screening Instrument (PBSI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).RESULTS: The study found some significant differences between the answers from patients in MMR1 and those from patients in MMR2. For instance, patients in MMR2 estimated lower self-efficacy according to STIVA-8 than patients in MMR1. Also, there were fewer low risk patients and more high risk patients in MMR2 than in MMR1 regarding pain intensity according to PBSI.

Reducing the CO2-pollution, resulting from the combustion of fossil coal for energyproduction, is important to affect environmental changes. One way to achieve a reductionis to use the oxy-fuel technology. The technology uses O2 and re-circulated flue gasduring the combustion which results in a flue gas mainly consisting of CO2. The flue gascould then be compressed and stored without environmental effects. A problem thatfollows from the compression is the risk of acidification in sensitive parts of the process.Acidification can occur because of reactions following from the contact of condensedwater and sulphur- and nitrogen-oxides which are also present in the flue gas.This report compiles and evaluates the basis of a scientific unit with the purpose ofexploring the possibilities of extracting impurities of SOx and NOx from the flue gases.The dimensions of the unit are based on basic conditions, defined for an existing oxy-fuelprocess at Chalmers, and on the results of computer modelling.

The Swedish boreal forests are limited by nitrogen (N) availability. While biological N2 fixation by cyanobacteria hosted by pleurocarpous feather mosses are important sources of N input to natural boreal forest ecosystems, little is known about the patterns of N2 fixation in silvicultural systems. This study investigates the biological N2 fixation rates of two boreal feather moss species (Pleurozium schreberi and Hylocomium splendens) along a chronosequence from clear-cut to mature forest, as well as the vegetation characteristics along the chronosequence. Measurements and samples were collected from 32 forest sites that were classified into four age classes (clear-cut, pre-commercially thinned, thinned and mature forest). The sites were located near the city of Arvidsjaur in northern Sweden.

The purpose of this randomized controlled study was to investigate the effect of internet- administered guided self-help for women suffering from psychological problems following traumatic childbirth. The eight-week treatment program consisted of written chapters based on cognitive behavioral therapy. 56 participants were randomly assigned to a treatment group (n = 28) or a waiting list group (n = 28).The results showed that post-traumatic symptoms decreased as a result of the treatment, with large within-group effects measured by both the Traumatic Event Scale (TES) (d = 1.33) and the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R) (d = 1.3). The difference between the groups was only significant when measured by the IES-R in which case the between-group effect was large (d = 0.97). The proportion of the participants who showed clinically significant improvement was considerably greater in the treatment group than in the waiting list group.

Introduction: A complex interaction between muscles, tendons, bones, joints and nerves are required for optimal function of the human hand. It is known that an individual?s grip strength is vital for performance of physical demanding tasks such as strength training with free weights. Strength training including a thicker grip around the bar may enhance the strength of the grip in the athlete without other special routines for grip strength development. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the difference in performance in multiple repetitions in two strength training exercises using two different sizes on the bar, to look for correlations between grip strength of the subjects hand and the amount of repetitions executed with two different size of the bar and finally the correlation of hand size and the amount of repetitions executed with two different size of the bar.Method: 15 strength training men (23,9 ± 4,1 years), underwent Measurements of hand size, maximum grip strength, 1 repetition maximum (1RM), a 80 % of 1RM weight strength test with two different  bar sizes.Results: The results from the present investigation indicates a 21,1 % reduction of 80 % of 1 RM weight performance in repetitions executed in the bench press with the thicker diameter of the bar and a 66,2 % reduction in repetitions executed with a 80 % of 1 RM weight in the lying bench row with the thicker diameter of the bar.