Due to their complexity and heavy wear from rail traffic, switches are a sensitive part of the railway infrastructure and moreover expensive to maintain. Furthermore, increasing railway traffic not only accelerates the wear rate but also obstructs the necessary maintenance measures. This paper examines the opportunities for a transition to a long-term maintenance strategy in the Swedish railway network. It contains a study of the maintenance strategy of Banverket, and also analyses statistics of errors in the railway infrastructure. The survey was completed utilising interviews with infrastructure managers, maintenance contractors, planners of railway operations and the Banverket material service department.

Detta examensarbete går ut på att ta fram en applikation, avsedd för mobiltelefoner, där man på ett enkelt sätt kan få reda på avgångarna för Dalarnas kollektivtrafik. Det stigande bensinpriset och bilåkningens negativa miljöpåverkan ligger som grund till att Etex AB och Balanz AB vill undersöka om det går att få människor att välja bussen framför personbilen. Om man genom denna applikation kan underlätta planeringen av människors dagliga resor, hur påverkas då valet av fortskaffningsmedel?Resultatet blev en applikation där man, via sin mobiltelefon, bland annat kan ta reda på avgångar för utvalda linjer av Dalatrafiks bussar, hantera linjekartor och synkronisera avgångar med telefonens kalender. Alla tidtabeller sparas i telefonen för att minska nätverkstrafiken och för att informationen enkelt ska kunna återanvändas.Dalatrafik är det företag som ansvarar för kollektivtrafiken i Dalarna.

AbstractAt the UN Conference on Environment and Development in 1992 the nations stated that traditional environmental policies were not sufficient to handle the multidimensional challenges posed by sustainable development. Governments needed to broaden their political decision making procedures in order to coordinate and integrate environmental, social and economic policies. Therefore a new tool was introduced in Agenda 21, National Strategies for Sustainable Development (NSDS). The aim of an NSDS would be to bring together actors from all parts of society to jointly reach a consensus on how to work towards the vision of a sustainable society. An NSDS would be seen as a strategic tool to help focus national policies for SD.

In this study we examine how much latency is required in an RTS-game (Real-Time Strategy) before the player quits the game. In the study latency is simulated in the games Age of Mythology and Starcraft: Brood War with the program WANem, and then the testplayers are asked ?Do you want to quit because of latency??. This data is then gathered and compiled into graphs to show the results. These results show that the limit for when players want to quit differs between the two games and that there are two factors that play into this.

During the last two decades, technology has developed rapidly. It has become a natural part of everyday life, which we today take for granted. It isn?t until the last few years that technology has quickly become a big part in the school environments. Computers, tablets and other technology is today a big part of the education and teaching.

The purpose of this thesis is to study how Malaysia Airlines communicated during the two largest crises of 2014. Key questions to be answered are: Did organizational hypocrisy occur? If yes, in what way? Which communication strategies were used? Did the company mediate an unequivocal message and how was the information framed? Did any aggravating factors, which worsened the organization?s reputation, appear? How did Malaysia Airlines manage possible rumours? Was the word contact used as a keyword? The method of choice is a quantitative content analysis and the material consists of 20 different analysis units. These analysis units were collected from social media and Malaysia Airlines website. The quantitative content analysis is based on the theory Situational Crisis Communication Theory, taken from PR, Strategy and Application, Managing Influence, by W.

In many earlier investigations a recall advantage of auditory lists spoken in a single voice has been found over recall of lists spoken in two alternating voices. One explanation proposed is an organization strategy which makes recall of alternating-voice lists so difficult. The strategy implies sorting same-voice words into same-voice groups at encoding. Based on this proposition, it was assumed that voice-by-voice recall would be better than recall in order of presentation, as then the recall instruction and the organization of items in memory would be in concordance. The present experiment tested and was unable to support this hypothesis.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to clarify and evaluate the concept of scenario planning.Methodology: Our research methodology has a qualitative approach and uses deductive reasoning. The theoretical field of strategy formulation has been reviewed and in specific the concept scenario planning was unravelled and mapped. Thereafter, our model was tested in a case study where the empirical data was collected through personal interviews. Theoretical field: Literature and articles from the strategic management field have been reviewed with a focus on strategy formulation, scenario planning and Williamson?s theory for the creation of a portfolio for strategic options.Empirical base: Personal interviews and secondary sources such as financial reports, articles mainly from industry media and articles found in the databases ELIN and Affärsdata.Analysis: The analysis work constitutes the testing of our model for scenario planning, integrated into Williamson?s portfolio of strategic options for the future.Result: The work has resulted in a clarified model of scenario planning with links to strategic management schools.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the identity of teenagers is affected by the loss of a parent as well as what coping strategies support identity development. The reactions the teenagers exhibit, in such circumstances, will also be examined. To accomplish this,  a theory package was created, comprising theories in developmental psychology, identity work, coping and theory of grief reactions of children and teenagers. This package provided a broad perspective, which facilitated the analysis. Furthermore, it made it easier to address the purpose and the issue of the analysis.

Research show evidence for benefits of breastfeeding and that infant-feeding-plans are supportive. Family-centered care is the theoretical framework. Family support is crucial for successful breastfeeding. It is important that society creates opportunities for mothers to breastfeed and contribute information and support by healthcare professionals. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the midwives and child healthcare nurses found that the newest breastfeeding strategy influenced their breastfeeding- and rearing support in the County of Jönköping.

This essay deals with the ideas of social change in the Iron Gates Gorge site of Lepenski Vir during the Mesolithic. The change from a mainly fish-based subsistence strategy to a strategy that came to rely more on hunting and later domesticated animals could have been the onset of the social change that is noticeable in the material culture from the site. Theessay is divided in two main segments. The first consists of a case-study based on three themes that describes and searches for changes in the subsistence-, settlement- and burialpractises during the Mesolithic and beginning of the Neolithic phases, and the second part analyses the results from the case-study. It is primarily the idea of transformations and reproductions of traditions that will be dealt with in the analysis which is facilitated by a theoretic structure based on and inspired by the works of Emilé Durkheim and Anthony Giddens..

This essay aims to investigate how students raised in Jehovah's Witnesses have experienced their career counseling during their middle and high school education. My main objectives are, based on the testimonies of former Jehovah's Witnesses, to investigate how career counselors can find a strategy to approach these students in a non-threatening way. I also try to take into account the contextual elements which are of great importance when counseling students raised as Jehovah's Witnesses. A qualitative study has been carried out with five informants with a background in the movement. The material has then been analyzed using a qualitative, narrative method.

Aktivitetsbaserad kalkylering (ABC) är en kalkyleringsmetod som blev populärt under slutet av 80-talet och har sedan dess engagerat många forskare och praktiker. Konceptet växte allteftersom konsultbolag sålde implementeringar, mjukvara togs fram och vetenskapliga artiklar publicerades. Metoden kom dock att kritiseras för att vara komplex och resurskrävande och det skapades en bild av att det endast var stora företag som var lämpade att använda sig av metoden. På senare tid har studier gjorts som visat att mindre företag framgångsrikt kunnat implementera och använda sig av ABC och rekommendationer och riktlinjer för dessa har tagits fram. Vi finner dock en avsaknad på studier riktade mot mikroföretags tillämpande av ABC.

This study is intended to give an impartial view of a young and complex program in Sweden titled Product Innovation Engineering program. The purpose of this program is to increase innovation capability in Sweden that will result in new companies, patents and economic growth. The results from this study might give some direction to future innovation initiatives, but should primarily serve as a tool for the PIEp participants. The study will focus on investigating the creation of the program as well as the development of its strategy. From weaknesses and strengths within the strategy of the program the study should also attempt to show its future potential.

This study is intended to give an impartial view of a young and complex program in Sweden titled Product Innovation Engineering program. The purpose of this program is to increase innovation capability in Sweden that will result in new companies, patents and economic growth. The results from this study might give some direction to future innovation initiatives, but should primarily serve as a tool for the PIEp participants. The study will focus on investigating the creation of the program as well as the development of its strategy. From weaknesses and strengths within the strategy of the program the study should also attempt to show its future potential.