Att "smarta" brädspelande datorprogram har blivit mycket bättre under de senaste årtiondena har väl knappast kunnat undgå någon. Med brädspel menar jag spel såsom Go, Othello, Backgammon och Schack. Idag spelar program, som körs på en reguljär PC, bättre än de flesta människor. Vad är det som gör dessa program så bra? Hur kan man lära en dator att spela ett så pass komplext spel som Othello på en sådan nivå att ingen människa har en chans att vinna? I detta examensarbete kommer jag att försöka förklara mekanismerna bakom ett toppspelande Othelloprogram.

Even if the main purpose is to decide if the companies profitability and financial position is a determining factor for its growth, the purpose is to determine if there are any differences between big and small companies in there economical positions then they grow, in the selected industry. This thesis is mainly a quantitative study. The selected industry for the study is extraction of turf. The financial measurement that most clearly differ the growing companies from the not growing companies or the companies that didn?t change there amount of employees was the returns of the companies own capital. It was also the returns of the companies own capital there the main difference existed between the big and the small companies.

The aim of the study was to through a qualitative method with two focus groups investigate how young women percieve that their identity creation is influenced by them reading celebrities Blogs and in that case, whether this type of Internet activity affect their autobiographical memory, the foundation for personal identity. Since the main task of the autobiographical memory is to give the ego and its social mode a foundation by sharing memories with others, the Internet activity should be seen as an important factor for the identity formation of young people. Today, the young spend equally mauch time being connected to various media as they do socializing with family and friends. The results indicate that young women view the world and lifestyle that known Bloggers expose intheir Blogs as a kind of ideal. The young women got an aha reaction when they realized that what the Bloggers expose is not always equal to the real life..

The main purpose of this stydy was to evaluate the Aurora clinic (for women afraid of birth/delivery) in the south of Sweden. Questionnaires were sent to 197 women who had contact with the Aurora clinic during 2007 and 2008. The group of participants contained both pregnant women and women who have given birth. A total of 136 women replied. The results showed that both the average age and the level of education of the women were high.

Modern sawmills are using the raw-material and the production-capacity more efficiently today, due to rising raw-material prices and higher production costs. Log sweepness has a negative effect on the sawn yield, for sawmills with straight-sawing. It is desirable that these logs could be sorted based on more criteria, if it increases value-yield and consequently the utilization of raw-material. Bow-heights over 1 cm have a negative effect on sawn yield, since the surface of the mantle cuts down in the sawn pattern. Some of these small bow-heights reduce the logs yield of value which affects the production planning negatively. Nearly half of all the Swedish logs have a bow-height over 1 cm.

SammanfattningTrots att magasin utgör en stor del av mediesystemet har det inte gjorts så mycket forskning på det området. Den forskning som finns handlar främst om magasinens innehåll. Vi har i stället undersökt omslaget eftersom det är det som i första hand säljer magasinet. Livsstilsmagasinen har en bred målgrupp och många titlar innefattas i genren. Därför är deras omslag om möjligt än viktigare än andra tidskrifters för att locka läsare.

Background: Investors have several options to choose from when the goal is to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost and risk. Stocks are a common investment options, but is also associated with risks. Portfolios are usually constructed with several different assets to reduce the unsystematic risk of investment. Funds are similar to composite stock portfolios, the big difference is that they dealt with in their entirety and investors may not affect the fund's content. The problem remains that whether you choose stocks or mutual funds there is still uncertainty as to how the future will unfold.

Water related problems are highlighted as a challenge to sustainable development and the topic of forests and water is gaining increased attention worldwide. Governing forest and water is a complex issue, as the interactions are affected by policies and actors from multiple levels and sectors. In Sweden, forests cover much of the land and forestry is an important land-use, inevitably impacting the water in the landscape. This study aims to understand and explain the existing governance framework around forestry and water in Sweden. Based on the Policy Arrangement Approach, the study?s research questions focused on the actors involved, the formal and informal rules, the resources and power structures and the discourses related to forestry and water in Sweden.

Introduction: The world is changing rapidly and the uncertainty that characterizes today´s society makes companies preparations for the future crucial. Purpose: To examine how CEO:s in small companies look at the future and what kind of preparations they make in order to meet it. Hereby, our ambition is to find out whether there is a difference between companies working in industries characterized by different degrees of stability. Mode of procedure: The purpose of this thesis has been fulfilled by interviews with four CEO:s from industries characterized by different degrees of stability. Result: The companies working in relatively unstable environments tended to be relatively more flexible and have an emergent strategy formation process, whereas companies working in relatively stable environments displayed relatively less flexibility and tended to have a planning strategy formation process..

Large retirement numbers and fierce competition of available labour, results in municipalities have to be more attractive as an employer. One way for the municipalities to fulfil their staffing requirement is partly to increase their recruitment efforts, and partly to educate their existing employees. Discussions about the supply of competence are therefore pressing within municipal activity. The aim of the study was to investigate how the concept of competence is used within a municipal administration. The method that has been used is Norman Fairclough?s critical discourse analysis, a method that allows multi dimensional analysis.

Prior research in human bird relations is relatively small and discussion about bird ecology in relation to humans is largely not discussed. The study means to understand how a difference in usage of birds and symbolization of a bird occurs. This will be answered through analysis of two bird species. The study uses three different sources of material to conclude its answers. The sources are graves with bones of predatory birds, material culture representing bird motifs and historical sources discussing mythology.

A question that is asked far to seldom is what it means to be a good leader. The answer is not all that simple. It is a comlex and multi-faceted question that varies between the values and what ethical perspective you choose to have. As the title indicates, this essay has one particular ethical-theoretical perspective in focus, virtue ethics. According to the virtue ethics perspective a good political leader is a virtuous leader.

In this paper I study how the repeal of the Swedish wealth tax (1 of January 2007) has affected people´s labour supply behaviour. This particular issue is relevant because it may help us understand some of the effects of the earnings tax changes that have taken place in Sweden. Accoring to standard economic theory a repealed wealth tax is similar to an income effect for the persons who previously paid the tax. That means that they theoretically will want to consume more leisure, that is decrease their labour supply. The method I am using to test this hypothesis is a difference-in-difference approach where the treatment group consists of persons who previously paid the tax and the control group of comparable persons who did not pay the tax.

I denna studie har undersökts personlighet och Health Locus of Control hos 56 kvinnor och män i åldrarna 18 till 65 år, där 30 var svenskar och 26 var tyskar. Undersökningens frågeställning var: Är en eller fler personlighetsdimensioner i Fem-Faktor-modellen relaterade till i vilken utsträckning en individ har Internality, Powerful others eller Chance Health Locus of Control. En NEO-PI enkät och ett Multi dimensionella Health Locus of Control-skalan-formulär administrerades. Resultatet från undersökningen kunde påvisa en signifikant korrelation mellan Openess to Experience och Powerful Others Health Locus of Control samt Conscientiousness och Powerful Others Health Locus of Control. En signifikant skillnad mellan svenskar och tyskar beträffande Powerful Others kunde också påvisas.

Syftet med studien är att synliggöra förskollärares syn på arbetet med ordförståelse för yngre barn i större barngrupper där barnen har blandad språkbakgrund. Frågeställningarna är hur förskollärarna arbetar med att introducera nya ord, vad de tror påverkar inlärningen och hur utvecklingen av språket påverkas av faktorerna kring barngruppen. Kvalitativa intervjuer har genomförts med två förskollärare som arbetar med barn i åldrarna tre till fem år på förskolor i större städer i Mellansverige. Studien visar att organisation och planering är en viktig del i arbetet i en stor barngrupp. Pedagogens förhållningssätt och goda förebilder hos både pedagoger och andra barn är en viktig del i hur barnen lär sig nya ord.