The aim of this small thesis is to investigate if the probability of business failure is higher at the time of divestment than at the time of acquisition for portfolio companies that have been subject to private equity ownership. The background for this thesis is the widespread critique aimed at private equity firms, claiming that they increase the risk in their portfolio companies. We have performed a study of 53 buyout transactions, involving Swedish manufacturing companies, covering a time span of 13 years, from 1995 to 2007. We find evidence of an increased risk of business failure for the portfolio companies with a short forecasting horizon (within one year). The absolute increase in the sample is however small.

Fossil fuels are affecting our climate negatively and there is a limited amount of them in the world, which leads to the importance of finding alternative fuels. One alternative is biogas, which is produced though a digestion process of different organic materials in a biogasreactor. Organic substrate that comes from farms has the biggest potential to increase the production of biogas in Sweden. Primarily crops from farms, but also waste products like manure are of great importance.Today there is a calculated theoretical potential for biogasproduction of 14TWh per year, which is around ten times larger than Sweden?s production today.

The purpose with this study was to analyze the possibilities to produce organic lambs and to hihglight the most common difficulties in such a production system. A description of current organic and conventional lamb production systems was conducted, both from Sweden and from some other countries. The Department of Animal Environment and Health at SLU in Skara performed the project together with The County Board of Agriculture in Västra Götaland and Värmland and The Swedish Animal Health Service. The project lasted from 2002 to 2004. The student report contains the years 2002 and 2003. In the year of 2003 there were 210 000 adult sheep in Sweden, of which 16 400 adult sheep were certified by KRAV. Of the different countries in Sweden, Västra Götaland and Gotland had the largest number of sheep, 14 and 13 per cent of the total number.

Menstruationscykelns inverkan på kvinnors preferenser för mäns ansiktenSammanfattningDetta är en systematisk replikation av Penton-Voaks och Perrets studie (1999) då en preferens hos kvinnor för maskuliniserade ansiktsdrag under hög befruktningsrisk i menstruationscykeln hittades. Dessa drag tros vara en ärlig signal för goda gener och immunokompetens hos män. Oklarhet råder huruvida detta gäller för olika populationer. 36 svenska universitetsstuderande kvinnor fick därför välja ut de mest fysiskt attraktiva ansiktena, utifrån maskuliniserade och feminiserade bildserier, vid hög respektive låg befruktningsrisk. Ingen signifikant skillnad hittades mellan de olika faserna.

I januari 2008 ingick Vägverket ett avtal med Hochtief-Oden-Tunnelling, ett konsortium bestående av det tyska företaget Hoechtief Counstruction Ag samt den Svenska aktören Oden Anläggningsentreprenad AB. Entreprenaden avsåg byggandet av Norra Länken etapp 51 betongtunnel Värtan.Byggandet av NL 51 har fram till juni 2010 omfattat moment som grundläggning, väg- och betongarbeten, schaktning och därmed även provisoriska stödkonstruktioner. I mars 2009 upprättades en provisorisk spontvägg i anslutning till betongtunneln. Vi har i denna rapport undersökt lasteffekterna på sponten utifrån två metoder, analytisk samt numerisk beräkning. I enlighet med Vägverkets önskemål har Geomind KB granskat entreprenadens konstruktionshandlingar utförda av Hoechtief AG.Denna rapport består av en fallstudie för vilket vi studerat två enskilda sektioner ur spontkonstruktionen tillhörande NL 51.

Construction of an autonomous wind station was a project with the goal of creating a product that could collect wind data from a sensor and then transfer this data to a server wirelessly over the GSM network. The device would be powered by batteries and solar cells and function fully without requiring external power supply. This required that a small computer was constructed and programmed to store and send data at predetermined cycle times and programming of a server that received the sent data. The project also required optimization of power consumption and dimensioning of solar cells and batteries based on this. The construction of this station demanded research both for the selection of hardware and programming software. The computer was based on a microcontroller and a GSM module that sent the data over the 2G network.

Fiscal policy and its consequences have attracted much attention on both academic and societal level, in Sweden and elsewhere. However, the dependence between fiscal policy on municipality level and business cycles has only recently sparked a debate among Swedish economists. Studies point out that a law which came to force in 2000, balanskravet, may have caused municipalities to lower expenditures, alternatively raising taxes, during recessions. This thesis examines how the level of municipality taxes depends on business cycle fluctuations and the impact that balanskravet has had on this correlation. We employ econometric regressions, with annual data covering the period 1980-2014, to enable an analysis of the dependence between taxes and business cycles, both before and after the introduction of balanskravet.

Summary The leaf beetles, Lilioceris lilii and L. merdigera have existed in Asia, Europe and in North Africa for a long time, but have become much more abundant the last twenty-five years. Even North America has been affected during the last years. The purpose of this investigation of Lilioceris species in Sweden, is to give advice to gardeners, which type of control measures is the most effective in order to restrict their damage to lilies. Lilioceris species overwinter normally as pupae in the soil under the host or close by. Literature and contact with advisors have described the life cycle and spreading of Lilioceris. Under favourable conditions these leaf beetles have two generations/year in the south of Sweden. Both the adults and the larva eat the foliage, and by strong attacks even flowers can be eaten and only the stem is remaining. My own observations include different treatments of both lily foliage and of the leaf beetle.

Dressage schooling is not a subject that rests on science, it is a matter of dependable experience. So far there hasn?t been so much research about it, but more and more is done. Especially the interaction between rider and horse is a nearly uninvestigated field. Riding skills is much about having the right position, and having the horses head and neck in different positions, but there are no research done that support or deny that this old ?knowledge? is for the best for the horse. This study was performed to evaluate if the head and neck position of the horse, and the velocity, has any influence on the position of the rider.

In efforts to strengthen local economies, business development programs are often a way in which governmental organizations and state affiliates try to facilitate innovation and successful entrepreneurship. There is a mutual interest from both the public and private sector that these funds are put to good use. Extensive research has been conducted with the focus of the general effect of public support programs. However, not much research has been done on what external factors affect the situation for receiving businesses. This study attempts to examine whether one specific such factor, the level of maturity on the markets that the recipients operate in, has a discernible effect on the needs for different types of entrepreneurial support.

I januari 2008 ingick Vägverket ett avtal med Hochtief-Oden-Tunnelling, ett konsortium bestående av det tyska företaget Hoechtief Counstruction Ag samt den Svenska aktören Oden Anläggningsentreprenad AB. Entreprenaden avsåg byggandet av Norra Länken etapp 51 betongtunnel Värtan.Byggandet av NL 51 har fram till juni 2010 omfattat moment som grundläggning, väg- och betongarbeten, schaktning och därmed även provisoriska stödkonstruktioner. I mars 2009 upprättades en provisorisk spontvägg i anslutning till betongtunneln. Vi har i denna rapport undersökt lasteffekterna på sponten utifrån två metoder, analytisk samt numerisk beräkning. I enlighet med Vägverkets önskemål har Geomind KB granskat entreprenadens konstruktionshandlingar utförda av Hoechtief AG.Denna rapport består av en fallstudie för vilket vi studerat två enskilda sektioner ur spontkonstruktionen tillhörande NL 51.

The soybean can be used in multiple ways, and its high oil content makes it suitable for extraction. Soy bean meal, a by-product of the oil extraction, is a good source of protein with a high feeding value, and is therefore used in a number of different animal feeds. Further, soy bean meal has a low production price, which is one of the reasons for the extensive export of the product. There is a great demand for vegetable-based proteins, especially in the organic production where synthetic amino acids are banned. However, the current production of soy beans is not environmentally sound and that combined with the long transport distances amplifies the need of finding a locally produced protein source.

Biogas is a renewable energy source that is produced by anaerobic digestion of organic mate-rial. In Sweden, biogas predominately comes from sewage water sludge and landfills or from organic waste of households and industries. Small scale digestion plants at farms are espe-cially expected to contribute to increased biogas production in the future. Biogas can be ob-tained directly in it?s raw form and used as fuel in a combustion chamber.

GNT Group is a Nordic/Baltic wholesaler that distributes products in the IT, entertainment and home electronics sector. GNT is facing problems with inaccurate inventory levels which can lead to unnecessarily high inventory carrying costs or lost sales. Currently the decisions about when and how many to order are made somewhat arbitrarily by the responsible personnel. Their decisions are based only on some brief sales history and on experience. GNT wants to develop its ERP system to be able to support the purchaser in these and other related decisions.

Menstruationscykelns inverkan på kvinnors preferenser för mäns ansiktenSammanfattningDetta är en systematisk replikation av Penton-Voaks och Perrets studie (1999) då en preferens hos kvinnor för maskuliniserade ansiktsdrag under hög befruktningsrisk i menstruationscykeln hittades. Dessa drag tros vara en ärlig signal för goda gener och immunokompetens hos män. Oklarhet råder huruvida detta gäller för olika populationer. 36 svenska universitetsstuderande kvinnor fick därför välja ut de mest fysiskt attraktiva ansiktena, utifrån maskuliniserade och feminiserade bildserier, vid hög respektive låg befruktningsrisk. Ingen signifikant skillnad hittades mellan de olika faserna.