This report investigates the possibility to use non-petroleum based adhesive (biobitumen) in asphalt. The main reasons for replacing bitumen are the fact that oil prices are rising, the threat of peak oil and the fact that the asphalt industry is becoming more environmentally friendly.The main purpose of this report is to investigate whether there are any non-petroleum based adhesives on the market. If so, how can they be used? The questions covered are:? Are there any other alternative asphalt coatings available?? Can bio-oils be used in asphalt?? If the bio-oils can be used, what are the details their properties?? How does a cold climate affect the bio binders?? What is the Swedish asphalt industry?s opinion about bio asphalt?The project was concluded through literature studies, consultations with people in the asphalt industry and through several interviews.The conclusion of this report is that there are some existing non-petroleum based adhesives on the market. They are mainly used for bike paths, sidewalks and parkareas.

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate different types of measures for making buildings more energy efficient and to estimate their profitability. The calculations were performed with the building simulation program VIP+ and the evaluation of the profitability with the life cycle cost method. Furthermore, it was examined how losses in the distribution of secondary systems of district heating can be avoided. Options to replace district heating with a local district heating system based on bio-energy have been investigated. The possibilities of achieving more efficient thermal energy consumption and production for the chosen estate were also examined.The object of the study has been a residential estate with 133 detached houses in Uppsala, built in 1974.

Hedge funds have the past few years become an increasingly popular investment alternative and in the last decade hedge fund assets managed have quadrupled to USD 2000 billion, a growth rate of around 25-30% per year. One explanation for this substantial increase is that hedge funds' minimum limits on capital invested has declined, which have made ??them available to retail investors. The recent turmoil in financial markets has also contributed to investors finding their way to hedge funds, whose goal is to generate stable returns regardless of how the market develops.Using Sharpe?s, Treynor?s and Jensen's performance measures, I have investigated whether hedge funds manage to generate higher risk-adjusted returns than traditional managed funds.

In today?s society computers are getting a much more important role. To get a computer to work as intended it has to be programmed. A computer program is written with programming languages. There is an abundance of programming languages available today and there are many differences and similarities between them. The different languages have their advantages and their disadvantages where some of them are intended for fast performance, some to be cheap on memory usage, and some are developed to be easy to program on. In our thesis we have chosen to compare four of todays most common languages, C, C++, Java and Python.

The purpose of this master thesis is to evaluate how internal vehicle information inScania buses and trucks can be used for evaluation of driver performance regardingfuel economy, vehicle wear, traffic safety, emissions and cargo damage. To someextent it was examined whether this information could be used for training the driverto a better driving style. In addition, a prototype for such a system was developed.By first defining what distinguishes a talented driver and how he/she differs from apoor driver, followed by a study of the internal vehicle communication, a system thatin real-time gathers and interprets vehicle data could be developed.The resulting system can with reasonably high reliability detect a number of trafficevents (such as braking, lane changing or hilltops). At each such event, the driver?sbehaviour can be evaluated.

This thesis reports on the methodology and results of a study with one retailers 73 units to investigate factors of the store managers leadership that influence productivity performance in store. The study determine the impact of ten independent variables in terms of the store managers leadership on four performance measures: (3) three productivity measures: Sales Over Labor (SALOL), Sales Over Inventory (SALOI) and Sales Over Square-metre (SALOS) and (1) one profit measure: Contribution Income Over Square-metre (CIOS). The result shows that the leadership factors give no more explanation to the economic results after factors of local market condition and the store attributes are taking in to account. The store manager's leadership can though influence his or her decision-making in-store. The store manager's decision to staff the store more intense (higher service-intensity) can increase the level of contribution income over square metre in-store..

The aim of this thesis is to model my artistic practice on an adaptation of Joseph Campbells monomyth and, using this model, investigate challenges of performativity in art (in public spaces). The overall themes are personal, aesthetic and ethical sovereignty and an uncompromising search for a deepening of the artistic practice. More than anything else it is a map and a story of an artist?s expansion out into an artistic field that is little developed in Sweden. It is my hope that this thesis, by using a thoroughly subjective tone, will contribute to the milieu of performative arts in Sweden as well as widen the ?how? regarding the making of a written thesis..

The purpose of this study is to describe how the employee appraisal is perceived by managers, employees and representatives from human resources departments. The empirical material con-sists of 15 interviews: respondents were two representatives of the human resources departments, four unit managers and nine employees who work at a state institution or municipal management. In the study, I adopt a sociocultural perspective, with the communicative relational perspective. The latter is a special education perspective in which the interpenetration of participation, com-munication and learning emphasized.The result shows that the majority of employees would like to see that the talks will be held more frequently than once a year. One of the managers has in cooperation with his co-workers devel-oped a model based on that each year, in addition to salary talks, have an individual conversation, a conversation with each group and individual follow-up talks.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and analyze how the mining equipment producers on a global market manage to handle the changing conditions concerning customer value. Our approach has been a comparative analysis between two different sites in order to answer the purpose. The case studies at Metso Mining have been made through interviews and visits at two geographical markets, South America and Scandinavia. The theoretical framework applied on our empirical findings is based on Blue Ocean Strategy, Customer Value and Resourced Based View. The empirical foundation is based on interviews with Metso Mining employees at Sorocaba in Brazil and Kiruna/Gällivare, Trelleborg and Staffanstorp in Sweden.

This paper examines Systembolaget and Svenska Spel, two Swedish state-owned enterprises, both functioning as monopolies. Systembolaget is the state owned monopoly for marketing of alcoholic beverages. Svenska Spel is the state owned gaming operator. Svenska Spel's task is to provide citizens with gaming products. Both companies are expected to market their products and services while taking caution and minimize damages, but are also supposed to deliver various degrees of economic revenue.

High-performance equine athletes have an energy requirement that often reaches twice the maintenance requirement. Horses are grazers and adapted to a grass diet, and diets high in grains and concentrates are associated with digestive upsets and behavioural disorders. It could therefore be of interest if the energy requirement of a high-performing horse could be met by forage. It is important that the forage have a high concentration of energy so that the horse is able to consume the whole amount of energy needed from the forage without exceeding the maximum voluntary intake. The purpose of this literature study was to investigate if the energy demand of a high-performance horse can be covered by forage produced under Northern Swedish climate conditions.

Locus of control och självkänslaEn jämförelse mellan elit- och icke elitidrottareHelén BlomstrandBesitter individen en hög inre locus of control anser denne attindividen själv är ansvarig för valen denne gör i livet, medan en högyttre locus of control innebär det motsatta. Syftet med studien varbland annat att se om elit- och icke elitidrottare skiljde sig gällandelocus of control; får elitidrottarna högre förvärvade än traitbaseradeinre attityder gällande självkänsla och locus of control, än ickeelitidrottare, har locus of control samband med självkänsla. Enenkätundersökning genomfördes på 82 idrottare varav 42elitidrottare. Resultatet visade att elitidrottarna uppvisade signifikanthögre resultat gällande inre locus of control än icke elitidrottarnasamt att det fanns könsskillnader då männen uppvisade högre värdengällande en inre work locus of control. Resultatet indikerar även attbassjälvkänsla har ett positivt samband med locus of control.Diskussionen fördes kring om en högre inre locus of control ledertill bättre idrottsliga resultat samt kritisk granskning av gällandeuppsats.Keywords: locus of control, external and internal, athletes, self-esteem.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how key performance indicators are being used as performance management tools within the production industry. Specifically the purpose is to investigate how the KPI:s within the telecommunications industry drives reusability regarding production test systems. This thesis will also highlight today?s cost models and suggest improvements of the KPI and what new ones could be introduced. A case study at Ericsson AB has been performed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate and describe the variation in perceptions of demands and expectations of study performance among a group of students at an upper secondary school. The study is inspired by a phenomenographic approach in which variations in perceptions of a phenomenon are of importance. Twelve students at a science program participated and were interviewed in groups of four. The results show that among the students there are several different perceptions of the demands and expectations to perform they felt present in their lives. The most important result is that it is the students' own demands and expectations on their performance and study results that are seen as the most demanding..

The purpose of this literature review was to find common factors for the persons who predispose to eating disorders. These factors shall help the nurse to recognise early signs of eating disorder behaviors. The literature review is directed to the nurse and will answer the issue: Which groups in the community run the risk of developing eating disorders? Furthermore, this knowledge shall lead to a better understanding of persons having eating disorders and be used as an aid in his/her encounter with these patients. The method was a literature review based on eight scientific articles, which were interpreted on the basis of the competence of the nurse.