Species that have a high degree of specialization and poor dispersal ability can be more prone to extinction than more generalist species and good dispersers. How these species traits affect the viability of populations is dependent on landscape factors,such as isolation and connectivity. Additionally, interactions between species (e.g. symbiosis), and how these interactions vary spatially and temporally can have a large impact on populations. When the range and habitat areas of a species continuously decrease, management strategies are often needed if the species shall be able to survive.

The function of budgetary controls is to control the resource allocation within companies. It can also be an instrument for measure and control subordinates and/or business units? performance (Van der Stede 2001). This paper concerns the latter; when the budgetary control function is used to measure and control subordinates performance based on budget. Previous research in this area has not yet accomplished to explain the effects of tight budgetary control which Hartman (2000) considers as the main issue to be concerned about in management accounting research.Previous research has presented contradictory findings regarding tight budgetary control explained by positive effects as well as negative effects during the last decades.

The aim of this Master?s thesis was to find out more about the delimiting quality- and shelf-life parameters over time for liquid oat-based products. According to that, to present applicable subjective and objective shelf-life test approaches at accelerated conditions. The study aimed to gain a deeper knowledge concerning the general and accepted way of performing accelerated storage tests. This study focused especially on products, which suffer from quality failure caused by oxidation, such as liquid oat-based products.

This study investigates the individual usage of the Dublin Core metadata format in three Swedish Subject Based Information Gateways, SAFARI, Svenska miljönätet and Svesök. The authors also present the reader with an overview of the metadata concept and explains in particular the Dublin Core Element Set. The approach to the study is investigation of Dublin Core application from the viewpoint of three major issues, user friendliness, interoperability and quality control. The study includes an in-depth comparison of the three different metadata templates, as well as interviews with people in charge of the metadata production at the respective SBIGs and users of the respective SBIGs« templates. The study shows that the three SBIGs are more similar than they are different.

Micronic Laser Systems AB produces and develops machines for the photo mask production market. One of their products is the Omega machine which exposes photo masks using 5 laser beams simultaneously. It is important that the distance between the each laser beam, the x-separation, is the same. The x-separation is today measured by exposing a photo mask with a certain pattern and thereafter measured with a metrology system. This takes to much time and it is desired to find a faster method to measure the x-separation without loosing precision.The task for this master thesis is to improve an existing measurement method which uses a calibration mask.

Energy costs are high nowadays and that is the reason why the energy consumption needs to become as small as possible in most of the companies. To accomplish the small energy usage one needs to map the energy flows, study them and monitor them. One method that can be used for this is energy balance calculation. The method gives an opportunity to separate different energy flows and see where each flow is heading. There is also another method which is more advanced than energy balance calculation.

The main purpose of this master?s thesis is to examine how high school students evaluate the quality of the information available on the online encyclopedia Wikipedia. By doing quantitative research based on questionnaires we expected to find that the means for judging that students use in this situation are most frequently based on a text?s intrinsic qualities in the point of view of its content. It was also our presupposition that 18 and 19 year old high school graduates have received some education in information research and authoritative sources on the Internet.

The function of budgetary controls is to control the resource allocation within companies. It can also be an instrument for measure and control subordinates and/or business units? performance (Van der Stede 2001). This paper concerns the latter; when the budgetary control function is used to measure and control subordinates performance based on budget. Previous research in this area has not yet accomplished to explain the effects of tight budgetary control which Hartman (2000) considers as the main issue to be concerned about in management accounting research.Previous research has presented contradictory findings regarding tight budgetary control explained by positive effects as well as negative effects during the last decades.

The ferry traffic to Gotland is essential for the island?s ability to live and develop. Yearly, it transports 1,6 million passengers, 500 000 personal vehicles and 750 000 lane meters of freight with four Ro-Pax ferries. The traffic is controlled and subsidized by the Swedish government since 1971 in order to guarantee the inhabitants and industry of Gotland a satisfactory transportation service. As a consequence of the past decades increased traffic quality, mainly due to a decrease in crossing times, the traffic?s environmental impact and costs has also increased.The Master Thesis proposes a new energy efficient traffic arrangement that satisfies the users? preferences in the same extent as today.

The European Water Framework Directive (WFD; 2000/60/EC) was incorporated into the Swedish legislation in 2004 through the ordinance Förordningen om förvaltningenav kvaliteten på vattenmiljön (SFS 2004:660). The objective is that all water bodies shall reach a good status by the year 2015. In Sweden the comprehensive plans of the municipalities can play a large role in reaching these goals. A comprehensive plan deals with the long term water and land use of the municipality, which can facilitate an early consideration of water management in the planning process of the municipality. In Sweden five river basin districts have been established in accordance with the Water Framework Directive.

Syftet med denna systematiska litteraturstudie var att beskriva hur livskvaliteten påverkas hos personer med Multipel Skleros (MS) och vad som kan göras för att öka livskvaliteten. I syftet ingick även att beskriva hur personer med MS upplever fatigue som är ett av huvudsymtomen av sjukdomen samt vad som kan göras för att lindra följderna av fatigue. Artiklarna har sökts i databaserna Elin@Dalarna och Cinahl, tillgängliga via Högskolan Dalarnas proxyserver och granskats med hjälp av en granskningsmall för att säkerställa att de var av en god kvalitet. Sökord som användes var: ?multiple sclerosis?, ?quality of life?, ?nursing? och ?fatigue?.

The aim of my study is to investigate if and in that case how the writing process and texts written by students in the upper secondary school are affected by the writing tool; does it matter if they write their texts on a computer or by longhand? Another objective is to compare such an effect with the findings of previous studies performed on earlier generations of writers. The first part of my study was a survey. It showed that two thirds of the 67 students participating thought that they would have written better texts in the national writing test if they had been able to use computers. In the second part of the study each of the fourteen participants wrote one text on computer and another by hand.

Forestry supply chains are a significant part of the Swedish economy. These supply chains are highly susceptible to storms damage. In late 2013 Sweden was hit by multiple storms. This leads to the possibility to research how supply chains react to the shocks that storms cause. The aim of this thesis is to research the costs that storms increase, the actions that are taken within the forestry supply chain, as well as possible benefactors from storms. This thesis bases on previous work on supply chain mapping and cost theories.

Title: Brand Brazil ? A study on brand equity in an emerging market Authors: Anders Andersson & Jonathan Karlsson Subject: Bachelor thesis in marketing, 15 credits Keywords: Brand equity, Emerging markets, Brand awareness, Brand associations, Perceived quality, Brand loyalty Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to gain deeper understanding of how a company operating on an emerging market can work with brand equity, and what benefits it provides to the brand owner. Theoretical framework: The chapter begins with a description of brand equity to be further decomposed to its four dimensions; brand awareness, brand associations, perceived quality, brand loyalty Methodology: A qualitative research method with a deductive approach is conducted, where interviews with Brand/Marketing coordinators for the Brazilian subsidiaries of Volkswagen, Toyota and General Motors, are performed. Empirical framework: The chapter presents performed interviews that are supposed to describe our case studies? work and benefits from brand equity. Conclusion: This study shows that companies operating on an emerging market are working actively with brand equity, often in accordance with theory. The companies also experience positive effects from increased brand equity..

Syftet med denna systematiska litteraturstudie var att beskriva patienters upplevelse av livskvalitet samt sjuksköterskans omvårdnadsåtgärder i samband med cytostatikabehandling vid cancersjukdom. För att besvara studiens syfte har sökning efter artiklar (n=17) genomförts i databaserna Blackwell Synergy samt Elin@Dalarna. Följande sökord har använts i olika kombinationer; cancer, patients, experience, nurse care, quality of life, scale, instrument, chemotherapy och care. Resultatet visade att cytostatikabehandlingen hade både positiv och negativ inverkan på patienternas livskvalitet. Livskvaliteten ökade då symtom lindrades.