Foreseeing future changes in economic activity is of up most importance to a wide array of actors. The time lag in the presentation of official GDP statistics means that to somewhat accurately capture a tendency of where the business cycle is heading one need turn to qualitative sentiment indicators such as Purchasing Managers? Index (PMI) and official sentiment indicators for valuable clues. This thesis uses in-sample and out-of-sample methods to evaluate how well PMI and official Business Tendency Surveys (BTS) in Sweden and Denmark fair against the year-on-year growth rate of industrial production. Moreover, various Swedish regional sentiment indicators get examined and a case study of the indicator for the Öresund region is performed.

Den här uppsatsen visar att valutakursen och sekundärt energipriser har en hög förmåga att prediktera framtida rörelser i livsmedelspriser, både ?inom sample? och ?utanför sample?. Uppsatsen använder VAR-modeller och hittar empiriska belägg för att energipriser påverkar valutakursen (EUR/USD), som även indirekt påverkar livsmedelspriser. Teoretiskt och empiriskt visas att export- och produktionssubventioner reducerar eller ökar de ursprungliga priseffekterna vid chocker i valutakursen, och introducering av dessa samband visades öka precisionen av prognoserna. Resultatet är intressant för policybeslut eftersom identifieringen av vad som driver livsmedelspriserna visar att chocker i valutakursen har en omfattande effekt på framtida livsmedelspriser. .

Clostridium difficile is a pathogen for both humans and animals and is often associated with antibiotic-associated diarrhea. Recently, several human cases of C. difficile-infection with increased mortality and morbidity have been reported. In studies performed in different countries C. difficile has been found in meat.

Soils in a metal contaminated site on Stångberget in Gusum in southeastSweden were investigated and compared to relatively unaffected soils a fewkilometres away. Pollution came from historical release of untreated flue gasesfrom a brass mill. The objective was to find information on how high the metalconcentrations are, if metals from the polluted soil affect the surroundings andif the metal contamination affects the microbial community. The soil wasinvestigated using several different methods, such as field XRF measurements,chemical analysis of metal, carbon and nitrogen content, pH, acid neutralizingcapacity, texture, soil depth, field leach tests, sequential extraction and microbialfunctional profiles. The study showed that copper and zinc concentrationswere above Swedish Environmental Protection Agency guidelines for lesssensitive land use on the entire investigated area.

Previously when I have made proposals for privately owned gardens, I have found it difficult to find strong, extensive designs and to work with room and space. Since this is the field within which I am going to work in the future I feel that I need more experience, reference material and ideas on how I, in an early stage of the working process, can work with and consider room and space. The aim of this project has therefore been to procure experience, reference material and ideas for design of a garden in relation to space. To procure experience and reference material I have, during the fall of 2008, made two incredible study tours to France and to Japan. I have interviewed the landscaping architect Maria Arborgh and studied literature. I have also used a garden outside of Gothenburg in which I have been able to try out different thoughts and ideas regarding shape that have appeared during the course of my work. My conclusions about landscaping are that you should first find the different functions in the garden. The next step is to find an overall theme or shape, use a small number of materials, build a room with sealing, walls and portals with the help of vertical elements e.g.

In this project, we are studying the material flow and the information flow of sample materials and the appurtenant report of deviation for the purpose to be able to suggest better solutions. The sample material, which is to be analysed, is to be continuously taken from the production flow. The purpose is to navigate the process by the results found by the analysis. Because of this, it's very important that both methods of analysis are ensured and that the sample material is representative for the production flow. However, even more importantly, is that activities and transportations, combined with both flows, must perform in a quick and correct way in order to maintain or improve Höganäs AB's competitive strength.According to reports are about 20 products per day not available, for loading, at the time of delivery.

Modern missiles must meet higher and higher demands. They should be autonomous, have long range and still have a big effect on the target. To maximize effect on target some missiles not only minimize miss distance, but also try to hit with a certain angle; often perpendicular to the surface of the target. In this thesis a method to guide the missile in the terminal phase of its mission where both point of impact as angle of impact are specified. The method consist of two parts.

AbstractTitle: Anabolic Androgenic Steroids ? An analysis of how AAS is portrayed in Swedish media.Author: Jens SundénTutor: Philip LalanderKeywords: AAS, Anabolic steroids, social problems, media, drug abuse, genderThe purpose of this study was to investigate how Anabolic Androgenic Steroids (AAS) are portrayed and described in the media, how AAS is constructed as a social problem, and how society in a social context uses knowledge and power for disciplinary and educational means. The study is based on the perception of AAS as a constructed social problem and analyzes the discourses surrounding AAS depicted in three Swedish newspapers. The sample was prepared on the basis that it represents different aspects of daily Swedish press. The method used in the paper is a discourse analysis with social constructivism and gender as theoretical tools used to analyze the sample material.

The purpose of my Masters thesis is to investigate how childrens librarians in public libraries perceive and meet imposed queries during the reference interview with children and young people. What do childrens librarians think about imposed queries from children and young people? What problems can arise during a reference interview with children and young people, and what strategies can be used to solve them? How can childrens librarians prepare for imposed queries from children and young people that have arisen in school related situations? The study was carried out at public libraries in Sweden. In the review of the literature results from prior research and other relevant material are presented. The theoretical framework includes a communication model on imposed queries developed by Gross, and two other models Levels of Mediation and Zone of Intervention, developed by Kuhlthau.

Syftet med denna uppsats är att modellera och prognostisera Sveriges varuexport, varuimport och handelsnetto. Vi använder oss av data från januari 1975 till och med augusti 2010 för respektive serie. Dessa data testas och jämförs i olika ARIMA- och SARIMA-modeller samt skattas även medelst säsongsreningsprogrammet TRAMO/SEATS. För de modeller som bäst passar serierna genomförs därefter in sample- och out of sample-analyser med felmåtten RMSE och MAPE. Modellerna med bäst felmått och som därpå väljs ut för att göra prognoser för serierna till och med augusti 2012 är (3,1,0)x(0,1,1) för export, (2,1,1)x(0,1,1) för import samt (0,1,1)x(0,1,1) skattad i TRAMO/SEATS för handelsnetto..

This paper describes a study examining four different GARCH models AR(1)-GARCH(1,1), AR(1)-EGARCH(1,1), AR(1)-APGARCH(1,1) and AR(1)-GJR-GARCH(1,1), and their ability to predict future volatility and thereby providing more reliable estimates for Value-at-Risk. The study is based on daily observations for the return of the OMX Stockholm 30 Index, during the time period 31st December 1996 to 29th December 2006. The coefficients for these GARCH models have been estimated using a five-year rolling estimation window, with one-year lags, for five different in-sample-periods. These five in-sample-periods, and the coefficients given by them, have been used to generate five out-of-sample predictions for the volatility in each year. Using these volatility predictions, the daily Value-at-Risk has been calculated for confidence intervals of 90 percent, 95 percent, and 99 percent, respectively, during the time period between 1st January 2001 and 29th December 2006.

In this paper, we examine the attitudes of 16- to 19-year olds towards stealth viral marketing in the form of videos posted on websites such as Youtube. Apart from their general attitudes towards the phenomenon, we were also concerned with their views on the ethics involved in this marketing method and how this affects their view on the companies behind the advertising. To accomplish this, we administered a survey to a sample chosen by convenience. Using the Persuasion Knowledge Model and prior research on the subject, we then analyzed the gathered data and reached the conclusion that the respondents in our sample were mainly positive towards stealth viral marketing in this particular form, that they generally did not consider it unethical and that even though most considered the companies to be responsible for such videos, teenagers were not likely to take negative actions against them if they found out that a video that they had seen was in fact a stealth viral video..

Waste appears to be a low-cost fuel compared to biofuel. This Masters thesis was conducted for Vattenfall Utveckling AB and deals with how waste in the fuel affects the performance of a SCR-catalyst. Different mechanisms of deactivation were surveyed, focusing on the poisoning mechanism. A literature study was carried out, which was used as a reference when analysing the results.Small samples (9x2x2 cm, 64 pieces) cut out from a full-scale unused honeycomb catalyst were exposed up to 1500h in two different combustion plants, Johannes in Gävle (co-combustion) and Högdalen in Stockholm (waste-combustion). The activity was measured mainly at 300°C but also at 250, 350, 375 and 400°C.

This is a qualitative study aiming to find out how and why teachers work with art, music and movement in the English subject in the early years. In this study we have conducted a background study of previous research and as a starting point and as a point for reference we have relied on education policy documents like The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and the Swedish curriculum for the English school subject. Our research has consisted of interviews with six teachers and ten observation occasions in a total of three different primary schools. Our result show that there seems to be a consensus in both theory and praxis when it comes to integrating art, music and movement in learning and teaching of English in the early school years. The use of methods including art, music and movement in early language learning seems to promote the language development for all students but especially for young learners that require extra support for their language development.

This master?s degree project concerns the combination of a multi dwelling passive house with solar energy for the generation of electricity and domestic hot water (DHW). Different alternatives with either solar thermal systems or photovoltaic (PV) systems are compared with two reference alternatives producing DHW from electricity or district heating. The economical comparison uses a life cycle cost (LCC) perspective based on the present value of expenditures for investment, energy and annual operating and maintenance.The energy yields from the solar energy systems were calculated by hand and with simulation software. Calculation and dimensioning of PV systems were carried out with a software called PVSYST.