This thesis describes teh solution of two problems regarding safety on powered lawnmowers; protectning the users from injury when using the lawnmower in slopes, and when cleaning the cutting blade.The task was carried out through initial studies on a representative lawnmower. A generation of ideas followed with an evaluation to select the best solution. The winning concept was further developed to reach acceptable performance. The word resulted in a functioning prototype utilising an original way of detecting inclinations without incorrect signals. It c an serve as a platform for further development into a product.The work gives insightful experience of solving real-world problems, and especially to deal with situations where several variables and their effects are unknownPlease note that several parts of the work are confidential, and have therefore been removed from the thesis..

The largest project at the AICG lab at Linköping University, Cognitive models for virtual characters, focuses on creating an agent architecture for intelligent, virtual characters. The goal is to create an agent that acts naturally and gives a realistic user experience. The purpose of this thesis is to develop and implement an appropriate learning model that fits the existing agent architecture using an agile project methodology. The model developed can be seen as an online unsupervised reinforcement learning model that enhances experiences through reward. The model is based on Maes model where new effects are created depending on whether the agent is fulfilling its goals or not.The model we have developed is based on constant monitoring of the system.

I föreliggande studie har det undersökts vad som påverkat linjechefer att fullfölja sina förändrade arbetsförhållanden. Förändringarna är ett resultat efter att en större omorganisation har genomförts, en så kallad Human Resource Transformation. Studien baserades på Icek Ajzens Theory of planned behavior, vars utgångspunkt är individens intention att utföra ett tänkt beteende. Det antogs, utifrån Ajzen (1991), att de tre faktorerna, attityd, subjektiv norm och upplevd beteendekontroll var av betydelse för intentionen. Sammanlagt svarade 42 linjechefer från Skatteverket på en enkät om attityder, subjektiva normer och upplevd beteendekontroll gentemot de nya arbetsuppgifterna.

Today, we see tendencies of politicians being more active in social media using selfies. According to previous research using selfies is associated with being self-centered and narcissistic. It is not known though what implications the behavior will have for a selfie-using politician in terms of chances of being elected. This study aims to contribute to the research on political communication and social media behavior. More specifically the study intends to investigate whether there is a difference between voters' views if a politician uses selfies or not, and whether there is a difference by gender.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how the Swedish laws regulate the proactive work of employers to prevent employees from getting sexual harassed or harassed on the basis of sex. The purpose is also to investigate how employers are supposed to handle employees whom have been sexual harassed or harassed on the basis of sex. Sweden has a segregated labor market which means that women and men tends to select different professions. This leaves marks on the equality for women and men, which also has effect on the fact that women and men are being harassed in the workplace or situations associated with the work. By investigating genderresearch I am hoping to find out why more employees get sexual harassed or harassed on the basis of their sex in segregated professions.The definition of sexual harassment is unwanted behavior that alludes on sex, and thereby violates the person?s dignity.

The Swedish sports retail industry has experienced extensive growth during the last decade, and this has attracted new entrants to the market, both start-ups and international followers. This has inevitably put more pressure on incumbents, which are now confronted with major challenges as how to retain their customers and market shares. Customer loyalty has been proved to be an important factor for customer retention and proposed to constitute inertia of switching behavior. In light of this problematization, the purpose of this study is to describe the underlying factors of loyalty and whether purchase habits could further explain customer loyalty. The aim is also to understand the strategic implications of the factors involved.

This master?s thesis investigates in which ways students seek out and access their textbooks and how they use their university?s library in this process. Data is collected through interviews from six students several semesters into their studies at the University of Stockholm. For the interviews two students each were selected from the fields of law, economics and humanities. The empirical findings were analyzed using T.D Wilson?s model of information behavior (1997).

Syftet med studien var att pröva vilka psykologiska mekanismer som påverkar sambandet mellan attityder och beteendeintentioner inför miljöpåverkan hos individer i konsumtionssamhället. Hypotesen var att det finns ett miljömedvetande hos människan, men att det är en skillnad mellan attityd och beteendeintention. Även emotioner inför miljöpåverkan hos deltagarna undersöktes, för att fördjupa studien. Undersökningen har gjorts kvantitativt via en webbaserad enkät, genom utskick via Facebook till vuxna individer i Sverige mellan 18-65 år (N=49). Svarsprocenten var 46 procent.

I de fall enskilda aktieägare tillfogas skada, genom organledamots handlande, innehar dessa rättigheten att påkalla skadeståndsansvar enligt 29:1 1 st. 2 men. ABL. I den svenska rättstillämpningen ter sig dock tillämpningen av paragrafen, i samband med indirekta skador, problematisk. Problematiken hänför sig till vilka regler, vars åsidosättande, aktualiserar tillämpningen av paragrafen tillsammans med aktieägares talerätt.Två tolkningar kan i fallet identifieras, vilka framförts inom doktrinen, varvid en begränsad och en mer liberal.

Our purpose of this paper is to seek an understanding of which service quality factors that affects customers in their decision making progress regarding purchasing financial services such as pension products. We also seek to evaluate the different service quality factors by compare their relative strength against each other. The study aim to investigate if there are any connections between customer behavior variables such as gender, age and income in comparison to these service quality factors related to pension products.The findings aim to help a small financial institute such as our case company Plain Capital to understand how their customers experience service quality regarding pension products.In order to find empirical results we conducted a qualitative research as well a quantitative research. The qualitative research employed both a focus group interview with pension savers and an interview with our case company Plain Capital. We were able to identify the service quality factors for pension?s products with help from the focus group interview.

Cows are ruminants and they need fibers in their feed and sufficient eating time to function psychologically and physiologically. Many of our cows don?t get enough forage and too much concentrates, which given in the wrong way may cause health and behavior problems. Too much concentrates at once makes the pH in the rumen sink and this may cause decreased fiber utilization since the microbes in the rumen are negatively affected by this. The cow may also get serious problems such as laminitis and abomasal dislocation.

Aim: The aim of this study is to examine roma women´s experiences of health professionals? attitudes towards them in Swedish health care. Method: Exploratory qualitative study with individual interviews was used. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight women of Roma origin. Data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis.

Föreliggande undersökning är en kvantitativ attitydstudie vilken bygger på Izec Ajzens Theory of planned behavior. Teorins utgångspunkt är att individens beteende föregås av en intention att utföra beteendet. Intentionen grundar sig i tre faktorer: individens attityd gentemot beteendet, subjektiva normer och individens upplevda beteendekontroll. Studien syfte är att i första hand studera ungdomars attityder gentemot läxläsning och delaktighet på lektioner. Syftet är även att kartlägga vilka faktorer som i störst grad påverkar intentionen att studera och hur intentionen skiljer sig mellan könen.

The tribo system ice-curling stone was investigated in order to understand the mechanisms behind the stones' behavior on the ice sheet. The problem with non-identical stones should also be addressed.The stone curls, that is, its sliding path deviates from a straight line to the right for a clock-wise rotation and to the left for a anti-clock-wise rotation. Several mechanisms to explain this behavior have been proposed over the years but none has been successful.By carrying out experiments at the local curling rink and studying silicon castings of ice- and stone-surfaces with scanning electron microscopy and vertical scanning interferometry, it has been decided that the curl is not due to dry friction, ice-debris or the difference in friction on the left and right side of the stone. The side force comes from the fact that the friction is higher at the back of the stone than at the front.The contact between stone and ice is never completely dry, nor in the hydrodynamic lubrication regime. It is probably a combination of hydrodynamic lubrication and a contribution from mechanical scratching of the ice.

Sleep is essential for all mammals and they all have different sleep patterns. Wild horses normally spend 2-8.5% of a 24-hour period in recumbent position while stabled horses lie down 11-20%. To fulfil the need of rapid eye movement (REM) sleep the horse must lie down with support against the ground for the head. The lying behavior can be affected by external stimuli such as age, food intake, bedding materials and if the horses feel safe or not. This study investigates the lying behavior of horses on different bedding materials; wood shavings and filled rubber mats (HIT SoftBed®).