Predicting corporate failure is an increasingly important topic in the world of economics today. This paper, with the help of the credit ranking company Syna AB, aims to investigate a few different statistic strategies to do just that. This task is accomplished by using a data material of 250 000 Swedish companies divided into two subsamples. The first sample is used to develop the model and the second as a validation sample. The model developing sample holds 160 000 companies divided into five different subgroups based on size and age.

Laser for material processing possesses a number of advantages which mean that it has been and will be an important component for a wide range of industries' future development. Cutting materials processing is the dominant use of laser technology and has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. The aim of this thesis is to describe the principles of metal cutting by laser, how laser cutting is applied in practice and to identify how Swedish companies are using laser cutting. For the theoretical and technical description of laser cutting literature studies are the primary source of information. The empirical basis for the mapping of the Swedish industry for laser cutting is grounded on a survey; this includes Swedish companies that use laser cutting in their production.

This essay derives from the concern that horses ridden with a bit in their mouth can be subjected to strong pressure from the bit if the horse and rider do not understand each other. The horse's mucosa membrane and the tongue are very sensitive tissues (Cook, 1999; Manfredi, 2005; Oliveira, 2005; Terada, 2006) and the bit can then be a source of pain and discomfort. The training of the horse should therefore always be a step by step process and as the horse develops difficulties are increased. Oliveira (2005) suggested that high demands can be placed on the horse but to be successful in the training it is essential to be content with small progress and reward the slightest desired response from the horse. This corresponds with the principles of operant conditioning with negative reinforcement.

This dissertation is performed at the request of Lagafors AB who develops and manufactures stationery and mobile hygiene solutions for companies in the food- processing industry. The objective of this dissertation is to develop and construct a new, cost efficient cleaning station based on an innovative technology.The technique is based on serially connected dosing pumps which allow the customer to work with concentrated detergents. This leads to serious reduction in the clients use expenses. Two units have been developed with this technique, one that is stationary and one that is mobile.The dissertation has led to good results which resulted in the sale of the first stationary unit of the Lagafors CPU before the end of this dissertation. .

The aim of the study was to examine whether parental leave can serve as capacitating period in life. More specifically our aim was to get a deeper comprehension of the abilities and competencies developed through parental leave and how these can be of use to the individual when at work. 12 semistructured interviews were conducted with employees from a large organization in the south of Sweden. The results were analyzed using a hermeneutic approach. The results of the study show that competencies and abilities such as effectiveness, organizing, multitasking, leader abilities, communication, sensitivity, limiting skills, mindfulness, acceptance, self-confidence and life balance were enhanced during parental leave.

Identification of fungi is based on macroscopic observations of morphology and microscopic characteristics. These conventional methods are time-consuming and requires expert knowledge. For the past years Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry has been used for routine bacterial identification in clinical laboratories but not yet in the same extension for fungi. In this study three preanalytic preparation methods for fungi were evaluated in order to shorten the processing time in routine laboratory performance.Clinically relevant strains (n=18) of molds and dermatophytes were cultivated on agar plates and prepared according to the different preparation methods for protein extraction. Each strain was analyzed in quadruplicate by the MALDI Biotyper and the database Filamentous Fungi Library 1.0.The results showed that the genus and species identification rates of the least time-consuming direct extraction method were 33% and 11% respectively.

Staphylococcus aureus is the most clinically important Staphylococcus species and is associated with high mortality in patients with positive blood cultures. S. aureus bacteria may cause a variety of disease manifestations ranging from minor skin infections to life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and sepsis. This microorganism belonging to the gram positive cocci may also be part of the normal flora. In Sweden, penicillinase-stable penicillins are the primary alternatives to treat S.

Works on transparent paper, also commonly known as tracing paper, have been described as ephemeral or temporary working documents and they usually number large quantities in archival and museum collections. They have therefore previously been considered of lower priority and can be found in poor condition due to a lack of treatment or suitable storage prospects. In addition, transparent paper can be very sensitive to moisture and reacts by deformation or loss of transparency. Due to the volume of these works and the necessity of treatment, there is a call for simple and efficient conservation methods. A common solution in archives for the treatment of water-sensitive works on paper has been the use of heat-activated tissues as they can be applied without the introduction of solvents. There is little published about the use of heat-activated tissues on transparent paper and is mentioned only briefly in existing literature.

A majority of Swedish consumers have a positive attitude towards organic production and the number of organic products on the market is increasing. Despite these positive trends, there are still relatively few consumers who choose to buy organic produced products. According to statistics, only 3% of the total sales of food consist of organic products. The aim with this essay is to understand what is needed, both from the grocery store and the consumer's point of view, to increase the consumption of organic food. Information has been collected partly through questionnaire with consumers and partly through analysis of sales statistics for a selected numbers of products. Then the empirical material have been analysed in the light of a combination of the Behavioural Perspective Model (Foxell, 1997) and Kotler's Four P:s (Kotler, 2002). Consumer's willingness to buy organic products is influenced by a number of different factors. One important thing is if the grocery store offers a behaviour setting that stimulates the consumers positive attitude and facilitates their possibilities to collect new information. Furthermore, the store needs to offer a broad and well-visualised selection of organic products.

TAT?s Cascades and Kastor are programming languages used to create graphical user interfaces (GUI) for mobile phones. TAT Tutorials is a dynamic, interactive tutorial site for these xml-based programming languages. An editor will be available for download to enhance the learning process..

The projects objective is to find an alternative method of heating (the current method being via electric heating) the sewage treatment plant on the island Utö in Stockholm?s archipelago in order to reduce the energy consumption and ultimately the cost for heating the plant. The project is given by ?Skärgårdsstiftelsen? (The Archipelago Foundation) and is a part of the larger EU-project ?Green Islands?.A model for the plants total heating demand is established in order to get a good perception of how much money can be saved using alternative heating methods. The heating demand model gives an annual heating demand of approximately 32 500 kWh and a maximum heating power demand of around 24,7 kW.

In the low-income countries of the world, rapid urbanization and decaying infrastructure results in an increasingly unsustainable situation when it comes to solid waste management. Often, the solution tends to focus on introducing technical advanced interventions based on the conditions of the high-income world. However, this thesis aims to ?nd site-speci?c solutions on solid waste management at a local scale. By taking in consideration of local conditions a customized approach is possible where the solution is not dependent on expensive structural changes.

Pomace is the solid remains (i.e. stems, pulp, seeds, and skins) after pressing for juice. The annual production of apple pomace is 593 000 ton worldwide. Its field of application depends on local conditions. In order to investigate the field of application of apple pomace in the Southern Sweden, six persons on companies with production of apple juice were interviewed.

At the Department of Technology and Built environment at the University of Gävle there was an interest to study GNU Radio, which is an "open source radio project. The project is based on that most of the radio signal processing is made in an ordinary PC. The idea behind this degree project was that in a laptop there are several radio transmitters/receivers that takes space, generates heat and transmit in varied frequency band etcetera. All these radio transmitters/receivers could be replaced with a Software Defined Radio system. It means that one common, general radio hardware is used to different communications such as: WLAN, Bluetooth, GPRS, 3G etcetera. The waveform is generated in the software, which makes the system very flexible.

Staphylococcus aureus is the most clinically important Staphylococcus species and is associated with high mortality in patients with positive blood cultures. S. aureus bacteria may cause a variety of disease manifestations ranging from minor skin infections to life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and sepsis. This microorganism belonging to the gram positive cocci may also be part of the normal flora. In Sweden, penicillinase-stable penicillins are the primary alternatives to treat S.