Swedish school children exhibit deteriorating knowledge results in terms of reading comprehension. Previous research shows that a method to increase the level of knowledge is the use of evidence-based learning techniques. Test based learning generates what is commonly referred to as a test effect, which proved to strengthen the relationship between learning and memory, as well as being applicable to various test formats. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether test based learning, in terms of learning english words leads to increased performance in a reading comprehension test, more specifically a cloze test. The study was based on a within-group design and was conducted three times over four weeks.

I och med det enorma användningsområdet av datorsystem i dagens samhälle finns många typer av användare och uppgifter att designa för. Genom designriktlinjer kan utvecklare få referenser och guidning för att skapa användbara applikationer från början. På så vis kan tid sparas i utvecklingsprocessen. Från och med puberteten då människan kan anses vara vuxen ändras förmåga till andraspråksinlärning, trots detta finns det människor som lär sig andraspråk i vuxen ålder. Kunskap kring vad dessa skillnader beror på måste användas i designen av en andraspråksinlärningsapplikation för att tillgodose människans kognitiva förmågor.

The aim of this thesis is to examine how salesperson control can be exercised in a retail store environment. A case study has been performed on a Swedish fashion company emphasizing the relationship between the company?s upper level management and their retail store operations in order to describe, analyze and classify the prevailing management control mechanisms. The paper presents an agency theoretical approach to the relationship applying behavior- and outcome based control theory, performance measurement theory and incentives theory in order to give a comprehensive image of the control system. The main finding is that the company?s management control system as applied to the sales force in its retail stores can be categorized as mainly behavior-based despite several explicit outcome-based features..

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate 7 different search strategies for content-based image retrieval with respect to retrieval effectiveness. The strategies are based on different levels of resolution implemented by the Haar transformation. The result of the study shows an improvement in both mean average precision and mean recall in strategies based on lower levels of resolution..

Simulation means running a model of a system with suitable input and observing the corresponding output. Real-time environment simulation is a special kind of simulation used to simulate a control system's environment in real-time. This is done to test the control system before it is used in its real environment. In this project, computer simulation of a certain kind of environments, called track-based systems, is studied and a general model for track-based systems is developed. In this model, track layouts are represented by graphs, which is a flexible and extensible representation and a method for visualizing these layouts is presented.

Millions of people are using search engines every day when they are trying to find information on the Internet. The purpose of this report is to find out how people formulate search queries. The result in this report is based on an empirical study which is based on a search log from the Swedish search engine Seek.se.One of the results in this thesis is that nearly all search queries are based on keywords..

Internationally most Internet trade related payments are performed with the use of a credit card based payment system on the Internet. Payment against invoice is still most common when trading over the Internet in Sweden. The security development, comfort and timesaving indicate that credit card based payment systems on the Internet soon will have a breakthrough in Sweden as well. The Swedish legislation concerning payment is neither especially extensive nor suited to electronic payments but to payments performed with notes and coins. When the legal effects, of a payment performed with a credit card based payment system on the Internet, set in is not fixed.

Många byggnader är idag fuktskadade. Fuktskador uppstår på så väl nya som gamla byggnader. Idag provtrycker man hus för att få ett värde på dess täthet, men många hus som klarar täthetskraven drabbas ändå av fuktskador. Detta beror på att otätheterna är lokala på en eller flera delar av klimatskalet bortsett från otätheter vid anslutningar.  En studie har gjorts på två väggtyper; en standardvägg och en passivhusvägg.

The ambition to use evidence based treatments has spread within the field of Swedish social work. The number of treatments with claim to being evidence based has grown but the research concerning implementation; the procedures being used to introduce new methods in organizations and assure that the method is being used appropriately and continuously, is scarce. The aim of this study was to examine the implementation of Functional Family Therapy (FFT), being an evidence based treatment, in an organization providing social services in the public sector, in Sweden. We used a qualitative research design and conducted interviews with persons involved in the implementation of FFT in the social services in a town in the south of Sweden. We used the practice guidelines provided in Evidence Based Practice (EBP) together with recently published meta- analyses of implementation research, in the field of social work, to examine the implementation of FFT, as being an evidence based treatment.

The focus of this thesis is positioning and customer retention in newly started small service businesses. The thesis is based on the case study of two small newly started service businesses: Kåffe In that is based in Skellefteå and Lundström Aaro Design! which is based in Umeå. The thesis presents the conclusion that newly started small service businesses, regardless of industry, seem to work in accordance with the theoretical framework of the thesis..

This thesis is a product development project that was performed at Alfa Laval Tumba AB. In the past Alfa Laval have manufactured gas separators for engines where gas flows were cleaned from oil. A new business area for this kind of technology has shown to be the manufacturing industry where oil mist has to be separated from the vented air. Therefore a new and bigger design is needed to be able to handle the greater gas flows. A product like that would be a strong competitor on the market when the maintenance would be low in comparison to today?s equipment.During the project several concept suggestions were developed using customer interviews and research as input.

During the last decennium climate issues have become more and more important. Many steps towards an adaption of efficient energy supply systems have been taken all around the world. These steps have been created to ensure the next generation?s energy demand. In EU and Sweden objectives have been set to ensure that the energy consumption decreases by 20% year 2020 and by 50% year 2050 compared with the energy consumption levels of year 1995.

This paper examines possible applications of fuzzy logic on the field of artificial intelligence in digital games. It describes fuzzy logic in contrast to crisp logic. The paper will give several examples of possible applications of fuzzy logic-based decision making for game AI. These examples include the choosing of weapons for AI agents and the gas-break decision of an AI-controlled car. The paper will also analyze the impacts of game AI which makes decisions based on many factors.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse and propose improvements to the cost accounting system in use at an airline operating on the Swedish market. The choice of study object is based on the airline?s desire to have its cost accounting system evaluated. During the analysis we have identified a number of points where the current cost accounting system does not correspond to its intended purpose. These points include significant groups of costs not being considered in the current system, potential over capacity is not visible and logic connections between distribution keys and the use of resources are sometimes lacking.

Success in treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy against different types of cancer tumors is limited by side-effects such as hearing loss which can have a large impact on the individual`s quality of life. It is of great importance to continue with studies that address this complex of problems.Objective: The aim of this literature review is to investigate the impact of platinum-based chemotherapy on hearing in children and adolescents treated for different types of cancer.Method: A descriptive review of literature was made based on sources from 15 different studies on the impact of platinum-based chemotherapy on hearing in the target group.Results: The survey of the studies shows that platinum-based chemotherapy causes incidence of hearing loss by differing degree in the target group. Dosage of a platinum-based substance appeared to be the most significant factor. Treatment with both cisplatin and carboplatin was more ototoxic than treatment with only one of these. Greater risk for hearing loss was to a higher degree observed in younger children.