The ability to tackle NP-hard problems has been greatly extended by the introduction of Metaheuristics (see Blum & Roli (2003)) for a summary of most Metaheuristics, general problem-independent optimisation algorithms extending the hill-climbing local search approach to escape local minima. One of these algorithms is Iterated Local Search (ILS) (Lourenco et al., 2002; Stützle, 1999a, p. 25ff), a recent easy to implement but powerful algorithm with results comparable or superior to other state-of-the-art methods for many combinatorial optimisation problems, among them the Traveling Salesman (TSP) and Quadratic Assignment Problem (QAP). ILS iteratively samples local minima by modifying the current local minimum and restartinga local search porcedure on this modified solution. This thesis will show how ILS can be implemented for MSA.

This master thesis is about art activity in the public library. The essay takes its starting point from Government cultural political directives and my purpose has been to study how these are followed up in the municipal level. My survey takes place at the main library of Flen in the county of Södermanland. What I am looking for is, what the art activity looks like, what is decided regarding it and what the strategies are. Furthermore I look into how library visitors understand and participate in the art activity.

The stretch from the riparian zone of a major river, through the mouth and upstream in tributaries forms a range of differing habitats. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of these different habitats on the riparian frog community in primary rain forest in Borneo; i.e. examine whether any gradients could be demonstrated in terms of species composition, diversity and density of frogs, as well as which environmental characteristics that seem to be of most importance in forming habitats of high conservational value. A major river, Segama, and three of its tributaries were investigated. The Surveys were carried out at night by searching for frogs visually and acoustically along the streams, from the shore of the Segama river and 400 metres upstream in the tributaries.

If Swedish companies are to compete with companies in low-cost countries they have to achieve a more efficient production. The purpose of Total Productivity Maintenance (TPM) is to increase the company's profitability by increasing the productivity. TPM is a method that involves all employees and aims to prevent failures in order to increase the availability of existing equipment.The aim of this paper is to evaluate the implementation process of TPM and give recommendations for the further implementation process. The conclusion and the analysis are based on a case study done at a production department at ABB Cewe-Controls facilities in Nyköping. The case study consists mainly of qualitative data from participation observations, Surveys and interviews.Commitment of the management is a key factor in the implementation process of TPM.

Background and problem:Theory and literature in the field of board recruitment are limited. The theory and literature that existed focused primarily on the recruitment of senior management and CEO. It was identified that no one had examined the factors that influence the recruitment of board members. The underlying factors might cause the board recruitment is not done from a purely efficiency perspective and therefore it is of interest to be examined.Purpose:The purpose of this thesis is to examine and give an insight into the underlying factors affecting the choice of new directors in large Swedish companies.Method:The thesis has had a deductive approach and been based on existing theory and literature to explain the factors that affect board recruitment. The study was quantitative and the sample consisted of all the major Swedish listed companies.Results and conclusions:The survey indicated that board members ethnicity and number of other board assignments were factors that influenced the board recruitment.

Student recruitment is a subject that seems to be forgotten in the theory of event communication. Yet the area has some specific reoccurring features. Our purpose was to examine these specific features and how to work with these in the best way, and also see how to get the most out of the event communication to the young at event and fairs. Special features we have looked at are the student ambassadors ands their impact, the meaning of a give-away and also if there are any essential factors to get in contact with the young at fairs and events, and if new technology had an important role to play in the area.Our research has been inductive, and therefore, we have created our own theory and reflected it to the larger topic of event communication and its theories. Our research method has been triangular, both quantitative and qualitative; interviews with those who work with student recruitment, and Surveys to young people in upper secondary school.Our study showed the importance of student ambassadors and their specific task to be nice, friendly and outgoing.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how girls groups, particularly in school, can help girls with feelings of stress and pressure they can experience in their everyday life. We also want to examine how girls groups can be used, and explain why they should be held in school and not only in other organizations. The information we?ve gathered comes from books and websites that cover the subject. In addition to this, we?ve also handed out Surveys and implemented interviews with both younger girls with girls groups experience, a teacher and a youth recreation leader. The theoretical aspect of this essay stems from two different theories: Labeling theory and Strain theory.

This thesis describes the work process and the results for the development of a newkind of ergonomic cleaning mop, ranging from basic concept to a virtually productionready digital prototype. The project was made in cooperation with, Ömer Altun, whowas also the project supervisor, and whose plan it is to launch this new product onthe market in a foreseeable future. The mop is meant to be used by both professionalcleaning staff and ordinary home users. What makes this product unique is that it hasa movable center piece that simplifies the cleaning under low furniture.The work began with the establishment of a product requirements specification andlater a study of similar products and existing functional models was conducted. Afterthese Surveys the work began with refining the existing concepts in order to makethem more complete.

In this study, my intention has been to examine how the ambiguous concept of corruption is constructed by the press. Emphasizing the media?s representations of the socially constructed and context-specific concept, this work adopts a critical perspective on discourse, together with an approach of conceptual history. Finland has for many years been appointed as one of the least corrupt countries in the world, signing several international conventions against corruption since the 1990s, which in turn has led to an increase in discussion regarding the phenomenon. By conducting a multi-method study, my aim has been to analyse the possible changes in the definition of ?corruption? in the Finnish newspaper Hufvudstadsbladet during the period 2000-2013.

The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of activities, flows and waste in a company's production process. By performing a value stream analysis, non-value adding activities are identified in a production process and then the suggested improvements that can reduce lead times will be stated. The value-stream mapping identifies the flow of information and the flow of material in a production process and this provides the basis for the identification of non-value adding activities.We conducted the study at Lammhults Möbel AB in Lammhult Sweden, where the production flow of Spira-21 has been investigated. This to identify any non-value adding activities that affect the flow negative and consumes time and money in a non-value adding way.A reasonable approach for the project was taken by studying the methodologies and theories. We conducted interviews and site Surveys at Lammhults Möbel AB where the flow of information and material in the production process were investigated.

At the turn of the year 2009/2010 there was a change in the regulations on sickness impact. This led to 328 persons in County of Kronoberg had an expired period of sickness benefit from the Social Insurance Office (Försäkringskassan) when they reached the maximum time for sickness or temporary disability compensation. These individuals were offered introductory programs with the employment services. The purpose of this study is to investigate how the population with expired period of sickness benefit from the Regional Social Insurance Office in the County of Kronoberg (Försäkringskassan Kronoberg) is described in the initial stage, and to explore how individuals who achieved expired period of sickness benefit from the Social Insurance Office (Försäkringskassan) talks about the meaning to get an expired period of sickness benefit regarding economic and social issues. The study was inspired by Grounded theory.

Aim The purpose of this research is to study the need and the importance of marks in secondary school. The reason is to find out the students' perception of how they are motivated. Furthermore, how students experience the assessment and grading in physical education.What attitudes do students have towards the mark in the subject physical education in 6th and 9th grade, also how does SOC affect their attitudes towards marks?What kind of motivational significance do marks in physical education have in 6th and 9th grade based on their SOC?How do the students experience the assessment in grading in 6th and 9th grade based on their SOC?Method The data was collected with a quantitative approach. The sample consisted of four classes from 6th grade and five classes from 9th grade; all from two different schools in the county of Stockholm.

Due to a rising debate concerning corporate governance that has caused increasing demands for companies? transparency, several codes of conduct have been introduced. The Swedish Code for Corporate Governance is obliged to companies with a turnover exceeding three billions. There are companies that voluntarily apply the Swedish Code. Possible causes to this phenomenon ought to be that the code for corporate governance conveys legitimacy through the insight into the affairs of a company the public receives, through the report of the corporate governance that is published in the annual report and on the home page of the company.

The purpose of this study was to examine if women's career was affected by becoming a mother after 35 years old. It was also our intention to discover if it was an intentional or an unintentional choice to postpone giving birth just for the sake of the career. We have read articles that are implying that women´s career possibilities, combined with children, is difficult and of current interest in today's society. Science has shown that it no longer appears to be women's main life objective to give birth but they now also wants a career. We wanted to shed some light on the subject from two different angles, so we looked both from the women's perspective and from the employer's perspective.

The purpose of this project is to examine students' pespectives on quality in teaching. The characteristics that are described to denote a 'good' and 'less good' teachers are linked to ideas about types of corresponding leadership styles in the classroom. The report is based on Surveys of students in Upplands-Bro high school outside Stockholm. In order to get better insight and further knowledge of the subject, the student accounts have been related to current discussions in the literature about good leadership and teaching quality.Following the methodology of grounded theory a pilot study was constructed to design the research instruments. In the pilot study I collected students' perceptions on quality-related categories in teaching and leadership which then formed a bases for a survey which was distributed to a larger student sample. The survey includes questions that relate to the middle order, which is based on three criteria that make up the characteristics of a 'good'/ 'less good' teacher and the leadership style that suits students descriptions of good teacher characteristics.The results of the study show that a good teacher should have subject knowledge, be good at writing and illustrating the curriculum on the whiteboard and explain and clarify their instruction through good communication.