Nuts of all kinds are common ingredients in food. For nut allergy sufferers the frequent use of nuts cause problems and "hidden" nuts in food products may elicit allergic reaction when such foods are consumed. Methods for detecting and quantifying walnut (and other nuts) with high sensitivity and specificity are therefore very important.The objective of this project was to verify the specificity of a rabbit antiserum against walnut with immunodiffusion and to determine the size of the dominant walnut antigens with Western blotting. In addition, a commercial sandwich ELISA for walnut quantification was validated and compared with a qualitative real-time PCR.The rabbit antiserum proved to be less specific but after absorption with cross-reacting nuts and seeds it showed high specificity. The ELISA kit reacted, except for walnut, with pecan and slightly with other nuts and seeds tested.

The use of balanced scorecards have spread explosively throughout the world during the last decade. This management tool have become very common in a vide spread variety of organisations on all continents. Many balanced scorecard fails though and scorecard theorists often blame the identification- and implementation process as they claim that these lay the foundation for the use of the tool. As my literature study shows, academic research on the area is rare. Particularly the effect on the implementation process from organisational dynamics and organisational structures needs further research.

Syfte: Syftet med vår undersökning är att skapa bättre förståelse för hur en säljare förmedlar empati för kunden i en säljrelation. Tidigare forsknings uppmärksamhet för förståelsen och empatins påverkan utgör grunden till att vi mer specifikt vill undersöka; hur kunden uppfattar att fastighetsmäklaren förmedlar affektiv respektive kognitiv empati i en säljrelation.Metod: En studie av kvalitativ art valdes med bakgrund till studiens syfte. För insamling av kvalitativ data använde vi oss av tidigare forskning samt semistrukturerade intervjuer, vilka utfördes med respondenter som anlitat en fastighetsmäklare inom de närmaste tre föregående åren. Well-grounded theory användes sedan som analysmetod av det empiriska materialet.Slutsats: Studien indikerar att kunden uppfattar både affektiv och kognitiv empati i mötet med fastighetsmäklaren. Vi har genom analysen uppmärksammat skillnader och likheter i respondenternas svar, mer specifikt har vi funnit att kundernas uppfattning av empati upplevs olika av olika personlighetstyper och situationer.Förslag till vidare forskning: Vi anser att vidare forskning bör ta hänsyn till fler variabler, exempelvis ålder, kön, personlighetstyp eller situation.

This study investigates the succession process in family businesses and aims to enhance the understanding of the process as a whole, as well as how family businesses strategically plan for succession. The research is based on a case study of a family corporate group undergoing a transition from the fourth to the fifth generation. A qualitative research approach was employed, involving interviews with individuals from both the fourth and fifth generations, as well as external stakeholders who have influenced the process. The results show that the planning and implementation of succession are complex and that there is a certain lack of existing theory. Empirical evidence indicates that contracts and documentation are crucial for advancing the process. Inclusion of external parties is also important, not only for their expertise but also to provide an objective perspective.

This Masters thesis work describes a comparison between two different methods for estimation of the down channel (base station to mobile subscriber) in Wide-band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA). The first estimation method, Optimal Feed-forward Channel Estimation (OFCE), is a conventional method that bases the estimates on data that is known to both sender and receiver, so called pilots. The second method, Decision Directed Channel Estimation (DDCE), is an elaboration of OFCE. It also uses user data for estimation. Simulations show that DDCE, in comparison to OFCE, does not attain an improvement in signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) for high bit error rates (BER). An improvement is only seen when the BER becomes much lower than what is common in real situations. In conclusion DDCE is complicated, involves many mathematical operations and gives insignificant improvement of SNR when BER takes common values. It is legitimate to question if it is possible to use the method in a real mobile phone system..

Denna studie undersöker hur statliga myndigheter är som hyresgäster på den svenska lokalhyresmarknaden. I studien analyseras myndigheternas hyreskontraktslängder samt den faktiska hyresperioden för respektive lokal. Därutöver utreds hur respektive myndighet hanterar sin lokalförsörjning både organisatoriskt och strategiskt. För att få en tillförlitlig perception om dagens situation har såväl historisk utveckling samt rådande trender och framtidsutsikter i den statliga lokalförsörjningen beaktats.Tidigare forskning kring myndigheters lokalhyrestider är begränsad, således är förhoppningen att denna studie ska bringa klarhet i detta. Vidare ämnar studiens syfte till att klargöra statliga myndigheters strategi gällande lokalförsörjning.Studien bygger på en kvalitativ del vilken innefattar intervjuer med fem statliga myndigheter.

This essay is a selective review of Nordic literature with the aim to explore contemporary conceptions of male-on-female rape, to increase the understanding of how these can construct ?a real rape?. To achieve this two questions were formulated: What circumstances can cause an incident not to be defined as rape? What circumstances can cause an incident to be defined as rape? Searches in international and Swedish databases led to initial selection of peer-review journal articles and dissertations that were reviewed against set criteria. These criteria were met by 8 studies, that were assigned codes, from which comprehensive categories were developed.

Den 1 augusti 2012 infördes en skatt på finansiella transaktioner i Frankrike. Detta är ett av många exempel, nuvarande och i planeringsstadiet, på fenomenet där ekonomiska marknader beläggs med skatt. Hur detta påverkar marknaden är vad denna uppsats ämnar studera då tidigare teori och empiri pekar åt olika håll. För att uppnå detta syfte undersöks hur likviditeten och volatiliteten påverkades i anslutning till skattens införande i Frankrike. Likviditeten uppskattas genom spreaden samt handelsvolymen.

Title Becoming involved in the planning process - from the construction workers perspective.University/Institution Halmstad UniversityKeywordsEmpowerment through participation, construction workers involvement in decision making in the planning process, knowledge management and communication in the planning process, partnering, human resource managementAimThe aim of this bachelor thesis is to provide knowledge and examine how construction workers perceive involvement in the planning process of partnering projects, what they can contribute and what they get out of the planning process.Methodology The study was conducted with a qualitative approach in the form of semi-structured interviews.          The interview studie consist of 10 interviews with construction workers who are specially educated in participating in the planning process at the company ByggDialog AB.ConclusionAll respondents are positive to be involved in the planning process. The main advantages they can see is that they are able to influence technical solutions and methods that will be used later on in the production. Therefore it is important to consider when construction workers should be involved in the planning process so that they get the chance to influence in this decisions.When it comes to the decision making the construction workers should be involved in the decisions that are related to their tasks in the production such as technical solutions, choice of methods and materials. Their main duties and working hours should be in the production.Involvement in planning does not automatically mean that the construction workers are involved in the decision making, it is up to them how much they participate.

The students participating in my development work will work with a process book for handicraft studies. In the beginning of their studies, the students need practical knowledge about the development of the profession itself, but they also need to be challenged and learn how to solve problems on their own which will help them gain a deeper knowledge of the subject.    I focus on open questions to create a process with the students. This process is created when working with Solution-Focused-Education. Through ?assessment for learning? we can help the students to improve their self-assessment and understanding of the learning process.

In recent decades, demands has emerged that the companies shall take a greater social responsibility for the impact that they have on their environment and that this impact shall be reported, which is known as Sustainability Reporting. The Sustainability Report is based on a number of general principles that ensure the content and the quality of the Sustainability Report. One of these principles is the principle of completeness. In the research, this principle seems to have been interpreted in terms of number of reported aspects and indicators, which can be a limited view where only the existence of the aspects and indicators is observed. By including the degree of the reporting in terms of full, partial and no reporting as well as a comparison between the real and the alleged reporting, our intention is to extend the principle of completeness and to develop a tool that we also apply through an empirical survey in a particular area.

AbstractThe aim of this essay is to bring understanding to one of the problems theinternationally adopted in Sweden might face, the identity dilemma. In order to do so, a theory of identity construction, Constructionism, is used. This theory says that the construction of identities is a constantly continuing process, influenced, not only by our own perception of ourselves, but also by how we are viewed and treated by otherpeople.Given this theoretic starting point, an examination of the adoptees? everydayencounters in the Swedish society is made, using an autobiography, a biography, a collection of interviews, and newspaper articles. The result shows that the internationally adopted, although they are Swedish both by mind and by law, experience that they have been, and sometimes still are, confronted with strong attitudes such as racism, prejudice and stereotypes.Furthermore, those who experience the identity dilemma often refer to how they are perceived by ?the others?, or to what the encounters with ? the real? Swedes have been like.

At the beginning of the nineties, a new form of organisation, the process organisation, was about to be born. The features of the process organisation were a flexible organisational that works in a world where the pace of development is increasing all the time. Today there are many organisations that have mapped their processes, but in order to truly become a process organisation, the processes among other things have to be in harmony with e.g. organisational culture. Which effects the organisational culture has on the process organisation is yet unexplored, but however quite crucial.

 Genotyping can be used to link genetic variation among individuals to certain diseases or conditions. Some known disorders and states that are dependent on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) are lactose intolerance, venous thrombosis, hereditary hemochromatosis and the difference in sensibility among people to metabolise drugs.In this project a new kit, TaqManÒ Sample-to-SNP KitÔ for extraction of DNA and preparation of the extract for genotyping with real-time PCR and allelic discrimination, was evaluated. QIAamp® DNA Blood Biorobot® MDx Kit was used as the reference method.The purpose of the comparison was to find a method that makes DNA extraction from blood samples cheaper and faster, but with the same reliability as the reference procedure.The results of the evaluation showed a complete agreement of the genotype results between the methods tested, which means that the new method was as reliable as the reference method. The costs of reagents and material would be reduced with 52% if the new method is adopted, that alone would result in a cost reduction of 144 000SEK a year with a sample volume of 650 samples/month. The time for DNA extraction would also be reduced with the new procedure. .

Organizational democracy has been a popular research area in recent decades but the implementation in real organizations is slow (Kokkinidis, 2012; Verdorfer, Weber, Unter Rainer & Seyr, 2013). Several researchers (Schön Jansson, 2012; Falkheimer, Heide & Johansson, 2013) argue that communication practitioners have a key role in democratic processes and that because their job role is under constant change there are only a few modern studies regarding the subject. The purpose of this study is to illustrate how communication practitioners in private and public organizations experience their role in the process of internal communication and to what extent they are aware of, and work with internal organizational democracy.The practitioners we interviewed had a strong feeling that they were a support function for the business and the organizational management. As a result of the study it is clear that communication practitioners are very loyal to their employers and to the organization they work for. They are, therefore, not neutral in their professional role and argue that their task is to represent the management's interests.