The aim of this study is to examine whether the two factors SMB and HML in the Fama-French Three Factor Model proxy for default risk. The study is based on companies noted on the Stockholm Stock Exchange between 2003 and 2008. These companies are used to create the factors SMB and HML, as well as a default risk factor we call RMS. In a first set of regressions, we examine the explanatory power of the original Fama-French model on a set of portfolios consisting of Swedish companies of different size and book-to-market ratio. The default risk factor RMS is then added to the original Fama-French model.

There is a great need to reduce nutrient leaching from arable land into lakes and oceans. By using several different types of models it has previously been possible to describe nutrient losses in a catchment area with a minimum unit of sub-catchment level. At present, it is instead desirable to model a smaller catchment with an opportunity to re-connect the results to the corresponding fields in the catchment. Such models already exist but they are not fully able to properly describe Swedish conditions and land characteristics in our region.With the approach of creating such a model, SLU has developed a project with this work as its first stage. The model is expected to be created under the working name SWE-model which stands for Soil Water Environment and is in this first stage supposed to apply the SOIL model in catchment scale. During the procedure to describe the first step in the process of developing such a model adapted to Swedish conditions and which works in the catchment scale with an area of about 10-30 km2, focus has been set on calculating the transport of water flow from different hydrological response units. Regardless of the processes occurring in the soil after the water has been added, it is assumed that all the water which flows from each simulated unit is drained.In the first step the hydrologic response units were identified based on land use and soil type in the study area. With the help of a script with functions that retrieve and transform data, certain units were chosen for simulation. The script was also created in this project. Finally, the model results were aggregated and summarized for each unique unit, for each sub-catchment, and also for the whole catchment.From the results it is possible to see similarities in the flow dynamics between modeled and measured data. The efficiency coefficient has been calculated to correspond to the mean of the measured values for the whole simulation period. With an automated calibration process the model should be able to perform better. The volume error gives an indication of overestimation from the model..

Peat  lands  are  a  great  potential  resource  for  increased  forest  growth  in  Sweden, there  are  approximately  6.5  million  hectares  of  peat  lands,  whereof  around  70% produce less wood than one m3sk/ha and year and are therefore classed as forest waste  land.  There  are  over  200  000  hectares  of  peat  land  that  is  already  drained and  wooded,  and  that may  be  suitable  for  fertilization.  Forest  production  on  peat soils  usually  requires  drainage  and  fertilization.  Dewatering  requires  ditching  the area, so that the roots can have access to oxygen. Nitrogen is often abundant in the peat but other nutrients; especially potassium is in short supply. The  purpose  of  this  work  was  to examine  the effects  of  potassium  fertilization  on the  growth  of  spruces  that  were  planted  on  drained  peat  land  and  how  different amount of fertilizers affects the growth. Potassium deficiency is strongly growth inhibiting, since potassium is important for substance  transport  in  the  tree.  Potassium  is  also  important  for  the  carbohydrate formation, and because increasing the sugar content of the cells constitutes a lower freezing temperature does potassium availability in the soil play a major role in the winter  resistance  of  many  species.  Potassium  is  not  found  in  any  organic compounds in the tree, but is present in cell and tissue fluids. A fertilization trial was started in 1978 in Siljansfors Experimental Forest. The plots in the experiment were fertilized with different amounts of potassium and one plot was  left  without  fertilization.  All  plots  that  were  fertilized  with  potassium  grew considerably better than the unfertilized plot. The difference in production between the unfertilized plot and the plot that received the most potassium was 7.2 m3sk/ha and year. The unfertilized plot can still be classified as waste land. The theoretical production capacity was estimated using a Swedish system for site quality  estimation  of  wetlands  after  ditching  (dikningsbonitering).  The  plot  with most  potassium  produced  after  fertilizationaproximately  in  level  with  theoretical estimations.  Key  words:  Peat  land,  Fertilization,  Ditching,  Growth,  site  quality..

Every year about 210 000 tones dry weight of sewage sludge is produced in Sweden. Most of the sludge is applied to agricultural land, plantsoil and landfill cover. Sewage sludge contains essential nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. Nitrogen is limiting growth on solid ground in Sweden and can therefore be used as fertilizer to increase productivity. In order that the sludge can be spread to forest land it requires first a conversion of sludge to pellets, to make it more manageable.

The control of indoor temperature must be able to handle large time constants and both measureable disturbances like outdoor temperature, and non-measurable disturbances, like waste heat from appliances. Due to cheaper microcontrollers (small computers with designated tasks) with better performance, more advanced and computation-demanding methods for control can be used.In this thesis, Generalized Predictive Control (GPC) has been implemented and tested on a theoretically derived model of a house. GPC states that a model of the system is estimated in every sample, and the control is carried out simultaneously, based on predictions of the model. Disturbances like solar radiation can be estimated and used in the control as well. The control signals are determined by quadratic programming, which makes it possible to consider conditions, for example limitations on the control signals.GPC requires a number of parameters to be defined, like model order and control signal penalty, but is relatively robust for variations in them.

Bankruptcy is a problem for the society in form of high costs for including suppliers, customers, employees, investors, banks, insurance companies etc. The purpose of this study is to confirm or dismiss a bankruptcy prediction model that has been developed in a previous Swedish study, in order to predict bankruptcy with help of specific key figures. The model has only been tested in a larger perspective where the population consisted of all small firms in Sweden, in this study the model´s reliability is tested by that it instead been applied to a minor perspective, where the population only includes Stockholm. With a quantitative approach of 12 different key figures from a total of 60 Swedish smaller registered companies in Stockholm between the years 2005-2007, has been studied. The companies are divided into two groups, companies with good financial health and companies that have ended up in bankruptcy.The results shows that the model is applicable in a smaller population, but some of the key figures do not generate essential or any type of information about bankruptcy, but the majority of the key figures in the model did.

"Anders Andersson had a fire in his tar-kiln ". Analysis of Jonas Åström 's peasant-diary 1868-1891 Peasant diaries are notes written by farmers, crofters and other people connected with small-scale agriculture. The notes give unique information about diverse aspects of rural life, for example, personal relationships and work, travel and regularity of church attendance. One such diary was written by Jonas Åström who lived in the county of Västerbotten, Sweden. The main aim of this study is to describe the work done by farmers in the 19th century, focusing on their use of forest resources, as recorded in his diary.

A frequently asked question in real estate marketing is at what time of the year it is optimal to invest or sell. The aim of the project was to answer this question and to generate a prediction model over real estate located in the centre of Stockholm that takes seasons into account. With acquired sales statistics in Stockholm between 2010 and 2013 it was possible to perform a linear least square regression, also known as Ordinary Least Square (OLS), with describing qualities and season of sale as parameters. Statistical problems such as Multicollinearity and Heteroskedasticity have been taken into account when deriving the model. The result was a highly accurate prediction model indicating the profitability of investing in real estate during the summer and selling during the autumn..

Inventories of epiphytic lichens on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) were conducted at three sites in east central Sweden: along the newly build motorway (Road E4), along the old road (Road 600) and in a reference site, to compare the effects of traffic pollution on lichen diversities. At each site, species richness, lichen mean sensitivity value (MK), air quality index of the forest stand/sample plot (LKI) and nitrogen impact value (N) were calculated and it was tested if there was any difference between the sites. Twenty-four species were observed in total, and Parmeliopsis ambigua and Hypogymnia physodes were the most common species at all sites. At Road E4, fewer lichen species were observed than at the other sites and this might be due to the impact of air pollution. The species richness at Road 600 was similar to that of the reference site, which might be explained by the improved air quality.

During thousands of years, reindeer have adapted to living under harsh conditions with large seasonal variations in climate and forage availability. This adaptation implies that body functions and nourishment needs are strongly bound to the season. In the summer the reindeer has to maximize food intake to build up fat and protein reserves for the winter. More than 200 different plant species are included in the reindeer diet, but since reindeer have an unique ability to use the nourishment in lichen, different lichen species make up a large portion of their winter diet in many areas. Fundamental for reindeer husbandry is access to natural grazing during most of the year.

Forestry affects most of the forest-covered land in Sweden. In the landscape, the most common stream type is headwaters, which are important sites for many processes and organisms in both the terrestrial and the aquatic ecosystems. The aim of this study was to investigate how the abundance of benthic invertebrate functional feeding groups in headwater streams develops after clear-cutting and if it also is possible to detect a change in the composition of feeding groups. The study also attempts to determine what factors have an effect on temporal changes in abundance of these groups. For the study, 11 sites in northern Sweden were sampled for benthic invertebrates using a Surber-sampler, and for each site canopy-cover and pH was obtained.

Internal working models of attachment are claimed to be unconscious structures operating outside the conscious awareness. Existing measures of attachment are almost exclusively explicit, either self-reports or interviews and it is questionable whether these instruments are able to tap into unconscious attachment attitudes. The main purpose of the present study is to develop Implicit Association Test (IAT) tools for assessing adult attachment and to examine their construct validity. Two sets of implicit attachment measures, based on the two-dimensional attachment model (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991), were developed. Convergent validity was assessed by examining (1) the relationship between implicit model of self and implicit self-esteem and (2) the relationship between the implicit model of other and implicit sociability.

This is the project of making a stage design for Batboy ? the musical, a cooporation with a network of musical artists. The aim of the project was to create a space on stage that strengthens and expands the experience of the story told, and find design solutions that give an extra dimension to the story. The prerequisites for my work were partly defined from the produc¬tion, as were my limitations. In the cast of ten artists some were to play more than one role, often one of the opposite sex.

In this final thesis two simulation models have been integrated. The simulation models are models of JAS 39 Gripen?s fuel system, software and hardware. The time consuming and costly work to develop software has made the department of fuel system to build two models in Xmath/Systembuild. The software model also simplifies the comprehension of how the software in the control computer of the fuel system works.

This report brings up the question - ?Is BIM profitable when planning a single-family home??.The methodology for finding the answer to this question is firstly to state the definitions of BIMand the company that is projecting by using the BIM-model. The answer is then obtained byanalyses of the factors of profitability with respect to: time, opportunity of revision, problemvisualization, preference adjustments and energy. A BIM-model has been made simultaneously asthe writing has proceeded to get a perception of how a BIM-model really matters for the analysis.The analysis shows that the answer for the question depends on further factors. The factors thatare mostly discussed are the company?s intentions and the complexity of the house.