Given the similar conditions that e-Sport participant and athletes face during competition, itbecomes challenging to scientifically test if traditional applied sport psychological techniquescould affects e-Sport participants in their practice. Altogether, eight participants (age 22-25)participated in the study based on a convenience sample localized in the southwestern regionof Sweden. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of three training techniques (i.e.PETTLEP, concentration or physical activity) or placed as a control. The instrument in usewas the CSAI-2 survey combined with a brief semi-structured qualitative interview. The studyranged from 7th till 23rd of April, 2014. The hypothesis suggested that the participant assignedto PETTLEP and concentration training would increase more in (a) self-perceivedperformance and (b) self-confidence while decreasing in (c) cognitive and somatic stateanxiety, compared to the participants assigned to physical activity or as control. The resultindicates that PETTLEP and concentration training could, to a certain extent, be beneficial toenhance self-perceived performance and self-confidence within e-Sport practice. The result isdiscussed especially in relation to the IZOF-multidimensional model. The thesis also includesdiscussions regarding methodological issues (e.g. bias effect) followed by suggestions forfuture research. / Sedan likartade konditioner finns mellan vad en e-Sport utövare och atlet bemöter utmedtävling, blir det utmanande att vetenskapligt testa huruvida traditionellt tillämpadeidrottspsykologiska tekniker skulle inverka på e-Sport utövare i dess utövade. Åtta deltagare(ålder 22-25) deltog i studien baserat på ett bekvämlighetsurval lokaliserade i sydvästraregionen av Sverige. Varje deltagare var randomiserat anförd till en av tre tränings tekniker(i.e. PETTLEP, koncentration eller fysisk aktivitet) eller placerade som kontroll. Det användainstrumentet var CSAI-2 enkäten kombinerat med en kort semistrukturerad kvalitativeintervju. Studien pågick från 7’e till 23’e april, 2014. Den föreslagna hypotesen var att dedeltagare som var anförda till PETTLEP och koncentrations träning skulle öka mer i (a)självuppskattad prestation och (b) självförtroende samt uppvisa minskning i (c) kognitiv ochsomatisk tillstånd av oro, vid jämförelse med de deltagare som var anförda till fysisk aktiviteteller som kontroll. Resultatet indikerar att PETTLEP och koncentrations träning kan, till enviss grad, vara fördelaktig för att öka självupplevd prestation samt självförtroende inom e-Sport utövande. Resultatet är diskuterats synnerligen i relation till IZOF-multidimensionelamodellen. Uppsatsen innehåller även diskussion gällande metodologiska problem (t.ex.fördoms effekter) följt av förslag till framtida forskning.

In recent years, investors have become more concerned about where they invest their capital and how to spread the risk among different asset types. The interest in commercial real estates has increased as this market is seen as less volatile than the stock market. Previous research for other economies has found that the commercial real estate market and the stock market do not cointegrate. Therefore it is possible to invest in both asset classes to create diversified portfolios. This thesis examines if such cointegration relationship exist on the Swedish market. Furthermore, the thesis examines the correlation and the lead-lag relationship between the two asset classes. The observed data is quarterly between the years 1994-2013 and the indices used are OMX Stockholm, sold multi-dwelling and commercial buildings, and sold manufacturers industries. To examine if there exist any cointegration between the indices the Engle-Granger 2-step method is used and the lead-lag relationship is tested by using the Granger Causality test. The results from the different tests do not show any short- or long-term relationship between the Swedish stock market and the Swedish commercial real estate market, neither do the assets show any lead-lag relationship. This means that the portfolio risk decreases and it is therefore possible for investors to diversify their portfolios with both short- and long-term time horizons.

This thesis investigate the long-run relationship between different method of payments and GDP by implementing the Johansen’s bivariate and multivariate cointegration test. Theory suggests that different merger waves were related to the movement of GDP and this was visually proven for these time periods. The empirical findings indicates that there is a strong relationship among different methods of payment during an eight year time period from 1997-2004 using the multivariate cointegration test. Findings also include a cointegration relationship between different type of M&A deals for a twelve year time period from 1997-2008. The bivariate test indicates strong relationship between GDP and cash, GDP and debt as well as GDP and shares, but only for the eight year time period. Further research is however necessary to identify which variables are related to each other and how much they affect each other individually.

Background The debate about the budgets being and not being has been going on for 40 years. On one hand advocates for abolishing the budget have been criticising the budget, arguing for example that it is a waste of resources that only provides an illusion of control. Whereas on the other hand, business students are still taught to use the budget and previous studies show that companies are still holding on to it. Hence, there seems to exist a budget paradox.   Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to examine the use and perception of fixed budgets within larger companies of today and to clarify the reality behind the debate about the usefulness of budgets. Further, to get an understanding of what purposes are deemed as important when using different control measures, and how well these are fulfilled.    Method This study is predominantly quantitative with a deductive approach, as it via a self-administrative web survey has collected data from 58 publicly traded companies in Sweden. The questionnaire has consisted of open- and close-ended questions, to provide a deeper understanding of the role the fixed budget.   Conclusion The overall percentage of companies that have abolished the budget has increased when compared to previous studies, but the majority of 81% still use the fixed budget in one way or another. Out of the participating companies, 67% stated that they supplement the fixed budget with other control measures, and as the percentage of those considering abolishing the budget have decreased, the overall perception of the fixed budget has improved.

Background: Acquiring capital is one of the most fundamental necessities for an enterprise. The discussed ways of doing so by this thesis, are the so called Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) and Seasoned Equity Offerings (SEOs). Although engaging in an IPO is a desire for most of the newly started firms, the process of introduction to the global market and the results of it are far from smooth and problem free. One of the main unknowns that issuers face is underpricing. Theory suggests that mechanisms for undervaluing the new stock have been devised, so that certain parties can benefit by allocation on the market. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to investigate any possible relationship between the level of industrial diversification and the level of short-run underpricing of the two most common asset issuances - Initial Public Offerings and Seasoned Equity Offerings. Further on, it is of use to compare the severity of diversification’s effect on underpricing of IPOs and SEOs. Method: This research is basically solely quantitative. A database for levels of diversification and industrial underpricing for the companies that conducted IPOs and SEOs in the given time period was compiled. Statistical calculations were conducted to examine possible relationships between the variables. Conclusion: The paper could not see any relevant relationship between the degree of industrial diversification and the amount of “money left on the table”. The conclusion can be drawn that investors apparently do not consider the degree of industrial diversification when assessing the value of a company.

This thesis presents the comparison of role played by economic freedom and education in making population growth beneficial for economy. In order to assess this relationship, four groups of countries have been selected based on EFW index. Cross-section regression has been performed including 92 countries for years 2005 and 2010. Comparisons have also been presented in graphical analysis. Moreover, correlations among variables have also been studied. It has been concluded that education matters the most in turning population growth to an asset.

This paper examines the correlation between credit intermediated by financial systems and economic growth in developing countries. More specifically we have studied whether well-functioning financial markets result in economic growth. We base our study on data from 53 low- and lower-middle income countries in the period 2004-2011. By comparing the two different economic theories, Schumpeter’s growth theory and Austrian business cycle theory, we have analysed our results from two different perspectives. The results from this study show an insignificant relationship between financial systems and economic growth, contradicting much of the theory and results from previous studies that have been reviewed. Other variables outside of the financial system in this study, such as economic freedom and corruption, could be a reason for the non-existent correlation between financial development and economic growth in this study.

Background  Sexual violence against women and adolescents is widespread in Nicaragua, a country which also has one of the highest rates of adolescent pregnancies in Latin America. Research shows that adolescent pregnancy is often in correlation with sexual violence. Health care services have an important role in the detection, prevention and treatment of victims of sexual violence. Yet research on Nicaraguan health care professionals’ views and practices regarding sexual violence is scarce.  Aim  The aim of this study was to explore how the Nicaraguan health care system approaches the issue of health care towards victims of sexual violence. What are Nicaraguan health care professionals’ views and practices regarding the health care towards victims of sexual violence? To what extent is the steering document La Norma being applied in the Nicaraguan health care system?  Methods  A qualitative interview study with six health care professionals was conducted and data was interpreted with a qualitative content analysis.  Findings  Health care workers express strong commitment for their professions and a willingness to attend to the victims of sexual violence. However, views and practices not in accordance with La Norma were found, such as gender stereotypes among health care professionals about adolescent girls becoming pregnant mainly due to recklessness on their side. This constitutes a barrier against regarding adolescent pregnancy as a possible indicator of sexual violence. There is a clear connection with gender as it is young women and girls that are affected. This attitude is negative for the detection and treatment of victims of sexual violence and consequently for the protection of these patients’ right to the highest attainable health.  Conclusion  Health care practices and views of health care professionals are often not consistent with the steering document La Norma. Increased resources including education and more time with patients would strengthen nurses’ work and improve the medical attendance to sexual violence victims, thus contributing to a rights-based approach to sexual and reproductive health. Implementation of steering documents regarding the attention to sexual violence in the health care services also needs to improve. Future studies should further examine the implementation and monitoring process of steering documents, including budget resources.

It is known that the small commodity markets are influential to people’s life, but their operations are unique. The lack of standard management has become the biggest obstacle for the development of logistics services in a commodity market. How traditional logistics model can be operated effectively in a commodity market is therefore interesting in this study. The purposes of this thesis are to characterize the commodity logistics systems, identify the challenges of logistics systems in the commodity market, and discuss how the use of e-business platform may improve the logistics system. In order to realize the purposes, the qualitative approach was used in this research. Literature review, interview and case study in one Chinese city with a big commodity market are implemented in the research. Survey study has been carried out to collect data for analyzing the logistics systems. As the main results in this thesis, small-volume, short-life cycle, variety and variability are found to be the main characteristics of a logistics system in the commodity market in the case city. The challenges are therefore about how to design and improve the logistics system so that it can adapt to these characteristics. Finally, this thesis presents the analysis on how an e-business platform can provide effective solutions to meet these challenges.

Frazil ice is a phenomenon that takes place in cold regions when the water of rivers, lakes or oceans is cooled under 0ºC. Several times during winter, frazil ice can appear at river Ätran, where Träbena hydropower plant is held by the company Wetterstad Consulting AB. Frazil ice particles contained in the flowing water are extremely sticky and adhere to any object placed in the water. Trash racks are used by the power plant at the water intakes to prevent any strange object to go into the turbines. However, frazil ice particles stick to the trash racks creating an ice blockage that interrupts the water inflow. In this situation, the power plant has to stop the production even for several months, due to the lack of water that reaches the turbines. In order to solve this problem, the company has installed a heating system on the trash racks that prevent the adhesion of frazil ice particles. This system is manually operated, and it is turned on or off based on the experience and predictions of the company. This heating system is very power consuming and every time it is turned on unnecessarily the company loses money. An automatic frazil ice detection system that turns on the heating system when needed is to be created. For that, several options have been analysed, and finally a capacitor-based sensor has been developed as a solution. The sensor consist of two steel plates coated with semi-transparent polycarbonate submerged underwater parallel placed in the space between the trash racks’ bars, forming this way a parallel plate capacitor. The capacitance of a capacitor depends exclusively on its geometry and the dielectric material between the plates. Hence when the water temperature is low enough, frazil ice particles stick to the plates of the capacitor and its capacitance will vary indicating that the accretion of frazil ice may block the water inflow. This variation is registered and a signal is send to the heating system to start operating. This way, the heating system is completely automated; no human intervention is needed at all. / <p>Developed for Wettestad Consulting AB.</p>