The suggested project is patterned on the need to learn more about the development of narration skills in children of later school age. The goal of this project is to research written narration in formal school environments so as to lead towards a more efficient, purposeful development of communication competence in children, and to contribute to other research in the field of language development.

The aim of this essay is to find out how well Swedish adolescents understand concrete and abstract English proverbs, if concrete proverbs are easier to understand than abstracts ones, if there are differences between boys’ and girls’ and between monolinguals’ and bilinguals’ understanding of these. In a multiple-choice questionnaire, Swedish 7th to 9th graders read 15 short stories followed by three choices. They were then asked to mark the alternative they thought best described the proverb in each sentence. The results in this study show that, generally, concrete proverbs are easier to understand than abstract ones and that proverb understanding steadily increases in adolescence. Furthermore, the difference between boys and girls as a whole was not significant, nor between monolinguals and bilinguals. However, differences between different language groups were immense.

In recent years, the Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) consumer credit industry associated with e-commerce has been rapidly emerging as an alternative to credit cards and traditional consumer credit products. In parallel, the regulation IFRS 9 was introduced in 2018 requiring creditors to become more proactive in forecasting their Expected Credit Losses and include the impact of macroeconomic factors. This study evaluates several methods of supervised statistical learning to model the Probability of Default (PD) for BNPL credit contracts. Furthermore, the study analyzes to what extent macroeconomic factors impact the prediction under the requirements in IFRS 9 and was carried out as a case study with the Swedish fintech firm Klarna. The results suggest that XGBoost produces the highest predictive power measured in Precision-Recall and ROC Area Under Curve, with ROC values between 0.80 and 0.91 in three modeled scenarios. Moreover, the inclusion of macroeconomic variables generally improves the Precision-Recall Area Under Curve. Real GDP growth, housing prices, and unemployment rate are frequently among the most important macroeconomic factors. The findings are in line with previous research on similar industries and contribute to the literature on PD modeling in the BNPL industry, where limited previous research was identified. / De senaste åren har Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) snabbt vuxit fram som ett alternativ till kreditkort och traditionella kreditprodukter, i synnerhet inom e-handel. Dessutom introducerades 2018 det nya regelverket IFRS 9, vilket kräver att banker och andra kreditgivare ska bli mer framåtblickande i modelleringen av sina förväntade kreditförluster, samt ta hänsyn till effekter från makroekonomiska faktorer. I denna studie utvärderas flera metoder inom statistisk inlärning för att modellera Probability of Default (PD), sannolikheten att en kreditförlust inträffar, för BNPL-kreditkontrakt. Dessutom analyseras i vilken utsträckning makroekonomiska faktorer påverkar modellernas prediktiva förmågor enligt kraven i IFRS 9. Studien genomfördes som en fallstudie med det svenska fintechföretaget Klarna. Resultaten tyder på att XGBoost har den största prediktionsförmågan mätt i Precision-Recall och ROC Area Under Curve, med ROC-värden mellan 0.80 och 0.91 i tre scenarier. Inkludering av makroekonomiska variabler förbättrar generellt PR-Area Under Curve. Real BNP-tillväxt, bostadspriser och arbetslöshet återfinns frekvent bland de viktigaste makroekonomiska faktorerna. Resultaten är i linje med tidigare forskning inom liknande branscher och bidrar till litteraturen om att modellera PD i BNPL-branschen där begränsad tidigare forskning hittades.

<p>In the Canadian context, little is known of the ways in which immigrants’ life course (s) are “mastering of transitions and coordinating life” across geographical space and in differing historical, political, economic and social contexts in their home countries and in their new country unfold (Matthias 2011, p2-3). In order to address this gap in the literature, this qualitative study is focused on the narratives of ten Salvadorian immigrants to examine the different factors that have affected their retirement planning decisions in their new country, Canada. The research study was guided by the Life Course theoretical perspective and considered the role that education, work, and family played in their planning for retirement. Ten Canadian Salvadorian men and women were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. These participants were in the age ranges of mid to later life and included individuals who were not yet retired and individuals who were already retired. As well, this study captured the intersection between structural forces and life courses at the micro level in the pre-migration and post migration experiences of these individuals. Findings show that the effects of historical changes and socioeconomic status were carried over to Canada and that these constrained or produced opportunities that had varying implications for retirement planning. As a consequence, the majority of individuals prioritize their needs to here and now rather than to here and tomorrow.</p> / Master of Arts (MA)

Startups within the tech field are incraesingly using proof of concept (POC) customers as a partner when developing new products and services as this enables them to sell the product before building it, ensuring that the product they are developing is aligned with the market needs before making it avaliable to a wider market. Becasue of the positive results that designing and developing new products together with users and customers have shown, the acqusition of POC customers has become a crucial step in the product development process for many startups. The purpose of this study is to understand how the process from business idea to first proof of concept customer evolves and in this process, what are important factors in acquiring the first proof of concept customer. The study is of qualitative nature and leverages a multiple case study based on interviews with eight Swedish tech startups. The findings from the research show that the process is of iterative nature and has seven sub-processes; Defining and scoping proclem, Defining target marker, Finding customers, Defining customer needs, Initial pitch, Persuasion, and finally, Negotiation and signature. Furthermore, five concepts influencing this process were found; Market understanding, Product understanding, Sales tactics, Customer management, and Entrepreneurial attitude. / Startups som verkar inom techindustrin inkluderar allt oftare proof of concept (POC) kunder i utvecklingen av nya produkter och tjänster då det gör det möjligt att säkerställa att produkten är anpassad till marknadens behov. Då utveckling av nya produkter tillsammans med användare och kunder har visat sig effektivt och ha positiva resultat, har förvärvet av POC kunder blivit ett abgörande steg i produktutvecklingsprocessen för många startups. Syftet med denna studie är att förstå hur processen ser ut från affärsidé till signering av första proof of concept kunden, och i denna process även förstå vilka faktorer som är viktiga för att signera första proof of concept-kunden. Studien är av kvalitativ karaktär och använder fallstudier baserad på intervjuer med åtta svenska tech startups. Resultaten visar att processen är av iterativ natur och har sju delprocesser; Definiera problemet, Definiera målgrupp, Hitta kunder, Definiera kundbehov, Inledande pitch, Övertalning och slutligen, Förhandling och signatur. Vidare presenteras fem koncept som påverkar denna proccess; Marknadsförståelse, Produktförståelse, Säljtaktik, Kundhantering och Entreprenöriell attityd.

Captives. The works of Johannes Schiltberger, George of Hungary and Konstantin Mihailović as testimonies about late medieval search for identity and cultural integration in the Muslim world Bc. Karolina Srncová The master's thesis enquires into the phenomenon of late medieval reflection on Muslim society in captivity narratives, treatises and memoirs from the pen of former Christian captives. Through a comparison of testimonies by three Europeans, who spent long years in Ottoman or Tatar captivity, the thesis investigates the process of their integration in the Muslim world, their perception of this world, and the notion of it they kept after their return to Christian Europe. Apart from the literary reflection on the other the thesis also pursues authors themselves - how they perceived and constructed their cultural identity in the strange environment, what long-term modus vivendi they employed and by what narratives they tried to present their infidel past back in their homeland. Thus the work aims to contribute to our notion of the Christian-Ottoman encounters in the 15th century, but also to consider the cultural adaptability of late medieval man and the role of captives, men between two worlds, who had to cope with the demands of such an adaptation.

The thesis deals with the problem of blind people in the Czech Republic. It describes the care for the blind from their birth to an old age. It deals with the specifics of different age groups and describes organizations providing care for them. The thesis contains the current problems from the practical point of view, case studies and the interviews with blind people.

La céramique du « Lucanien récent » - désignant la céramique à figures rouges produite en Lucanie à partir des années 360-340 av. J.-C jusqu'à ce qu' A.D. Trendall appelle la «barbarisation» du style, vraisemblablement dans les dernières décennies du IVe siècle av. J .-C. -, n'a fait l'objet d'aucune étude approfondie depuis la classification stylistique proposée par le savant néo-zélandais en 1967. Les zones d'ombres persistantes quant à la localisation et l'articulation de ces ateliers de production, que la seule orientation stylistique ne permet pas d'éclairer, et le grand nombre de vases exhumés récemment en Basilicate et dans la région des Pouilles, nécessitaient la mise en œuvre d'une nouvelle étude. Ce travail de recherche, mené à partir du corpus stylistique initial attribué au Peintre du Primato, dresse un état des lieux et en propose une nouvelle lecture basée sur la pluridisciplinarité des approches, de l'archéologie contextuelle à l'archéologie de la production. Le matériel est envisagé dans ses aspects formel, iconographique, stylistique et technologique, et interprété à la lumière de nouveaux contextes comme réponse à la demande d'une clientèle indigène : de Basilicate. La prise en considération de réalités productives contemporaines, celle du Peintre de Naples 1959 et de ses collaborateurs autour desquels semble s'articuler la fin de la production lucanienne, et celle du Peintre de Lycurgue, peintre apulien avec lequel il a entretenu des liens privilégiés, contribuent à mettre en évidence la spécificité de son langage autant que les réseaux de contacts et d'influences accompagnant la création d'une culture d'atelier. / Since 1967 and New Zealander's A.D. Trendall 's stylistic classification of Late Lucanian vases -designating South-italian red-figure vases produced in Lucania around the second half of the 4th century B.C. until its so-called «barbarization» presumably occuring in the last decades of that same century -this field of research has not expanded. To overcome persistent shadows regarding the location and articulation of these workshops' production and in the face of numerous recent archeological finds in Basilicata and Puglia, this research offers a new awaited methodological study. Multidisciplinary, it encompasses the initial stylistic corpus, an updated inventory, and new approaches informed by contextual archeology and archeology of production. Focusing on late Lucanian vases attributed to the Primato Painter and his colleagues, considered in their formal, iconographic, stylistic, and technological aspects, the scope interprets the established new contexts while responding to a local demand, from italic people of ancient Lucania. The analysis of contemporary productions both Lucanian, with the Painter of Naples 1959 and his followers in an era of decline of Lucanian wares, and Apulian, with the Lycurgus painter from whom the Primato sourced his main inspiration, contributes to highlight the specificities of his “language”, as well as his networks of contacts and influences that accompanied the emerging of a workshop culture.

This thesis investigates representations of dynastic legitimacy and imperial power in the later Roman Empire (AD 284-337). It explores the continuity and change in expressions of dynastic legitimacy by, for and about the emperors of this period, which were presented in coinage, panegyrics, and other literary and material evidence. I argue that familial relationships were used throughout this period to make legitimation claims or to counter claims made by rivals, rejecting the notion of clear breaks between the third century, the Tetrarchy and the reign of Constantine. The Tetrarchy’s creation of familial links through adoption and marriage led to a web of inter-familial relationships that they and later emperors used in promoting their own claims to imperial legitimacy. At the same time, the presentation of these imperial colleges as harmonious co-rulership relied heavily on the adaptation of pre-existing strategies, which in turn would be adapted by the emperors of the early fourth century. This thesis proceeds roughly chronologically, focusing on the regimes of individual emperors and their collaborators when possible. Chapter 1 examines the creation of the Tetrarchy as an extended ‘family’ and the adaptation of ideologies of third-century co-rulership. Chapter 2 explores the changes in the Second Tetrarchy, with an especial focus on the ‘Iovian’ family of Galerius and Maximinus Daza. Chapter 3 looks at Maxentius’ claims to both ‘retrospective’ and ‘prospective’ dynastic legitimacy. Chapter 4 examines Licinius’ legitimacy both as a co-ruler and brother-in-law of Constantine, and as the beginning of a new ‘Iovian’ dynasty. Chapter 5 delves deeper into the different claims to dynastic legitimacy made by Constantine over the course of his thirty-year reign. Taken together, these chapters offer a new approach by arguing against the dichotomy between ‘dynasty’ and ‘collegiality’ that tends to dominate scholarship of this period. Instead they focus on the similarities and continuities between the representations of imperial families and imperial colleges in order to understand how perceptions of dynastic legitimacy evolved in the third and fourth centuries.

本研究之主旨在探討一般新創公司在創業前期及創業後期所面臨的經營管理問題與對策，給有心創業者作為參考，以降低失敗的風險，進而能一舉成功，避免傷及創業之鬥志與勇氣，減少財務的損失。 首先藉由文獻的整理，蒐集專家及學者之菁華，找出與創業有關的學理，再將學理套於個案公司之經營管理，深入暸解創業成敗之關鍵因素，從實務中發掘學理之依據，進而整理出成功的創業模式，得以印證學理之正確性，讓有志於創業者加強對文獻之信心與認同。 本研究之個案雖屬高科技公司，但經過學理之印證後，可發現其經營管理之方法也離不開文獻之範疇，主要是採用Timmons及 Shane之創業模式來加以剖析，雖然研究者將Timmons之模式運用於創業前期，而將Shane之模式運用於創業後期，或許有些牽強，但目的是為了方便敘述，好讓讀者容易理解。 針對本研究之主要問題可區分為下列兩期，將籌備到創業後三年歸納為創業前期，第四到十五年則歸納為創業後期，雖然期間有點太長，但經營者自認為規模還小，仍應秉著創業期之衝勁追求更完美： 一、 新創公司創業前期的管理作法為何? 二、 新創公司創業後期的管理作法為何? 從本研究中可獲得以下之主要結論: 一、 新創公司在創業前期會善用其核心能耐以尋找商機，同時以外部資源取用補足內部資源及能力之不足，並加強創業團隊成員之專長互補與共識，提高創業成功的機會。 二、 新創公司在創業後期之技術管理上會著重利基性及差異性之思維，在行銷管理上會以客戶需求為導向，在組織管理上則會特別重視風險管理並適時網羅人才以增強組織的陣容，並以創新來提高報酬。 / The newly start-up company will face the different management difficulties during the starting period. The study distinguished the start-up period into Earlier Period of the Start-up and the Later Period of the Start-up. The selecting company of the thesis is classified as the high-tech industry. We use the Timmons Model to analyze the Earlier Period of the Start-up, and use the Model of Scott A. Shane to analyze the Later Period of the Start-up. The main research questions of the thesis are : 1. What’s the right management method in the Earlier Period of the Start-up Company? 2. What’s the right management method in the Later Period of the Start-up Company? The conclusions of the research are： 1. In the Earlier Period, the company must (1) make a good use of its core competency to catch the good chance, (2) use the external resources to strengthen the lack of the internal resources or capability, (3) strengthen and increases the complementarity of the abilities of the start-up entrepreneurial team. 2. In the Later Period, the company must (1) focus on the niche market and attach importance to the differentiation on the Technology Management issue, (2) take the customer demand-oriented method as the principal on the Marketing Management issue, (3) pay attention to the risk management, recruit the talented person or team on the Organizational Management issue.