This investigation is primarily concerned with the low loss, or plasmon region of an electron energy loss spectrum. Specifically, why these spectra have the shape and form that they do; what the significance of the material is in determining the shape and form of these spectra; what can be done with plasmon excited electrons; and how all of this fits in with the current theory of plasmon excitation. In particular, the concept of plasmon scattering being an energy transfer process of a coupled wave in the material is explored. This gives rise to slightly different explanations of the plasmon scattering process to the status quo. Multiple scattering is typically pictured as a combination of separate and independent, elastic and inelastic scattering events interactively contributing to a final exit wave function. However, this investigation explores the idea of the elastic and inelastic components being a coupled event, and what the consequences of this idea are from a conceptual point of view. The energy transfer process itself, does not deviate from a virtual particle exchange description that is consistent with the standard model. However, the two significant points made throughout the chapters are one: that the elastic and inelastic scattering events are coupled rather than separate, and two: that each succussive higher order scattering event in multiple scattering scenarios, are dependant and connecte d rather than independent.

<p>En uppsats om Venture capital-företags exitprocess och de faktorer som påverkar under processens gång</p>

<p>This study used a qualitative interview design to explore the experiences of seven Swedish female elite athletes and their career retirement. The athletes were engaged in three different sports; track and field (athletics), handball and golf and five of them are former professional or semi-professional athletes. The process of their athletic role exit was based on the theoretical findings of Ebaugh (1988) and her four phases: First Doubts, Seeking Alternatives, The Turning Point and Creating the Ex-Role. The findings reveal that for these female former elite athletes Seeking Alternatives already starts before the First Doubts and that possibly the athletes at an early stage have insights of the discontinuity of their athletic career. The importance of transferring their role residual to future paths in life was stressed among the female athletes in order to be able to have a smooth transition process. Furthermore, gender issues were discussed indicating the emergence of family life and lesser financial support than male athletes to be factors of importance for positive adaptation to the role exit as well as the awareness of Seeking Alternatives. In general, the results suggests that the athletes did not experience as severe difficulties in the role exit process as much earlier research indicates.  </p>

<p>This thesis consists of an introductory part, including venture capital definitions, the history of venture capital in Sweden, and an overview of the venture capital process, and four self-contained papers on venture capital and the venture capital process.</p><p>Paper 1 investigates the standardisation of the contractual strategies applied in the Swedish venture capital industry. The study was based on a questionnaire data regarding the use of contractual covenants. Our results indicate that the greatest differences occur among those with different investment preferences. There would appear to be two distinct venture capital cultures controlling contractual choices in these groups. Our findings generally conform to expectations as predicated by institutional theory.</p><p>Paper 2 investigate venture capital firms’ valuation practices in two different economic contexts, in the economic boom of 1999 and in the downturn market of 2002 by using an experimental case study design with a case based on a real firm. Contrary to our expectations, in times of heightened stringency and economic downturn, venture capital investors employ fewer valuation models than they do in boom times. The main contribution of our research is an increase in the knowledge of venture capitalists’ valuation practices under different market conditions. It can also contribute to researchers developing more relevant theories of valuation, valuation models and valuation practice.</p><p>Paper 3 empirically examines the linkage between governance, trust and performance based on a questionnaire sent to entrepreneurs in venture capital backed companies in Sweden. The results suggest that the level of trust between the venture capitalist and the entrepreneur affects the relationship between VCs governance and the portfolio company’s performance.</p><p>Paper 4 analyse exit strategies and exit-directed activities among entrepreneurs in venture capital relationships. The study focuses on the effect of the venture capital organization (independent, public sector and captive) on strategy and exit-directed activities. The results indicate that firms with a trade sale strategy tend to have a higher degree of exit activities compared to other exit strategies. Furthermore, the type of venture capital organization involved (especially when comparing private independent VCs to public sector VCs) also affects exit strategies and activities.</p>

We study (pseudo-)differential operators on a manifold with edge Z, locally modelled on a wedge with model cone that has itself a base manifold W with smooth edge Y . The typical operators A are corner degenerate in a specific way. They are described (modulo ‘lower order terms’) by a principal symbolic hierarchy σ(A) = (σ ψ(A), σ ^(A), σ ^(A)), where σ ψ is the interior symbol and σ ^(A)(y, η), (y, η) 2 T*Y 0, the (operator-valued) edge symbol of ‘first generation’, cf. [15]. The novelty here is the edge symbol σ^ of ‘second generation’, parametrised by (z, Ϛ) 2 T*Z 0, acting on weighted Sobolev spaces on the infinite cone with base W. Since such a cone has edges with exit to infinity, the calculus has the problem to understand the behaviour of operators on a manifold of that kind. We show the continuity of corner-degenerate operators in weighted edge Sobolev spaces, and we investigate the ellipticity of edge symbols of second generation. Starting from parameter-dependent elliptic families of edge operators of first generation, we obtain the Fredholm property of higher edge symbols on the corresponding singular infinite model cone.

En uppsats om Venture capital-företags exitprocess och de faktorer som påverkar under processens gång

Syfte: Studien har två huvudsakliga syften. Det första är att beskriva hur proxy voting sker i Sverige och i hur pass stor omfattning proxy voting förekommer. Det andra är att analysera proxy voting utifrån den teoretiska bild som finns om bolagsstyrning och ägande. Metod: Vi intervjuade nyckelpersoner i proxy voting-processen och genomförde en enkätundersökning med företag på large cap-listan. Slutsatser: Svensk bolagsstyrning är i förändring, ägare som visar upp ett nytt beteende. Det ställs krav på bättre informationssystem hos företag för att hantera proxy voting. Delade meningar om proxy voting som metod.

While popular management literature discusses ‘exit’ as a successful outcome of entrepreneurship, empirical research have frequently considered exit as a negative outcome. This dissertation suggests that exit may be the outcome of both failing and successful venturing. Using advanced research designs and high-quality data that follow over 7,000 individual entrepreneurs and the evolution of their firms for 14 years, I show that while the resources and skills of entrepreneurs affect their possibilities to stay in business, exit is to a considerable extent a voluntary decision that entrepreneurs take if the performance of their venture is less than what they aspired to. The empirical evidence presented in the dissertation indicates that the high failure rates among new firms reported in both the academic and popular press may be, at least partially, misinterpreted positive exit decisions rather than failures. The dissertation contains five empirical studies that provide theoretical and empirical contributions to the research fields of entrepreneurship and organization studies. Taken together, the dissertation represents a comprehensive picture of entrepreneurial exit that highlights the importance of entrepreneur(s)’ skills and experiences, as well as contextual factors such as industry structure, geography, and social interaction among similar entrepreneurs. / <p>Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2009, Härtill 5 appendix</p>

The main objective of this thesis is to analyse if and to what extent changes in the labour market can be regarded as a factor influencing the risk of becoming a disabil­ity pensioner. Disability pension is a social security program operating in the nexus of work and welfare and is provided to people who, due to medical reasons, are limited in their work ability. The data material analysed consists of information about all individuals who received disability pension in 1988 (54 000) and 1993 (62 000) in Sweden. Samples fremi the non-pensioner population formed control- groups. The data collected covers mainly social and occupational background of the individuals. The first step in the analyses addressed the question of causes of disability pen­sion in general. This part showed that the causes must be seen in a multifactorial perspective. Individual, structural and institutional factors have significant impact on the relative risk of becoming a disability pensioner. An increased relative risk was associated with low educational background, immigration and broken marriages. However, the variables that had the strongest effect were age, health and position in the labour market i.e. social class and occupation. It became obvious that one im­portant mechanism explaining the impact of occupation was exposition of work environment conditions. The second step in the analyses focused on labour market change as a risk-factor. The results showed a negative correlation between employment change rates and disability pension. Individuals in occupations and industries with decreasing num­ber of emplyoees had an increased relative risk. It became clear that especially un­skilled workers and employees with a peripheral position were affected by this factor. This was especially true for women. The female labour market is to a large extent dependent on the public service sector and the reductions within this sector have resulted in an increased frequency of disability pensioning. To conclude, the study has shown that disability pension in Sweden is deeply embedded in the labour market and the occupational structure in Sweden. This can be explained both as a consequence of characteristics that accompany certain posi­tions at the labour market and as an effect of how the labour market develops. / digitalisering@umu

Vad motiverar en kriminellt belastad person att bryta sin brottsliga bana och söka psykoterapi som en del av den processen? Syftet med föreliggande uppsats är att öka förståelsen för psykoterapins plats i en identitetsförändringsprocess. Frågeställningarna som studien vill undersöka är: tidigare kriminellas motiv till att söka psykoterapi, deras förväntningar på vad psykoterapin ska hjälpa dem med, samt skäl för att ta avstånd ifrån eller återgå till ett kriminellt liv. Studien är en kvalitativ, explorativ undersökning som utgår ifrån intervjuer med fyra personer som själva har sökt psykoterapi efter avtjänade fängelsestraff. Resultatet visar att motiven för att lämna kriminaliteten var primärt de anhöriga, en vilja att inte förlora mer relationer, tid, arbete och boende, en rädsla för att dö samt en ökad personlig mognad. De har valt att gå i psykoterapi för att få hjälp att stoppa sitt kriminella beteende genom kontroll och prevention. Vidare att få bearbeta sina tidigare upplevelser och känslor samt få hjälp med återanpassningen till samhället; bli rehabiliterade. Psykoterapin påverkade och stärkte identitetsförändringsprocessen. Motiven för att tidigare välja kriminalitet var ett behov av att slippa ångest, maktlöshet, frustration, utsatthet och stämpling. Ytterligare skäl var få känna kicken, välbehaget och gemenskapen. Slutsatserna är att för att en förändring ska vara möjlig behöver den kriminella identiteten vara uppluckrad varför behandling under anstaltstiden sällan blir verksam. Det kriminella, mot förändringen konkurrerande, normsystemet behöver vara tillräckligt försvagat. Psykoterapin och psykoterapeutens plats i en identitetsförändringsprocess blir att vara ett stöd i den mest sköra fasen, i det vakum som uppstår när sociala band i övrigt är svaga och den nya identiteten ännu inte är tillräckligt stadigt förankrad. Den känslomässiga kopplingen till de behov och känslor som kämpar emot varandra i förändringsprocessen behöver benämnas och bearbetas.