Smart environments provide users with a large number of new services that will improve their lives, however, they also have the potential for collecting staggering amounts of personal information, which, if misused, poses a multitude of privacy threats to users ranging from identification, tracking, stalking, monitoring and profiling. Consequently, the users’ right to informational self-determination is at stake in smart environments. Usable Privacy-Enhancing Identity Management (PE-IdM) can re-establish user control by offering users a selection of meaningful privacy preference settings that they could choose from. However, different privacy trade-offs need to be considered and managed for the configuration of the identity management system as well as cultural privacy aspects influencing user's privacy preferences. Guidelines for usable management of privacy settings that address varying end user preferences for control and privacy conflicting goals are needed.   The objective of this thesis is to explore approaches for enforcing usable PE-IdM for smart environments, with a focus on vehicular ad hoc networks (VANETs). To that end, we unravel the technical state of the art regarding the problem space and solutions, as well as investigating users’ privacy preferences cross-culturally in Sweden and South Africa. We elicit requirements for achieving usable PE-IdM, which are based on usable configuration options, offering suitable selectable privacy settings that will cater for the needs and preferences of users with different cultural backgrounds.

Background The external requirements for the European top clubs within the UEFA football industry are changing. Due to mismanaged finances during a significant period of time derived from the clubs’ ruthless aim for short-term sporting success, UEFA (The Union of European Football Association) has decided to change the rules of the game. UEFA’s newly implemented financial fair play regulations, with the main requirement of breaking even, force clubs that aim to participate in future UEFA competitions to drastically improve their financial performance. Consequently, we are witnessing a fundamental shift in the European top club’s upcoming strategy. From now on, the club must go from pursuing a short-term strategy almost exclusively based on the quest for sporting success, to successfully implement a long-term strategy that besides being based on the main purpose of sporting success also is characterized by the quest for financial success. Purpose The purpose with this thesis is to provide guidance towards the European top club’s adjustment to UEFA financial fair play and its simultaneous achievement of competitive advantage within the changing UEFA football industry. Approach With the more decisive aim for profitability, the similarities between the European top club and a profit-seeking firm become evident. Consequently, the authors apply and adapt business strategic management theories to formulate a long-term strategy based on the simultaneous achievement of profitability and improved sporting performance.   Results Formulating a long-term strategy based on the simultaneous quest for financial and sporting success, the authors finally come to an understanding of how the European top club possibly could comply with financial fair play and simultaneously create conditions for competitive advantage within the changing UEFA football industry.

Disclosure of accounting information is crucial in facilitating efficient contracts in the publicly listed firm and in reducing information asymmetries in capital markets. A well-known perception in disclosure literature is that, as the separation between managers and owners increases, so does the demand for publicly available disclosure. Many publicly listed firms around the world are controlled by a few large owners that obtain information through their insider positions in the firm. Thus, variations in ownership structures have a considerable effect on how firms’ disclosure practices are resolved. Despite the increased attention paid to the identity of controlling owners and their influence on financial reporting practices, little is known about how owner types and governance mechanisms influence corporate disclosures and capital-market effects. This thesis contributes to the disclosure literature by studying a context in which controlling owners have a large influence on the governance and disclosure practices of firms. This contrasts with the much-studied setting in which management influences the governance and reporting decisions of firms. Thus, the aim of this thesis is to examine the determinants and capital-market effects of Swedish listed firms’ annual report disclosure. This thesis uses a self-constructed disclosure index from manually gathered data from the annual reports of Swedish publicly listed firms during the years 2001 to 2013. This includes information on the notes to the financial statements, corporate governance and strategy. The findings of the four empirical studies show that the ownership structure of firms and the various contractual relationships that firms are engaged in, drive the disclosure practices. Additionally, the results indicate that higher levels of disclosure decrease information asymmetries between capital-market participants and increase trading activity. However, the findings also show that firms with controlling owners are less forthcoming with disclosure, even after a new disclosure reform. Considering the large influence of controlling owners in the studied context, these are important findings in the research field and in regulators’ processes of deriving disclosure regulation. The thesis concludes that the variety in firms’ disclosure incentives and local governance structures are important disclosure determinants to understand in framing international accounting standards.

Developmental transitions are experienced throughout the life-span and necessitate adapting to significant and unpredictable changes (Heckhausen et al., 2010; Perry, 2003). The shift from high school to university in young adulthood serves as an exemplar of how these challenging junctures can undermine motivation and well-being. Recent evidence suggests that most (85%) young adults making this transition feel overwhelmed, half (50%) experience immense anxiety (ACHA, 2012), and more than one quarter (28%) withdraw from their institutions by the end of their first year (Snyder & Dillow, 2013). The present dissertation was designed to counter these developments by conducting a systematic analysis of whether motivation-focused thinking (selective secondary control) sustained young adults’ goal striving, goal attainment, and well-being based on propositions stemming from the motivational theory of life-span development (Heckhausen et al., 2010). Study 1 comprised a seven-month field study and showed that motivation-focused selective secondary control striving positively predicted young adults use of behavior-focused selective primary control strategies, which in turn influenced academic performance. Study 2 was based on a seven-month field study and built on Study 1 by demonstrating that increasing selective secondary control striving was related to lower levels of depressive and stress-related physical symptoms for young adults with low high school grades. These effects were mediated by theoretically-derived mechanisms involving selective primary control and discrete emotions. Building on the preceding studies, Study 3 involved a seven-month, pre-post, field design and showed that students with low high school grades and high perceived control who received a motivation-enhancing selective secondary control treatment attained year-end course grades that were 8% higher than their no-treatment peers (74.85% vs. 66.68%). Consistent with theory, treatment effects were mediated by selective secondary and primary control strategies and emotions. Findings from these studies advance the literature by documenting previously unexplored antecedents, consequences, mediators, moderators, and manipulations (treatment) of selective secondary control for young adults in the midst of a challenging life course transition. / October 2016

The attention toward organizational learning has increased in last twenty years according to present studies and researches. Organizations have to cope with rapidly changing world and they have to find ways how to succeed in it. This study endeavors to find answers whether and how learning can be supported and accepted in the working environment and what can be improved to do so. Leaders are put into the centre of the interest due to their close effect on their followers. The subject of the study is a Czech located branch of a Dutch bank. The participants of the study come from one of the department. The investigation took place in a form of structured interviews. The results showed that leaders' behavior that was oriented toward learning could significantly influence learning of the subordinates. It was also found that transformational leadership style was applied more often than other styles of leadership by the leaders. Learning was perceived very positively by all the respondents. The study suggests possible implications and a potential future research orientation. Key words Leadership, leaders, workplace learning, improving learning

Title: Experiences of gym members with Performance Enhancing Drugs. Objectives: The aim of the diploma work is to explore the prevalence of doping in two particular fitness centres, to specify the most used doping substances, frequency and form of using, way of acquiring and to define reasons leading gym members to using these substances. No less important goal of the work is to find out the most reported benefits resulting from using doping as well as the most reported negative side effects. Methods: The main method used in the research is a questionnaire survey that is divided into three sections. The goal of the survey is to assess aspects of using performance enhancement drugs amongst gym members. Results: We found that 8% of the respondents reported positive experience with anabolic steroids as well as 5,3% of the respondents with diuretics and 3,7% of the respondents reported that they have used growth hormones. The most common substances are nandrolone and stanozolole (53,3%) followed by oxandrolone and testosterone (46,7%). Except these doping substances respondents mentioned methandienone, trenbolone, oxymetholone, clenbuterol, dianabol and boldenone. Keywords: doping, anabolic steroids, attitudes, recreational athletes, performance enhancing drugs

Background: Worldwide, about 300 million people have some kind of visual impairment (VI). Most people with VI are in the older age range, as visual deficits increase with age. It is not unusual that people with VI suffer both from neck pain or scapular area symptoms and reduced balance, which they consider to be symptoms of old age. However, their symptoms may not be attributable to age, but rather to poor vision. Aims: First, to identify associations between visual, musculoskeletal and balance symptoms in people engaging in near work every day and in people with VI. Second, to design and validate a suitable instrument for gathering information about visual, musculoskeletal and balance symptoms in people with VI. Third, to explore differences in perceived symptoms between VI patients and people with normal vision in cross-sectional studies and by following a group of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients in a longitudinal study. Fourth, to identify the most specific predictors of higher levels of visual, musculoskeletal and balance symptoms. Methods: A specific instrument was developed: the Visual, Musculoskeletal and Balance symptoms (VMB) questionnaire. Patients with VI were compared to an age-matched reference group with normal vision in three different studies in order to detect differences in self-reported symptoms between the groups. In addition, a follow-up was conducted in a group of AMD patients. Results: Patients with VI reported higher levels of VMB symptoms than controls, and this increased over time. Visual deficits and the need for visual enhancement increased the risk of VMB symptoms. Conclusion: People with VI run a potentially higher risk of VMB symptoms than age-matched controls.

This research explored trends in male body image amongst South African men aged 18 to 25 years. A questionnaire consisting of a demographic section, the Body Image Test, the Behaviours Checklist and the Eating Disorders Inventory was administered to 50 male students from the University of the Witwatersrand. Trends in body dissatisfaction, body enhancing behaviour and eating disorder symptoms were examined. Correlation analyses were used to infer relationships between these three variables. The results showed that the sample group on average view themselves as overly muscular and have a body image ideal that is less muscular than their perceived body image. This trend is contrary to trends reported in international studies and is thought to represent the cultural effects of using a South African population that is diverse in its composition as compared to an American or European samples that are more homogenous in nature. The results also showed that there were differences in body image trends between different racial groupings, although the results did indicate that across the racial groupings there was a similar societal body image ideal that represents a global trend towards a lean, muscular male body image. The results showed that the sample did not engage in body enhancing behaviours that are considered excessive or indicative of body image dissatisfaction. This was also reflected by the results on the Eating Disorders Inventory that showed considerably lower scores on the symptom scales when compared to a clinical eating disordered population and a non-clinical female comparison group. The results also showed that the sample had lower scores on the behavioural symptom scales yet higher scores on the attitudinal symptom scales. This indicates that the sample did not display any significant eating disorder behaviours yet did display personality traits that are correlated to eating disordered behaviour. There was no correlation between body dissatisfaction and body enhancing behaviour. There was a positive correlation between body dissatisfaction and the symptom scale of interpersonal distrust. A positive correlation also occurred between body enhancing behaviour and the symptom scales for perfection and drive for thinness. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a correlation between students' perception of corrective feedback and retention in online classes. A total of 134 community college students were enrolled in six online classes taught by three full-time instructors. The research questions addressed were as follows: RQ1. How are the students' perception of corrective feedback and student retention related? RQ2. Are students who attend course orientation meetings more likely to complete the course? RQ3. Are students who attend distance learning technical workshops more likely to complete the course? RQ4. Are students who have taken other online classes more likely to complete the course? RQ5. How are the students' perceived computer skills and student retention related? An exit survey was administered to gather quantitative data, which was then analyzed using Pearson's Phi Coefficient and Spearman's Rank Order Correlation. The study failed to indicate a sign significant relationship between (a) attending course orientation and retention, (b) attending technical workshops and retention, (c) prior online experience and retention, and (d) students' perception of computer experience and retention. The data indicates a significant relationship between students' perception of corrective feedback and retention. It is important to note that despite every attempt to solicit students who dropped the course, the students who dropped tended not to return the survey. Therefore, the sample did not accurately represent the population. As a result of the sampling error, there is little variability in the dependent measure; thus, the results have the potential of being biased. Based on the research finding for this study, educators would benefit from research studies that focus on the following: (a) exploring procedural changes (i.e. increasing the number of useable surveys, increasing the number of respondents, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the data validation process, and increasing the generalizability of the study, (b) exploring student perception of quality, timeliness and consistency of corrective feedback, and (c) conducting individual case studies with online students.

The control of excessive water production in oil and gas producing wells is of increasing importance to the field operator, primarily when trying to maintain the survivability of a mature field from shut in. During the last two decades many chemicals have been studied and applied under the name of relative permeability modifier (RPM) to combat this problem. These chemicals were mostly bullheaded individually into the affected zones, consequently their application resulted in low to medium success, particularly in treating reservoirs suffering from matrix flow. It has been found that the disproportionate permeability reduction depends on the amount of polymer dispersed or absorbed by the porous rock. If single polymers are employed to treat excessive water production in a matrix reservoir they cannot penetrate deep into the formation rock because the polymer will start to build as a layer on the surface of the rock grains. As a result the placement of polymer into the formation will no be piston like and the dispersion over the rock pores will be uneven. To improve water shutoff technology a method of injecting chemicals sequentially is recommended provided that the chemical’s viscosity is increasing successively with the chemicals injected. / Experimentally confirmed, injecting chemicals sequentially provides better results for conformance control. The value of post treatment water mobility is conspicuously lowered by the method of applying injecting chemicals sequentially in comparison with the single chemical injection method. For instance, the residual resistance factor to water (Frrw) at the first cycle of brine flushing for this method is approximately five times higher than the Frrw obtained by injecting only one single chemical. Furthermore, for the second cycle of brine flushing Frrw is still higher by a ratio of about 2.5. In addition to this improvement residual resistance factor to oil Frro for this method is less than two which has been considered as the upper limit for conformance control in matrix reservoir. Accordingly injecting chemical sequentially can be applied for enhancing relative permeability modifier performance in matrix reservoir.