Background: Sweden is a country with 30 million memberships in different non- profit organizations. In total these organizations employees about 400 000 people, through employment and voluntary work. The complete turnover for non- profit organizations is 100 billion Swedish crowns per year. It has only since 2001 been compulsory to follow the Swedish account rules BFL and ÅRL. Trade unions are one type of non-profit organizations with the main purpose to care for the interest of its members concerning their working condition. It is of high complication to show the achievements and goal accomplishment of a trade union through its annual report, when rules established for profit- organizations are followed. Members of a trade union should for example be more interested in information that shows if compensation has been paid out for means of a strike than information about profit for the year. Purpose: The purpose of the essay is to describe how annual reports in trade unions are presented, what affects them and how it could be presented better. Method: The essay is based on two parts of investigation, both characterized in an explorative approach. The first investigation consists of ten annual reports from different trade unions. The second investigation was based on eight interviews with people who establish annual reports for trade unions. Conclusions: Annual reports of trade unions should be established with comparability and reliability in mind. A possibility to take these qualitative characteristics in consideration is to establish a common use of terminology and make goals more quantitative. In trade unions today there is no cooperation through any branch organization. Instead the auditor has great influence on the design of the annual report. It should be of interest for branch organizations to take part of the development of good accounting practice (god redovisningssed) to accomplish better annual reports. The focus of an annual report lies on goal accomplishment for the members, but also voluntary staff and the ambient society should be considered. The authors suggest several key ratios aimed for the three different stakeholders. Key ratios could be divided into two different settings; Classical key ratios, which are possible to compare over time and between different trade unions, and Unique key ratios, which are focusing on separated situations in the trade union.

The well known synthesis problem of obtaining dimensions of a four-link mechanism such that a point on the coupler link traces a desired path has been extensively studied. There are two types of path generation–path specified by a finite number of precision points where the prescribed points must be exactly traced, and continuous path generation where the path is approximately traced by the coupler point. In various application, more than one or multiple paths are required to be traced by the coupler point and in such cases, adjustable four-link mechanisms where one of the dimension or parameters of the mechanism can be changed is a possible solution. This thesis deals with the synthesis of planar and spherical adjustable four-link crank-rocker type mechanisms for multiple continuous path generation. Approximate multiple path generation is typically solved as an optimization problem where the dimensions and parameters of the four-link mechanism are obtained such that the objective functions, typically in terms of an error between the desired and obtained path, is minimized. In this thesis, we present a two-stage optimization to obtain four-link mechanism dimensions such that the adjustable four-link mechanism can approximately trace multiple desired paths. In the first stage, the parameters in the driving side of the four-link mechanism is obtained and in the second stage, the parameters of the driven side are obtained. In case of adjustable planar four-link mechanism, a novel optimization objective function based on circle-fitting is used and for spherical adjustable mechanisms a novel plane-fitting based objective function is used. The use of these objective functions results in a lesser number of variables to be searched and thus the method presented in this work is more efficient than existing optimization based algorithms available in literature. Several examples are presented for synthesis of adjustable planar and spherical four-link mechanism for tracing multiple paths. In particular, a spherical mechanism which can generate an oval and an‘ 8’shaped path by one single adjustment is synthesized. This mechanism has been made using 3D printing and it is shown that the mechanism indeed traces the desired oval and ‘8’ shaped paths. This mechanism is being planned for use in a flapping wing micro air vehicle where the oval shaped path is known to make the vehicle to move forward while the ‘8’ shaped path results in a hovering motion.

Vid val av revisionsbyrå är det flera interna och externa faktorer som är av betydande roll för bolag. Studiens syfte är att undersöka ifall det finns några skillnader vid val av revisionsbyrå för små- och stora fastighetsbolag i Sverige. Mer detaljerat syftar studien på att undersöka ifall revisionsbyråer tillhörandes Big Four förkommer mer frekvent för någon av de två storleksgrupperna förenat med olika faktorer. Studien är gjord genom analys av kvantitativ data där olika nyckeltal samlats in från de 100 största och minsta fastighetsbolagen i Sverige sett ur omsättning. Som teoretisk referensram har agentteorin använts. Teorin har kompletterats av olika vetenskapliga studier som sammanfattats i en litteraturöversikt. Genom teoretisk referensram och litteraturöversikt har studiens tre hypoteser bildats som det redogörs för i hypotesbildningen. I studiens resultat redogörs det för att de olika faktorer som undersökts i samband med val av revisionsbyrå inte har något positivt samband med varandra. Slutsatsen förtydligar att val av revisionsbyrå tillhörandes Big Four inte förekommer mer frekvent i vare sig små eller stora svenska fastighetsbolag. / There are several internal and external factors that are highly important when companies choose auditing firms. The aim of this study is to investigate if there is any difference between small- and big Real Estate firms regarding choice of auditing firm in Sweden. The study will more precisely investigate if auditing firms belonging to Big Four appears more frequently in any of the groups in connection with different factors. An analysis with quantitative data has been used where indicators for the 100 smallest and biggest Real Estate firms in Sweden measured by revenue have been analysed. Agency Theory has been used as theoretical framework along with a literature review that has been the base of the hypotheses in the study. In the result of the study it is being stated that different factors that have been investigated do not have any positive correlation with the choice of auditing firm in small and big Swedish Real Estate firms. The conclusion of the study states that choice of auditing firm belonging to Big Four do not appear more frequently depending on any of the investigated factors in any of the size groups in Swedish Real Estate companies.

Val av revisionsbyrå är ett viktigt beslut för samtliga företag. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka ifall små bolag inom den svenska fastighetsförmedlingsbranschen föredrar revisionsbyrå tillhörande Big Four. Det som ska undersökas mer noggrant är ifall dessa bolag väljer en revisionsbyrå tillhörande Big Four utifrån olika interna faktorer hos företag. Studien präglas av en kvantitativ metod för att försöka besvara syftet där empiri har samlats in från 84 olika små bolag tillhörande den svenska fastighetsförmedlingsbranschen. Vidare bygger uppsatsen på legitimitetsteorin som teoretisk referensram samt olika vetenskapliga artiklar som presenteras i litteraturöversikten. Utifrån referensramen och litteraturöversikten har fyra olika hypoteser tagits fram. Dessa hypoteser testades sedan med hjälp av olika statistiska verktyg. Studiens resultat indikerar på att det inte finns något positivt samband mellan val av revisionsbyrå tillhörande Big Four och någon av studiens fyra hypoteser. I studiens slutsats redogörs det att totala tillgångar, omsättning, eget kapital samt personalkostnader inte är förknippade med val av revisionsbyrå tillhörande Big Four.

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L’artisanat verrier forestier moderne connaît un développement particulièrement important dans la région languedocienne qui bénéficie d’une tradition ancrée depuis le XIIIe s. Pour autant, les modes et structures de production sont encore peu documentés et l’historiographie en livre généralement l’image d’un modeste réseau d’officines isolées. Fondée sur la complémentarité des sources écrites, archéologiques et archéométriques, cette étude privilégie l’analyse de ces fabriques à partir de huit ateliers fouillés. Elle livre une approche des divers acteurs comme de l’environnement qui contribuent à la structuration formelle de cet art du feu. Une centaine de centres de production modernes a été recensée, le plus souvent rassemblés en foyers. Si leur développement demeure limité, ils font en revanche état d’une certaine autonomie dans la production. De la plus petite unité forestière aux grands établissements assimilés à des centres villageois, chaque site assure le cycle complet de la production du verre. Les ateliers bénéficient en général d’infrastructures relativement simples, rassemblées autour de deux à trois fours à vocation complémentaire : préparation des matières, fusion et recuit. Leur morphologie ainsi que les usages combinés qui en sont faits varient en fonction des époques et de l’importance de la fabrique. Terre propice à l’établissement de l’industrie verrière pour ses nombreuses ressources naturelles, le Languedoc moderne produit principalement du verre creux destiné à alimenter la province. Toutefois, à partir du premier tiers du XVIIIe s., cet artisanat forestier s’étiole progressivement au profit de grandes manufactures alimentées au charbon de terre. / The modern woodlands glassmaking enjoys a particularly siginifant development in the Lower Languedoc region which benefits from a deeply rooted tradition from the thirteenth century on. However, the ways and structures of production are as yet very poorly documented and the historiography generally gives a picture of a modest network of workshops producing objects for daily use.Based on the additionnal information of written archaeological and archeometrical sources, this study favours the analysis of these factories from eight excavated sites. At first place it gives an approach of the people as well as the surrounding area which shows the formal structuring of this ceramic skillset. About a hundred moderns production centres emerged, grouped together in a number of zones with several workshops near each other. Their extent is limited, on the other hand they indicate a certain autonomy in production. From the smallest unit in the woodlands to the big establishments which resembledl proper village settlements, each site ensured the complete cycle of the operational chain of glass production. Generally, the workshops were a relatively simple infrastructure assembled around two or three furnaces with complementary functions: frit, fusion and annealing furnaces.As a region favourable to the establishment of glassmaking due to the rich resources in raw materials, modern Languedoc produced mainly hollow, concave glass.. Basically their production supplied the province which was the biggest of the kingdom. It is only from the first third of the eighteenth century that this woodland craft industry declined progressively as big coal-fired factories took over.

This comparative pre-test/post-test quantitative study investigated the effect of an instructional strategy using concept mapping as a graphic organizer on the quality of persuasive writing compositions produced by fourth grade elementary school students. Six fourth grade classes were assigned as intact groups to three conditions: concept mapping treatment, four square treatment, and control. Participants wrote a pre-test essay prior to treatment. Treatment consisted of an instructional unit collaboratively developed by the researcher and classroom teachers on persuasive writing. Instruction for the three treatment groups was the same except for type of graphic organizer used (Concept Map, Four Square, or none). Following treatment, a post-test on persuasive writing was administered in the form of an essay. The concept mapping treatment group used concept mapping as their graphic organizer, the four square treatment group used the four square method, and the control group used no graphic organizer. Each of the pre- and post-test essays for both treatment and control groups were scored using rubrics created collaboratively by the researcher and participating teachers for Persuasive Content and for Engagement with Content. Only the concept mapping treatment group created concept maps during the post-test. Therefore, only the concept mapping treatment groups’ essays received a score for Sophistication of the Concept Map. One-way Analysis of Variance showed a significant mean difference in Persuasive Content and Engagement with Content between the three treatment groups. Concept Mapping had the highest mean scores on each, followed by Four Square and then the control. Pearson’s product-moment correlation showed a moderate positive correlation between Sophistication of Concept Map and both Persuasive Content and Engagement with Content. Positive correlations were also found between prior KCCT scores and persuasive writing scores and prior writing portfolio scores and persuasive writing scores. No significant correlation was found between gender and persuasive writing scores or race/ethnicity and persuasive writing scores. The results of this study indicate that Concept Mapping improves Persuasive Content and Engagement with Content when used as a graphic organizer in the writing of persuasive essays.

This thesis is a retrospective analysis of British social realism. It combines conventional academic research with professional screenwriting practice in the genre. By definition, at its advent Social Realism employed documentary realist devices to explore the inequalities of society with the objective of stimulating socio-political debate about this imbalance and thus social reform. However, contemporary forms of social realism have emerged much more depoliticised, drawing on similar subject matter but using decontextualised narrative strategies. The commitment to truth now seems to consist of an aesthetic, as opposed to a sociological imperative.

ITC/USA 2005 Conference Proceedings / The Forty-First Annual International Telemetering Conference and Technical Exhibition / October 24-27, 2005 / Riviera Hotel & Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada / The four-quadrant frequency discriminator (FQFD) plays an important role in GPS receivers for carrier synchronization. This paper presents a detailed study of the operating principle of the FQFD, and the acquisition performance degradation due to the gain fluctuation of the FQFD is discussed. A modified FQFD called the enveloped-four-quadrant frequency discriminator (Enveloped-FQFD) is proposed, which introduces an envelope calculator on the basis of the FQFD. Performance comparison of the FQFD and the Enveloped-FQFD is given through theoretical analysis and computer simulation. Simulation results show that by employing the Enveloped-FQFD, a quicker pull-in process and a wider threshold than the FQFD can be achieved, while the additional hardware costs are trivial.

Thesis (MSc (Physics))--Stellenbosch University, 2008. / Third harmonic generation (THG) in a metal vapour is a nonlinear optical interaction that facilitates the generation of light in the vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. The requirement of the metal vapour medium is that it has a suitably large third order nonlinear susceptibility. The third order susceptibility is further enhanced by a two photon resonance. Zinc and magnesium vapours are such nonlinear media. The THG process can be phase matched by mixing the metal vapour with a noble gas in a speci c pressure ratio. The metal vapour noble gas mixture needs to be homogeneous and its temperature needs to be constant to within less than a degree Celsius over a path length of 7 cm. These requirements are satis ed by a crossed heat pipe oven. The heat pipe oven makes use of a dynamic liquid-vapour phase equilibrium in sodium in order to maintain a constant temperature of around 800 degrees Celsius, thus facilitating the generation of a stable homogeneous medium of metal vapour and noble gas that can be used for e cient generation of VUV radiation. The development of such a VUV source using zinc vapour and the application of a similar VUV source using magnesium vapour are discussed. The VUV radiation has been applied to laser induced uorescence spectroscopy of carbon monoxide (12C16O and 13C16O). Spectral lines of 20 spin-forbidden singlet-triplet transitions of the e3 − − X1 +(5 0) band were detected and accurate experimental wavelengths determined for the rst time for ve of these lines.