The after–action review (AAR; also known as the after–event review or debriefing) is a training approach that is based on reviews of trainees’ performance on recently completed tasks or performance events. Used by the military for decades, the use of AAR–based training has increased dramatically in recent years. Empirical research investigating AARs, however, is almost non–existent, and theoretical work on the effectiveness AAR–based training and the underlying processes have been limited. The present study presents a theoretical framework for the AAR by integrating the AAR into the existing training literature. In addition, this study presents an empirical evaluation of the effectiveness of AAR–based training, and an investigation of whether objective AAR–based training is more effective than subjective AAR–based training. One–hundred twenty individuals were trained in 30 4–person teams on a cognitively complex performance task. Teams were trained using a non–AAR–, subjective AAR–, or objective AAR–based training approach. Declarative knowledge, team performance, and team–efficacy served as the measures of training effectiveness. It was hypothesized that AAR–based training (subjective AAR– and objective AAR– based training combined) would be more effective than non–AAR–based training. Further, it was hypothesized that objective AAR–based training would be more effective than subjective AAR–based training. The study results indicated that AAR–based training was more effective than the non–AAR–based training approach in terms of team performance and team–efficacy, but not team declarative knowledge. Objective AAR–based training was no more effective than subjective AAR–based training. Teams performed equally well on the training outcome measures regardless of whether they used an objective or subjective AAR– based training approach. It is anticipated that the theoretical framework and empirical results of this study will serve as a catalyst for the integration of AAR–based training into existing training literatures and to inform the design and practice of AAR–based training systems to take full advantage of their efficacy as training interventions.

Accelerating and mineral admixtures, one of the major ingredients in concrete, are primarily used to modify the properties of both fresh and hardened concrete. Within the scope of this thesis, there were four types of cements having almost identical fineness. The mixes were prepared by using natural pozzolan, blast furnace slag and limestone conforming to TS EN 197-1 and two types of accelerating admixtures, namely triethanolamine (TEA) and calcium formate (CF). The effect of set accelerating admixtures with different cement types on the setting time, water demand and compressive strength has been analyzed by an experimental study in accordance with relevant ASTM standards. Finally, it has been observed that the amount of the accelerating admixtures used is suitable because of their effects on the water demand, setting and strength. Due to the density difference of mineral admixtures and clinker, the normal consistency and 110% flow water content should be considered on a volumetric basis. The effectiveness of the accelerating admixtures on the normal consistency water, 110% flow water content and setting time depends on the type and amount of mineral admixtures. The increase caused by CF in the normal consistency and 110% flow water content is higher than that by TEA. The accelerating effect of TEA and CF on the setting times is more significant for cements incorporating 6% mineral admixture. The effects of accelerating admixtures on the compressive strength change with specimen age, type and amount of mineral admixtures. Generally, for all cement types, early age compressive strengths increase with the increase of TEA, however long term strengths increase by increasing CF.

I investigated whether implementing SOP 97-2, the revenue-recognition standard for the software industry, reduces earnings informativeness. This standard is particularly important for two reasons: First, its provisions coincide with provisions of SAB 101, the current general revenue-recognition standard. Second, the software industry provides a laboratory setting for examining multiple-element firms, whose revenue-recognition challenges keep mounting as more and more firms bundle multiple products and services. I found that implementing SOP 97-2 leads to additional revenue deferrals and a decline in earnings informativeness. However, the market prices these deferrals as revenues, as if these amounts had not been deferred. Moreover, the proforma earnings, which I calculated by undoing the revenue deferrals, more strongly correspond with market returns than do the reported earnings. My findings indicate that the accounting numbers calculated using the pre-SOP 97-2 revenue-recognition rules more strongly correspond with market returns than do those calculated using SOP 97-2. My findings should interest FASB in its project on developing a new revenue-recognition standard.

In the book of Lau Tzu, there is a chapter saying that ¡§The highest goodness is like water¡¨. It¡¦s known that the earth is the only blue planet because of water. Water breeds infinite life and vitality and now it is experiencing a fatal moment due to human abuse in last fifty years while the human history moves into a new era. In the current days, the most important natural living elements including water need be further purified before daily usage. Water itself is now becoming an evaporating and scarce resource in the earth which affects the life of hundred million people. China economy has been growing dramatically in past decades accompanied with remarkably improvement of the living standard of people¡¦s life and income level. The beauty treatment and spa business has been developing its market in almost every province in China. Water is playing a crucial role in the treatment effectiveness and an elementary ingredient to ensure the final result of beauty treatment. The research purposes are to fist analyze the market status of the beauty treatment and functional water; secondly, is to investigate the feasibility and sales synergy in combining these two product and service lines (beauty treatment and functional water); Thirdly, is to conduct an in-depth case study for company T¡¦s marketing strategy in entering this new mixed product market. The whole research structure is divided into three sections. Section one is to collate the available academic research report and theory including market segmentation, goal setting, 4P in marketing, SWOT and competitive analysis in forming a framework of marketing strategy applied in the China beauty and functional water market. Last section is trying to leverage, verify and refine the theory framework against a series of in-depth interview and secondary data in the market. It¡¦s still in an infant stage of China beauty treatment business with an estimated size of three hundred billion RMB dollars market in year 2010. The demand of purified and functional water is soaring up with limited supply due to increasing contamination of water resources. It¡¦s foreseen a gold mine business of functional water as a means in pursuit of healthy, youth-looking and eco-compliance life. This research result also unveils the differentiation created in the beauty treatment market by introducing the functional water. It not only brings in a new profitable product lines, advances the revenues but also improve the bottom line by increasing the economical scale. The finding, last but not least, is the integration of functional water product and beauty treatment is meeting the macro trend of consumers¡¦ perception of living in a healthy, youth looking and sustaining life. On the other hand, the beauty treatment agencies will be able to increase their competitiveness, grow the business, concrete the sales channel and win the customer loyalty in a traditional fierce competition market. The objective of this research is to provide a marketing strategy in merging two product and service markets in achieving a long term business goal. Ultimately, purified and functional water are not only for the beauty treatment sales business but also targeting the consumers¡¦ daily life in preventing illness by accessing the purified water and treasuring the invaluable water resources in sustaining the earth and lives.

<p>Background</p><p>The Swedish economy is currently in a boom and due to the fact that the commercial rental market is closely correlated with the development in the Swedish economy and its economic indicators, commercial real estate companies are successful. Commercial real estate companies generate their main revenue out of rents from their tenants, therefore the set-ting of rent and the factors affecting the procedure are of great importance. The report will not only examine the commercial rental market but also the composition of the lease con-tracts, factors affecting the rent setting and risks associated with commercial leases.</p><p>Purpose</p><p>To analyze the commercial rental market comprising of several different lease contracts. The focus will be to analyze the setting of rents and the factors affecting the procedure.</p><p>Method</p><p>A deductive approach and a qualitative research method is used in order to get reliable and valid data to be able to fulfill our purpose. The data is collected from interviews done with three different real estate companies, situated in Stockholm and Gothenburg. The sample include Håkan Hellström representing Castellum, Lovisa Lindberg representing Landic Property and Roddy Carlsson representing Vasakronan.</p><p>Conclusion</p><p>As could be expected, the commercial rental market is closely correlated with supply and demand in the Swedish economy. Currently, demand is increasing due to a growing employment rate and a strong GDP growth. Market rents are increasing, since the demand is continuing to accelerate and vacancy rates are falling. The vacancy rates are currently below the natural level since rents are increasing in both Stockholm and Gothenburg. It is shown that the vacancy level is lower in Gothenburg compared to Stockholm.</p><p>Location is the most important factor affecting the setting of rents apart from supply and demand. Rent for office space is highest in the cities’ Central Business District. Additional factors are attributes that make the premises more attractive and client care that enables for satisfied tenants and long lasting tenant relationships.</p> / <p>Bakgrund</p><p>Den svenska ekonomin är idag i en högkonjunktur och på grund av att den kommersiella hyresmarkanden är starkt korrelerad med utvecklingen i den svenska ekonomin och dess ekonomiska indikatorer, är kommersiella fastighetsbolag framgångsrika. Kommersiella fastighetsbolags intäkter består till största del av hyror från deras hyresgäster. Därför är hyres-sättningen och dess påverkande faktorer av stor vikt. Rapporten kommer inte enbart undersöka den kommersiella hyresmarkanden, utan även komponenter i kommersiella hyreskontrakt, faktorer som påverkar hyressättning och risker associerade med kommersiella hyreskontrakt.</p><p>Syfte</p><p>Att analysera den kommersiella hyresmarknaden bestående av flera hyreskontrakt, med fokusering på hyressättning och dess påverkande faktorer.</p><p>Metod</p><p>För att kunna uppfylla vårt syfte och för att få så tillförlitlig och giltig information som möjligt används ett deduktivt synsätt och en kvalitativ forsknings metod. Informationen tillförskaffas genom intervjuer med tre fastighetsbolag, i Stockholm och Göteborg. Urvalet består av Håkan Hellström som representerar Castellum, Lovisa Lindberg som representerar Landic Property and Roddy Carlsson som representerar Vasakronan.</p><p>Slutsats</p><p>Den kommersiella hyresmarknaden är som väntat, starkt korrelerad med den svenska ekonomins utbud och efterfrågan. Efterfrågan ökar idag på grund av en ökad sysselsättningsgrad och en stark tillväxt av BNP. Marknadshyrorna stiger eftersom efterfrågan ökar och vakansgraden minskar. Vakanserna är i nuläget lägre än normalt eftersom hyresnivåerna ökar i både Stockholm och Göteborg. Det visade sig att vakansgraden är lägre i Göteborg jämfört med Stockholm.</p><p>Hyressättningens viktigaste faktor som påverkar hyresnivån förutom utbud och efterfrågan, är läge. Hyran för kontorslokaler är som högst i städernas Central Business District. Hyressättningen påverkas av ytterligare faktorer som gör kontorslokalen mer attraktiv och kundvård som möjliggör långa kund relationer med nöjda kunder.</p>

<p>The overall aim of this thesis was to examine the construct validity and the reliability of the instrument DOA; Dialogue about working ability. The theoretical foundation for DOA is the Model of Human Occupation. The instrument is divided into two sections; client self-assessment and professional assessment focusing on the individual’s working ability. The assessments are followed by a dialogue to distinguish goals for the return to-work process based on the client’s own preferences. In line with the theoretical base, the concept ‘work’ refers to both paid work and other productive activities related to work.</p><p>In Study I, 21 professionals and 126 clients participated from three clinics in Sweden. All clients were involved as outpatients in psychiatric work rehabilitation in county councils or community services. The results from the Rasch analysis test indicated that items are well separated from each other and generally work together in five unidimensional continuums with the objective to measure abilities related to work. Twenty-nine of 34 items showed goodness-of-fit statistics, which means acceptable infit MnSq values from >0.6 to <1.4 in association with Z values from –2 to 2, and that the five misfit items have to be revised.</p><p>Thirty-four outpatient clients and 14 professionals from four clinics within psychiatric work rehabilitation in Sweden participated in Study II. Two reliability aspects were studied: test-retest and inter rater reliability. The statistical analyses used were Spearman Rank Correlation test and Percentage of agreement (PA). Generally, the Spearman Rank Correlation test showed acceptable significant correlations between test retest since a greater part of items correlated “moderate to good” (r = 0.51 – 0.75). In the inter raters´ test PA was good, ranging from 93.1 % to 96.5 %, which is well above the acceptable criteria of 80 %. There were no significance differences between the raters. The study has shown that one item has to revised.</p><p>The findings verify that DOA has potential as a means of making valid and reliable assessments of working ability, as described by the Model of Human Occupation, out of both clients´ and occupational therapists´ perspective.</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>The aim with this essay has been to investigate if Sweden’s attitude against the European Union has changed expressed in the statement of government policies, during the years 1988-1998. In the prolongation I want to see if the policies can be seen as examples of agenda-setting.</p><p>My comprehensive objective is: In which way is the change of the Swedish attitude towards the European Union expressed in the statement of government policies during 1988-1998 shown?</p><p>My other objectives are: In which ways describes the statements the integrations process in Europe generally?</p><p>In which ways does the integrations process influences Sweden in generally?</p><p>In which ways does the integrations process influences Sweden’s relations against the European Union?</p><p>I have used qualitative text analysis as method in my essay to find the answers to the questions. I have classified a number of opinions, found in the policies, summarized under my three objectives.</p><p>The result of my essay was shown that the changed not can be found in the policies and they are examples of agenda-setting. Decisions and public opinions take places in other ways than in the statements of government policies.</p><p>Keywords: The European Union, the statement of government policies, the swedish EU-membership and agenda-setting.</p><p>Nyckelord: Den Europeiska Unionen, regeringsdeklarationer, det svenska EU-medlemskapet och “agenda-setting."</p>

<p>Abstract</p><p>This paper investigates how to individualize the tuition in English by using ability groupings. The study is primarily focusing on the group of under-achieving ability pupils since teachers have a special responsibility for those pupils who experience difficulties in attaining the goals that have been set for their education, according to the Curriculum for compulsory school Lpo 94. The main research question was if the groupings were positive or negative for the under-achieving pupils at school X, i.e. the compulsory school under investigation. In addition I also wanted to find out if the ability groupings at school X responded to the steering documents, i.e. the Curriculum in compulsory school and the Education Act. The study is based on primary data in the forms of interviews, with four English teachers, and questionnaires, answered by the under-achieving ability pupils.</p><p>Conclusions were drawn that the ability groupings seemed to be mostly negative concerning the under-achieving pupils. The groupings at school X are not supported in any steering documents either since the groupings are not temporary, they do to some extent put the pupils at a certain grade level and on a certain track which violates the Education Act. One of the conclusions in this paper is also that there should be clearer guidelines on how to approach this phenomenon.</p>

<p>Since the 1970s voting behaviour has changed. Party identification and class voting has declined. As the electorate becomes more volatile, campaign strategy and party image becomes essential. Political communication and mass media now play an important role in election campaigns. Therefore, researchers take an interest in the impact of media on public opinion. The agenda-setting theory maintains that media influence what voters think about and that there is a link between media coverage and voting intentions.</p><p>This minor thesis focuses on the early election campaign prior to the French presidential election in 2007. For the first time, the socialist party organised a primary election in order to nominate their candidate. The aim is to study if media has an impact on public opinion in election campaigns. To reach the aim, I posed the two following research questions: Did the primary election of the socialist party result in higher media coverage of the party than of other political parties? If the media favoured the socialist party during this time, did this have an impact on the voting intentions for the socialist candidate Ségolène Royal? </p><p>In order to reach the aim and answer the questions, I performed a quantitative study. I measured the media coverage of the different political parties in the newspapers during the socialist primary campaign, to find out if the socialist party was favoured by the media. The primary source of information was the two French newspapers <em>Le Monde</em> and <em>Le Figaro</em>, complemented by opinion polls performed by the institute <em>Ipsos</em>.</p><p>The results show that the socialist party was privileged by the press coverage prior to the presidential election. The newspapers wrote more and longer articles about the socialist party than of any other political party at the time of this study. At the same time, voting intentions for Ségolène Royal increased. The media exposure seems to have had a short effect on the public opinion in favour of the socialist candidate. By the results of this study, I conclude that the socialist party was able to influence the agenda-setting in the media by organizing primary elections. I find support for the hypothesis that media coverage during an election campaign has an effect on public opinion.</p>

Postoperativ smärta är en smärta som är förväntad av både patient och sjuksköterska. Mötetmellan sjuksköterska och patient med postoperativ smärta innefattar sjuksköterskans kunskap och fördomar om smärta, samt patientens känsla av utlämnande och upplevelse av smärta. Syftet var att genom en litteraturstudie belysa viktiga faktorer i mötet mellan sjuksköterska och patient med postoperativ smärta. Därtill två frågeställningar; Vad är viktigt för sjuksköterskan i bemötandet av patienter med postoperativ smärta? Vad är viktigt för patienten med postoperativ smärta i mötet med sjuksköterskan? Metod Litteraturstudie med Graneheim och Lundmans analysmetod som verktyg. Litteraturstudien grundar sig i vetenskapliga artiklar. Resultat Nio betydelsefulla faktorer i mötet mellan sjuksköterska och patient med postoperativ smärta framkom ur artiklarna. Resultatet presenteras i sjuksköterskan perspektiv och ur patientens perspektiv. Föreliggande studier visar på att det finns hinder i kommunikationen mellan sjuksköterska och patient med postoperativ smarta. Diskussion En rak och klar kommunikation är en viktig faktor i mötet mellan sjuksköterska och patient med postoperativ smärta. Sjuksköterskan hjälper patienten att uttrycka sig och är beroende av förmågan att observera även det icke-verbala kroppsspråket. Genom att sjuksköterskan ger patienten god information skapas en trygghet och mötet mellan sjuksköterska och patient med postoperativ smärta blir mer optimal.