Title: The use of foreign players in Czech extraleague baseball Objectives: The thesis aims to determine the contribution of foreign players who were active in the Czech baseball extraleague at the game and club level for the seasons 2015-2020. The diploma thesis compares the effectiveness of game performance of foreign players with Czech players. Conducting statistical analysis can show how many foreign players were on individual teams, and how effective they are for the team. Methods: The thesis analyzes secondary data obtained from the information system of the Czech Baseball Association and data collected by the baseball-stat web portal. Furthermore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of six Extraleague clubs. The number of foreign players in 2015-2020 and their national composition was examined. Central to the thesis were statistics such as Wins Above Replacement (WAR), Number of innings pitched (IP), Earned run average (ERA) and Batting average (BA). Results: In conclusion, the thesis analyzes secondary sources compared with an analysis of interviews with representatives of Extraleague clubs. The main finding was that foreign players are differential players, and are most often placed in primary positions, such as a pitcher in baseball. This is confirmed by the...

Sedan den industriella revolutionen har till dagens tillverkningsindustri utvecklat ett fokus på anpassningsbar, effektiv och hållbar tillverkning. Samtidigt har det administrativa arbetet digitaliserats genom informationssystem. Mindre företag kan ha utmaningar med att hitta lämpliga informationssystem anpassade till deras behov. Flexibla och anpassningsbara informationssystem är viktiga för att stödja även mindre företag. Syftet med studien är att identifiera vilka utmaningar ett mindre företag inom tillverkningsindustrin ställs inför gällande informationshantering. Denna studie har genomförts med forskningsstrategin Design Science. Totalt utfördes åtta semistrukturerade intervjuer där fyra anställda från Föllinge Hälsoprodukter AB intervjuades i två omgångar: kravinsamling och utvärdering. Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3) användes som stöd för att konstruera intervjuguide för respektive omgång och stöd till den tematiska analysen av datainsamlingen. En prototyp av informationssystem utvecklades med funktionalitet och design baserat på kravinsamlingen. Studiens resultat omfattar problematik, krav samt utvärdering av prototyp vilket är i linje med forskningsupplägget design science. Resultatet visade att ett informationssystem med samlad information och tydlig design av gränssnitt skulle förbättra kommunikationen och effektiviteten för företaget. Utöver dessa resultat uppmärksammades det att tidsaspekten kan ha en påverkan på teknisk acceptans. Detta upptäcktes, när en av respondenterna ändrade sin attityd om att tillämpa ett informationssystem i arbetet, mellan kravinsamling och utvärdering. Miljö- och hållbarhetsaspekter beaktades genom användning av teknik och system som kan effektivisera företagens processer och bidra till minskad pappersanvändning och resursslöseri. / Since the industrial revolution, today's manufacturing industry has developed a focus on adaptable, efficient, and sustainable manufacturing. At the same time, administrative work has been digitized through information systems. Small companies may face challenges in finding suitable information systems tailored to their needs. Flexible and adaptable information systems are important to support even smaller companies. The purpose of this study is to identify which challenges faced by a small manufacturing company in terms of information management. This study was conducted using the research strategy of Design Science. A total of eight semi-structured interviews were conducted, where four employees from Föllinge Hälsoprodukter AB were interviewed in two rounds: requirement collection and evaluation. The Technology Acceptance Model 3 (TAM3) was used as support to construct the interview guide for each round and support the thematic analysis of the data collection. An information system prototype was developed with functionality and design based on the requirements collection. The results of the study include problems, requirements and evaluation of the prototype, which is aligned with the design science research strategy. The results showed that an information system with consolidated information and clear interface design would improve communication and efficiency for companies. In addition to these results, it was observed that the time aspect can have an impact on technical acceptance. This was discovered when one of the respondents changed their attitude about implementing an information system in their work, between the requirement collection and evaluation stages. Environmental and sustainability aspects were considered by utilizing technology and systems that can streamline company processes and contribute to reduced paper usage and resource wastage.

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Background: Family firms represent the majority of firms worldwide, and are regarded as a crucial part of the global economy. Despite that, there is little known about their objectives of financial reporting i.e how they use, produce and value their financial reports. In accounting literature two objectives of financial reporting are presented, a stewardship objective and a decision usefulness objective. Previous research within family business have found that family firms differ from non-family firms and that family firms utilize socioemotional wealth protection as a main reference point when making decisions.  Purpose: This study aims to provide an understanding of how family firms perceive the objective of their financial reporting and how this is shaped by SEW. Method: The study was conducted using a qualitative method and implemented through semi-structured interviews. Nine family firms participated in the study, where eight family members were interviewed and two non-family members.  Conclusion: The result suggest that four out of the five FIBER dimensions (of SEW), family influence and control, identification of family members with the firm, binding social ties and emotional attachment influence the family firm's objective of their financial reports. Meanwhile, for the fifth dimension, renewal of family bonds to the firm through dynastic succession, our study suggests that future successions do not have an influence on the family firm's perceived objective of financial reporting.

<p>Pregnancy is one of the most important periods of a woman’s life, during which lots of potentially worrying changes occur in her body. Being aware of the nature of these changes can help her to make informed decisions and decrease her level of uncertainty and anxiety. Delivering information to pregnant women to help understand these changes is not a new idea. Brief searches of the web turned up many related resources and information. One important aspect of pregnancy that was found to be widely used was keeping daily records in a paper-based format. However, to the author’s best knowledge, there is no pregnancy specific electronic personal health record (ePHR) currently being used in Canada. In this study, a preliminary pregnancy specific PHR module was developed, and its usefulness and usability evaluated.</p> / Master of Science (MSc)

Pinterest is one of the fastest growing social networking sites and is attracting the interest of retailers as an effective way to interact with consumers. The purpose of this study was to examine: 1) determinants and impacts of Pinterest consumer experiences. Specifically, this study examined the impacts of retailer reputation, trust, perceived ease of use, and perceived usefulness on Pinterest consumer experiences on retailer SNS. 2) To identify the impacts of Pinterest consumer experiences on consumer satisfaction, behavioral intention, and online retailer relationship. The instrument used existing scales drawn from the literature. A consumer panel (n = 300) of Pinterest users that connect to apparel retailers was used to collect data through an online consumer panel. Reputation is positively related to trust and to perceived ease of use. Perceived ease of use and usefulness significantly affected retailer Pinterest consumer experiences. The impact of Pinterest consumer experiences on satisfaction and behavior intention was positive and significant. Satisfaction and behavior intention also are significantly related to online retailer relationship. Results and business implications are discussed, as well are limitations and future research.

Le bouche à oreille électronique s’est fortement développé ces dernières années surtout avec la multiplication de plateformes en ligne comme les réseaux sociaux. Traitant du cas des caractéristiques des messages en ligne (la force et de l’argumentaire des messages), ce travail nous a permis dans une première étape exploratoire de se familiariser avec le langage des internautes pour créer nos propres scénarios, de connaitre les principales interrogations des internautes concernant la crédibilité, la confiance et l’utilité de ces messages. Cette recherche et la revue de la littérature nous ont ainsi aidé à proposer un modèle conceptuel pivotant autour des caractéristiques des messages de bouche-à-oreille en ligne et leurs influences sur le comportement du consommateur.Une deuxième étape confirmatoire nous a permis de tester et de valider le modèle proposé etde vérifier ou d’infirmer certaines des hypothèses supposées. Les résultats statistiques montrent que les types des messages influencent la crédibilité perçue, l’intention d’achat et de recommandation. Les variables modératrices liées aux caractéristiques du récepteur des messages modèrent ces relations. Des variables médiatrices (i.e. la confiance perçue et l’utilité perçue des messages) sont considérées comme fondamentales pour l’évaluation des messages de bouche à oreille électronique. / The electronic word of mouth has grown considerably the last years especially with the proliferation of online platforms like social networks. Treating the specific case of the characteristics of online messages (the valence strength and arguments), this work has helped us in a first exploratory step to learn the language of the Internet to create our own scenarios, to know the main questions of users about the credibility and the trust and usefulness of these messages. This research and literature review have enabled us to propose a conceptual model to pivot about the characteristics of word-of-mouth messages online and influences on consumer behavior. Through a confirmatory analysis we tested and validated the proposed model and accepted and rejected some of our supposed hypothesis. The statistical output had shown that the types of messages influence the perceived credibility, purchase intent and recommendation. Moderator variables related to the characteristics of the message receiver moderate these relationships. Mediating variables (ie perceived trust and perceived usefulness of messages) are considered fundamental for the evaluation of electronic word of mouth messages.

Syphilis, a systemic sexually transmitted disease, is on the rise in the US, with infection rates the highest recorded since 1994 according to the CDC. Useful laboratory testing is an important diagnostic tool for determining individual syphilis infection and preventing community-wide disease spread. The purpose of this study was to determine the usefulness of a specific automated treponemal test method, the CaptiaTM Syphilis IgG EIA, and the syphilis reverse algorithm interpretation for detecting syphilis infection among patients seeking care in a public health clinic. The study employed a retrospective, nonexperimental descriptive correlational design with data collected between 2012-2013 from 4,077 public health clinic patients with 21% of the patients diagnosed with syphilis infection. There was a statistically significant difference between the CaptiaTM Syphilis IgG and the Fujirebio Serodia TP-PA test results; between the CaptiaTM Syphilis IgG Signal to Cutoff (S/CO) and the MacroVue RPR titer continuous variables; and between the reverse and traditional syphilis interpretation algorithms. The reverse algorithm using the CaptiaTM Syphilis IgG test method provided more useful performance measures with a sensitivity of 82%; specificity of 99%; accuracy of 95%; positive likelihood ratio of 63.06 and negative likelihood of 0.18 than the traditional algorithm using the MacroVue RPR test method. Statistical comparison of the area under the curve (AUC) for the continuous variables, CaptiaTM Syphilis IgG S/CO and RPR titer, concluded that the Syphilis IgG AUC (0.9500) was higher than the RPR titer (0.8155) indicating greater accuracy for detecting syphilis infection. This was the first study to determine that the CaptiaTM Syphilis IgG, the S/CO value, and reverse algorithm are useful diagnostic predictors of syphilis infection among public health clinic patients. The data from this study can be utilized by future researchers and scientists who are developing or improving syphilis detection methods.

Patient portals are web-based tools that provide patients with access to their health records and enhance communication with providers. Despite the efforts in expanding their use and patients interest in using them, patient portal usage remains low. Higher use of portals is associated with greater patient engagement and better healthcare quality and outcomes. This study investigated the impact of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEU) on patient portal usage. The conceptual framework was based on the Technology Acceptance Model, which suggests that PU and PEU of a system affect attitude and behavioral intention toward using the system, and ultimately the use of the system. The research questions focused on whether PU and PEU significantly affect portal usage. Participants included a convenience sample of 432 patients of Abington Health, located in Abington, PA, who had access to Abington's eClinicalWorks patient portal. Cross-sectional data collected from the completed online surveys included responses to Davis' PU and PEU measurement scale, self-reported portal login frequency and login duration, and some patient demographics. Data was analyzed by using chi-square test of independence and multinomial logistic regression. The study found that a significant relationship exists between PU and login frequency, PU and login duration, and PEU and login duration; however, the impact of PU and PEU on portal usage was not significant. The study could be repeated among a different population using a different patient portal. This study helps understand the relationship between PU/PEU and portal usage, something healthcare providers can capitalize upon when promoting portal use, and ultimately, encouraging greater patient engagement in their own health.