I–HOPE is an instrument that can be used to examine person–environment fit in the home. The instrument is developed in the United States and involves forty-four activity cards that are to be sorted by the client to address the activities that are problematic in his/her everyday life. The purpose of this study was to examine if the activity cards would fit in a Swedish context, and if other activities needed to be added, to match every day activities of people, 65 years and older, living in ordinary homes in Sweden. A survey was distributed to twenty-one participants age 65 and older. This survey was conducted in a project with Luleå University of Technology and the University of Gothenburg, that aims to adapt I-HOPE to be applicable in Sweden. Results show that nineteen of the forty-four activity cards were identified by all the participants. Further, eighteen more cards were identified by the majority of the participants. The seven activity cards that were not identified, or were done in a different way than what the picture showed, contained multiple activities that were categorized into one, compared to the ones that were identified. Additionally, the participants identified two more activities, that they felt, the instrument lacked. These results conclude that I-HOPE contains some valid activities, but needs to be adapted further, to fit a Swedish context, and to work as an occupational instrument for elders, ageing in place.

Background: Price pressure, together with factors as commodization and demands for lower production costs has had a negative impact on further investments on the tea industry in Sri Lanka. Developing countries must persist in their efforts to catch up with the rapid growth and increased global trade to maintain an important source of growth. Despite increased recognition regarding the importance of economic growth, where it is crucial for a company’s ability to profit with long-term viability by finding a unique combination and collaboration of activities within the value chain, there is still a confusion of how an emerging vertical integration can strengthen the tea industry. Purpose: The purpose of this research is to evaluate, define and describe the value chain of actors and activities from raw material to finished product that activate value increments within the tea industry in Sri Lanka. In order to reach this aim, a deeper understanding of how enterprises choose their way of distribution commodities or value-added product. The empirical data is combined with a theoretical framework that investigates the challenges with vertical integration within the tea industry, focusing on strengthen Sri Lankan tea producers’ value chains. Delimitations: Distinction that investigates Sri Lanka and its value chain of tea. Methodology: This minor field research was performed with an evaluating research design in Sri Lanka. A qualitative approach has been used in combination to the ethnographic method that carries out the collection of data. Semi-structured interviews have been conducted with companies within the tea industry in Sri Lanka to meet the research objective. Conclusions: The vertical integration can be strengthened through informal integrate functions and its emergence can thus promote business networks. Actors linking through investments by brokers can thereby simplify the process of value adding activities to the current tea industry in Sri Lanka.

The overall aim of the present thesis was three-fold. The first was to study occupational performance in individuals with severe mental disorders and their experiences of occupational therapy, the second to study experienced burden of family caregivers and the third to test the validity and the homogeneity of assessment tools in this area. The samples consisted of individuals with severe mental disorders participating in organised occupations (n= 112), occupational therapy records (n=64), occupational therapists working in mental health care (n=7) and family caregivers of individuals with severe mental disorders (n=256). Data were collected by questionnaires, structured and narrative interviews, observations and occupational therapy records. Individuals with severe mental disorders reported problems related to leisure and work activities and the occupational therapists recorded problems concerning how to organise and structure occupational performance. Individuals functioning on a high cognitive level experienced problems related to work and productive activities. Participation in occupational therapy strengthened their confidence in their own ability. The “Experience of Occupational Performance Questionnaire” (EOPQ) was developed from data on the experiences of women participating in occupational therapy. A principal component analysis gave seven factors with acceptable homogeneity. There is a need for assessment tools to evaluate occupational therapy. The EOPQ represents an attempt to fulfil this need. Family caregivers experienced limitations of daily activities as a burden. The ability to perform daily activities was studied from three perspectives, the individuals’, the occupational therapists’, and the experienced burden of the family caregivers. These perspectives are complementary and thus necessary for planning and implementation of individually adapted occupational therapy as well as for the evaluation of outcomes.

Aim: The aim of this study is to explore the factors that influence the brand building in startup companies. Method: This study implements a qualitative approach and consists of twelve startup companies located in Sweden. Results and Conclusion: The findings suggest that the design of a brand (name and visual aspects), the use of social media, event participation and establishing partnerships is important parts of brand building. In addition, startups frequently make use of employees’ and entrepreneurs’ individual personality for branding purposes. Not only do all participants view branding as an important part of their business but a few respondents even feel it is crucial for the survival of their business. Suggestions for further research: The participants of this study reside in separate industries. This, combined with the sample size is not evidence enough to draw conclusion upon similarities and differences between startups branding practices in terms of industry. Thus, this could be interesting undertaking in the future due to the limited research on this topic. Contribution of the study: This study adds to the existing body of knowledge by uncovering factors such as brand design and social media, to name a few, that is used by startups to build their brand. As a result of this study insights has been given on the importance of branding and the strategies used to increase the brand equity of startups.

Acute effects of repeated sprinting upon serum creatine kinase (CK), lactic dehydrogenase (LDH), and isozymal activities were studied in five collegiate runners (R_s) and six non-runners (NR_s ). After an intermittent running treadmill test, blood sampling showed three-fold mean increases in CK with no change in LDH in both groups; group differences were insignificant (p>.05). Results suggest (1) intense anaerobic exercise produces moderate enzyme elevations; (2) relatively equivalent exercise intensities are critical to enzyme responses in exercising individuals of varying fitness levels; and (3) exercise-induced enzyme release may be consequential to muscle cell membrane permeability changes from decreased intracellular high-energy phosphates.

The purpose of this investigation was to observe the effect of supplemental art activities on classroom management. Supplemental art activities are assignments designed to replace "busy work" with meaningful, interesting learning projects for students. The supplemental activities allowed students who completed their regular work to direct free time to developing appropriate work habits and creative thinking. The investigation showed that additional prepared learning activities help to reduce classroom discipline problems. Students were required to continue the normal learning routine without surpassing the slower members of the class. Planned activities did not solve all classroom problems but did serve to educationally involve the faster students.

Physical exercise has repeatedly been shown to trigger positive effects on brain function including improved learning, memory, and executive functions. In addition, corresponding physiological changes have been observed, such as increased neurotrophic factors, changes in neurotransmitter concentrations, and increased dendritic spines. However, these changes have not been well described outside of the hippocampus, including the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC), and have not been directly compared at different points of development. Because the prefrontal cortex is one of the last brain areas to fully mature, considering the age at which intervention, such as exercise, takes place is particularly important. Additionally, in human studies the data suggest that exercise has the most profound effects on prefrontal-mediated cognitive functions, while there is considerably less evidence on how exercise affects these functions in animals. The experiments presented here draw upon several well-established methodologies to explore the behavioral and physiological changes due to exercise that take place during adulthood compared to adolescence, as well as the role of mPFC sub regions in instrumental extinction and renewal. To that end, these experiments employ conditioning paradigms using appetitive lever-pressing to assess renewal of extinguished instrumental responding following exercise or pharmacological manipulations. Additionally, because there are multiple reports suggesting that early experiences can affect prefrontal neuronal morphology, dendritic length, complexity, and spine density was examined in young or adult male rats that had access to a locked (no exercise) or unlocked (exercise) running wheel for two weeks. Furthermore, norepinephrine transporter (NET) protein expression in the mPFC was examined by Western blot. Collectively, these experiments suggest that exercise in developing, but not adult rats, reduces the expression of instrumental renewal. The precise role of the mPFC and its sub-regions (i.e., prelimbic (PL) and infralimbic (IL)) in instrumental renewal was examined, providing evidence that the behavioral consequences of physical exercise may be due to modifications not only restricted to the mPFC, but also that exercise may have preferential effects on sub-regions, or change the balance of activation. The finding that when juvenile rats exercised they showed less ABA renewal than non-exercisers, paired with the reduction of ABA renewal when the PL was inactivated (and indeed, almost an identical reduction in the two experiments) points to the deduction that exercise is affecting the PL, perhaps more so than the IL or other mPFC regions.

Research has often called for studies that attempt to explain the complex causal chain known as the “black box” between human resource management (HRM) activities and individual-level outcomes. To explore the dynamics within the “black box,” this study investigates the influence of HRM activities (e.g., practices and processes) on individual-level outcomes, taking into consideration psychological empowerment as a mediating mechanism. Furthermore, to investigate how HRM activities affect individual-level outcomes, one must consider how HRM activities interrelate to create synergistic effects. Subsequently, this research contributes to the literature of strategic HRM research by investigating how and why systems of HRM activities influence individual-level outcomes.

Body image (BI) reflects how a person views his or her own body, and how one thinks, feels and acts toward it. This study examined the relationship of activity (sport vs. leisure) and gender to body image among adults aged 50 years and older. The sample included 182 Senior Olympians (79 men; 103 women) with a mean age of 65.5 years. Three scales measured the components of BI: the Social Physique Anxiety Scale (SPAS) measured affective BI, the Contour Rating Drawing Scale (CRDS) measured cognitive BI, and the Body Image Avoidance Questionnaire (BIAQ) measured behavioral BI. The Body Satisfaction Scale (BSS) measured satisfaction with appearance and functionality, and grip strength was used as a measure of body function. Women scored higher than men on the SPAS and the CRDS, indicating greater dissatisfaction with their affective and cognitive BI. Women also scored higher than men on the clothing and grooming behaviors of the BIAQ, while men scored higher on social avoidance. Sport participants scored higher than leisure participants on the grip strength test. Results suggest that gender differences in BI appear to persist into older adulthood. The results also suggest that the effects of sport on BI among older adults may depend in part on gender.

The main target of the Master's thesis is to evaluate international marketing activities of the researched subject in the time of the world economical crisis. The subject is the company ARKU Maschinenbau GmbH. The researched subject's activites will be compared with created theoretical basis. The theoretical part is completing the information from the area of marketing, precisly international marketing, and is complementing them by the theory of the management of the crises and collected data about current world economical crisis. The practical part is describing the real international marketing activities of the company ARKU Maschinenbau GmbH, because the most of these activities were, more or less, influenced by the crisis. The thesis is also describing and evaluating the marketing and other reactions and the arrangements that company had to accept to make it's situation better.