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In the beginning of the twenty-first century it became clear what consequences companies’pursuit of economical growth had created on our environment and our social lives. Now theworld is standing in front of a challenge and that is to find a sustainable way to produce,consume and live in order to help our environment and social lives. An example of anorganization that is working towards a sustainable way of living is Fair trade LabelingOrganizations International. They set up international fair trade standards in order to supportthe sustainable development of small producers in poor countries, such as ensuring that theproducers receive prices that cover their costs.Research results indicate that the fair trade label could lower the value of the brand that it isattached to, as well as decrease the original brand’s customer loyalty. While there is also thebelief that fair trade is a positive thing for a brand. Therefore our aim with this dissertation isto look at how the consumer behavior changes when the product is co branded with the fairtrade label. We will therefore look at how co branding with the fair trade label affect differentaspects of consumer behavior. The different aspects that we have used are need recognition,information search, evaluation of alternatives, post purchase behavior and perceived brandpersonality.The study is performed on Dutch consumers by doing a quantitative research. The studyshowed that there are four variables that affect consumer behavior when co branding with fairtrade these are price sensitivity, reason for buying, expected quality and perceived brandpersonality.This study contributes to the lack of research concerning the connection between co brandingwith fair trade and consumer behavior. The conclusions drawn from this study could be usedas guidelines for company managers that are thinking of adding a fair trade label to theproduct, but it could also be used as guidelines for managers that already use fair trade.

Den senaste tiden har en mängd samarbeten, eller så kallade co-brandings, mellan olika företags varumärken vuxit fram. Avsikten är att förstärka sitt eller sina varumärken med hjälp av ett annat varumärke som är förknippat med någonting unikt. Hur bedömer man resultatet av denna co-branding? Har det egna varumärket förstärkts eller har det försvagats? För att klargöra detta resultat måste varumärkets Brand Equity mätas. Med brand equity menas det kapital som varumärket representerar. I denna kvantitativa studie består respondenterna av ett kvoturval om 50 studenter. Vi har skapat ett mätinstrument för denna fallstudie utifrån Aakers modell för brand equity och dess fyra dimensioner; brand awareness, perceived quality, differentiation samt brand loyalty. Genom att undersöka hur Acers brand equity påverkas av co-branding med Ferrari genomför vi ett första preliminärt test av vårt mätinstrument. Resultatet av vår undersökning visar på ett tydligt samband mellan Acers brand equity och cobranding. Vårt resultat visar tydligt att alla fyra dimensioner inom Acers brand equity har påverkats i positiv riktning i och med co-branding med Ferrari. Avslutningsvis ger vi även förslag till intressanta framtida studier inom detta område.

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Pyrolysis is the thermo-chemical degradation of biomass in an oxygen-free environment to product liquid, gaseous, and solid co-products. The liquid co-product, known as bio-oil, can be used as a transportation fuel. The gaseous co-product, known as synthesis gas, can be used to power the pyrolysis reactor or other machinery. The solid co-product, known as bio-char, has been studied as an amendment to enhance soil physical and chemical properties and nutrient status. Although previous publications have described the beneficial effects of pyrolysis bio-char on soil physical and chemical properties, relatively little has been published on the recovery of mineral nutrients from pyrolysis co-products. This work quantified the recovery of feedstock nutrients (P, K, Ca, and Mg) and micronutrients (Na, Zn, Fe, Cu, and Mn) from pyrolysis co-products from various feedstocks using three distinct pyrolysis reactor designs. The reactors comprised a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor and two fluidized-bed reactors located in College Station, TX and Wyndmoor, PA. Nutrient recoveries, on a feedstock basis, were calculated for a comparison of reactor efficiencies. In addition to nutrient recoveries, physical and chemical properties of input biomass and of bio-char generated by each reactor were characterized through ultimate and proximate analyses. For the fixed-bed reactor, results revealed variation among feedstocks for the recoveries of feedstock sources of macronutrients and Na, Fe, and Cu in pyrolysis co-products. Variation among species was also detected for the recoveries of feedstock sources of P, K, Ca, Mg, and Fe in pyrolysis co-products for samples pyrolyzed using the Wyndmoor reactor. For the College Station reactor, recoveries of feedstock sources of P, K, Ca, and Mg in pyrolysis co-products did not vary among species, but Zn did vary. Ultimate and proximate analyses of biomass and bio-chars generated by the three reactors revealed variation among species. Additionally, the results showed that the recovery of feedstock nutrients varied by reactor design. Statistical analysis revealed high correlations and linear relationships between the recovery of nutrients and reactor mass and energy efficiency and feedstock fiber properties.

Purpose – During the past decades, implementing reforms becomes a popular topic for most manufacturers. With the aim to cope with the environment changes, there are urgent needs for these manufacturing companies to carry on reforms on the existing businesses. At the same time, value creation under a new service dominant logic for manufacturers are cited by many scholars. The aim of this paper is to analyze the new dominant logic, with the comparison of traditional goods dominant logic, recognize the advanced value creation model. To go a step further, this paper also discusses about the way of implementing reforms and new business logic for manufacturers. Methodology – This paper mainly takes the methodology of literature review. The literatures reviewed here include academic papers, books, and website information. The main field of literatures include: service definition and service characteristics; goods-dominant logic versus service dominant logic; and value creation (co-creation). On the other hand, some small case studies can also be found in this paper. Findings – After the comparing between goods dominant logic and service dominant logic, this paper suggests the service-dominant logic as a preferred business logic. Because it provides a more interactive way of consumption, presents a value-in-use view rather than value-in-exchange, and requires manufacturers playing a role of assisting customers in value creating process. For those manufacturers wish to implement the service dominant logic, this paper suggests them to take innovations on their business, which including the innovations on products/services, business processes, and business models. Research limitations/implications – As a relative new field of study, the research is mostly taken by literature review. However, the research on the implementing of new business logic and reforms requires more voice from the real industry.   Practical implications – Manufacturers may position themselves to new roles by involving in the customers’ value creating process. Taking innovations from a integrated view may help manufacturers to achieve the higher value under service dominant logic. Originality/value – This paper concluded the ongoing service dominant logic development, after which, offers a discussion on the implementing of which for the manufacturing companies.

Objective: The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) currently infects over 30 million people worldwide. It uses one of two main co-receptors to infect cells. The primary objective of this thesis is to evaluate genotypic and phenotypic assays for co-receptor usage in the clinical setting and investigate approaches for improvement of these assays. Methods: The concordance of recombinant co-receptor phenotyping assays and the predictive ability of genotype-based methods including the ‘11/25’ rule, position specific scoring matrices (PSSMs), and support vector machines (SVMs) were evaluated in the clinical setting using patient-derived plasma samples. Samples and patient data were evaluated in cross-sectional analyses from a retrospective population-based cohort of HIV-infected individuals enrolled in the HIV/AIDS Drug Treatment Program in British Columbia, Canada. Results: Current implementations of HIV V3 region-based predictors for HIV co-receptor usage tested on patient derived samples are inadequate in the clinical setting, primarily due to low sensitivities as a result of difficult to detect minority species. Recombinant phenotype assays also show discordances when tested against each other on the same set of patient derived samples, raising doubts if any of these assays can truly be considered a ‘gold standard’. Significant associations between clinical progression, viral sequence-based predictors of co-receptor usage and the output of recombinant assays are observed, suggesting that sensitivity can be improved by incorporating CD4% into genotype-based predictors. This is verified with a SVM model which showed a 17% increase in sensitivity when CD4% was incorporated into training and testing. Conclusion: This work in this thesis has exposed the difficulty in determining the co-receptor phenotype in the clinical setting, primarily due to minority species. Although genotypic methods of screening for HIV co-receptor usage prior to the administration of CCR5 antagonists may reduce costs and increase turn-around time over phenotypic methods, they are currently inadequate for use in the clinical setting due to low sensitivities. Although the addition of clinical parameters such as CD4 count significantly increases the predictive ability of genotypic methods, the presence of low-levels of X4 virus continues to reduce the sensitivity of both genotypic and phenotypic methods.

Enligt det tjänstelogiska synsättet blir upplevelsen kring ett köp allt viktigare. Samtidigt är varumärket en viktig resurs i marknadsföringsteori idag. Det saknas dock ett tydligt resonemang för hur varumärket passar in i interaktionen mellan företag och konsument. Denna studie undersöker vilken roll varumärket har i den värdeskapande processen utifrån ett tjänstelogiskt perspektiv. Uppsatsen bygger på en litteraturstudie av dessa teorier som sedan illustreras i praktiken med hjälp av klädföretaget Hollister. Resultatet av undersökningen visar att Hollister Co. lägger stor vikt vid den värdeskapande processen och på att hålla en god relation till sina kunder. Genom att kombinera tjänstelogiken och varumärkesstrategi anser vi att de skapar värde genom processens tre faser. Slutsatsen är att varumärket kan ses som en resurs till tjänstelogiken och de två teorierna förenas till en modell i slutsatsen.

Abstrakt   Miljön som Verktyg – En Designpedagogisk Undersökning Om Dyslexi och Studiero   The Environment As A Tool – A Design Pedagogical Study On Dyslexia And Study Environment   Det här är en designpedagogisk undersökning som är gjord i avsikten att finna ut om det finns någon gemensam nämnare för dyslektiker gällande miljö och studiero. Miljön i detta avseende berör det fysiska rum där studier utförs. Var väljer en dyslektiker att studera och varför? Hur viktig är miljön som verktyg för en dyslektiker? Jag tänker att det som är bra för en dyslektiker troligtvis också är bra för en icke dyslektiker. Jag går in med en föreställning om att skolan oavsett nivå har hoppat över ett väsentligt steg i verktygen för både studier och undervisning då man i många fall inte lagt tyngd på miljön som studierna bedrivs i. Undersökningen är utförd med en Co-Design inspirerad metod. Det vill säga att det är målgruppen som själv löser problemet genom en designprocess. I designprocessen har urvalsgruppen befunnit sig i förstadiet där idéer glädjefyllt florerar. Vi har arbetat genom workshops där vi pratat, diskuterat och skissat för att få fram vilka p under övriga källor med författarnamn först, sedan artikelnr.rag. erceptuella faktorer som är gemensamma för dyslektiker. Under arbetets gång har vi dock hamnat i viktiga och berörande samtal om vad dyslexi är och har inneburit för oss som elever och studenter. Därför väljer jag i min uppsats att kort berätta om vad dyslexi kan innebära både i negativ och positiv bemärkelse med fokus på de positiva delarna. Undersökningen tog plats vid två tillfällen i Konstfacks lokaler.   I anknytning till det skrivna arbetet har en offentlig gestaltning presenterats där informanternas modeller har varit i fokus.

Biomass co-firing with coal exhibits great potential for large scale utilization of biomass energy in the near future. In the present work, energy and exergy analyses are carried out for a co-firing based power generation system to investigate the impacts of biomass cofiring on system performance and gaseous emissions of CO2, NOx, and SOx. The power generation system considered is a typical pulverized coal-fired steam cycle system, while four biomass fuels (rice husk, pine sawdust, chicken litter, and refuse derived fuel) and two coals (bituminous coal and lignite) are chosen for the analysis. System performance is evaluated in terms of important performance parameters for different combinations of fuel at different co-firing conditions and for the two cases considered. The results indicate that plant energy and exergy efficiencies decrease with increase of biomass proportion in the fuel mixture. The extent of decrease in energy and exergy efficiencies depends on specific properties of the chosen biomass types. The results also show that the increased fraction of biomass significantly reduces the net CO2 emissions for all types of selected biomass. However, gross CO2 emissions increase for all blends except bituminous coal/refuse derived fuel blend, lignite/chicken litter blend and lignite/refuse derived fuel blend. The reduction in NOx emissions depends on the nitrogen content of the biomass fuel. Likewise, the decrease in SOx emissions depends on the sulphur content of the biomass fuel. The most appropriate biomass in terms of NOx and SOx reduction is sawdust because of its negligible nitrogen and sulphur contents. / UOIT