Glaciologer har under en längre tid observerat förändringar av glaciärer på Svalbard, att några minskar i storlek och att vissa växer. Avsmältning med ökade havsnivåer och potentiellt ändrad havscirkulation till följd är ett scenario som berör människor över hela värden. Dessa förändringar kan eventuellt förklaras genom att koppla de meteorologiska förhållandena i området till större cirkulationsförändringar. De meteorologiska förhållandena över Svalbard har simulerats med en regional klimatmodell, WRF (Weather Research Forecasting), för tre domäner med upplösningarna 24 km, 8 km och 2,7 km. Modellen har testats i två versioner, standard-WRF med förvalda processbeskrivningar och WRF med processbeskrivningar anpassade för polärt klimat och har drivits med ERA-Interim data, som är en återanalys av de globala väderförhållandena framtagen av ECMWF. Resultaten från WRF har verifierats mot observationer uppmätta av AWS-stationer (Automatic Weather Station). Följande parametrar ingår i studien: temperatur, vindhastighet, specifik fuktighet, kortvågig in och utstrålning samt långvågig instrålning.  Simulationer med standard-WRF underskattar samtliga strålningsparametrar. En felaktig strålningsbalans leder till att standard-WRF simulerar för låga temperaturer. Att mängden kortvågig och långvågig instrålning är för liten beror förmodligen på att standard-WRF simulerar för stor mängd höga moln och för liten mängd låga moln. För vindhastigheten och den långvågiga instrålningen ökar respektive minskar korrelationen när resultaten från nedskalning från 24 km till 8 km med standard-WRF analyseras. Bäst korrelation för vindsimuleringar fås med standard-WRF i upplösningen 8 km. För temperaturen ger ERA-Interim bättre korrelation mot observationer än simuleringar med standard-WRF. Ett test av polaroptimerade WRF visar att detta utförande av modellen bättre förutsäger strålningsbalansen över glaciärerna och som en följd av detta fås en mer överensstämmande temperaturmodellering. Polaroptimerade WRF simulerar en mindre mängd höga moln och en strörre mängd låga moln jämfört med standard-WRF. Bättre molnmodelleringarna i kombination med ett mer passande schema som beskriver mängden kortvågig strålning ger en förbättrad energibalans. Vindmodelleringar i upplösningen 2,7 km utförda av standard-WRF och polaroptimerade WRF ger minskad korrelation och ökad spridning jämfört med simuleringar i upplösningen 8 km. Denna rapport visar på att polaroptimerade WRF är ett bättre alternativ än standard-WRF när Svalbards meteorologiska parametrar ska simuleras.

Since the implementation of Directive 2004/48 EC on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights in Sweden there is today a possibility for pharmaceutical companies holding a patent to issue interim injunctions against a generic company on the grounds of an attempt or preparation to a pharmaceutical patent infringement. It has been shown that one of the earliest steps in which a generic company may infringe a pharmaceutical patent is to offer the generic drugs onto the market. However, since the implementation of the attempt and preparation rule in the Swedish Patent Act questions have been raised as to in what stage interim injunctions may be issued against an attempt or preparation to offer generic drugs onto the market made by generic companies. This thesis has therefore intent to investigate at what stage interim injunctions may be applied for against a generic company on the grounds of an attempt or preparation to offer generic drugs. In the thesis the writer argues that in order for an attempt or preparation to offer generic drugs to exist an overall assessment must be made of the particular situation and that there is no specific principles to follow in order to determine either an attempt or a preparation to offer generic drugs. However, some guidance might be brought from Danish case law in order to establish a preparation to offer generic drugs in Sweden.

Many Canadian cities are faced with the challenge of contaminated lands that remain vacant due to high remediation costs. Redevelopment of these lots to green space enhances the character of our cities and improves human and environmental health. Phytoremediation, the process of treating contaminated soil and water with plants, was explored as a plausible design application towards the re-use of contaminated vacant lands. Based on an integrative literature review synthesis and a phytoremediation example, design guidelines were formulated and then applied to three Canadian municipal sites. An expert panel, including phytoremediation specialists and municipal staff involved with open space planning and development, provided an evaluation of the guidelines. The results demonstrated that the design guidelines are an appropriate foundation for the application of phytoremediation as an interim strategy for transforming contaminated lands into usable green space within Canadian municipalities. / LACF (Landscape Architecture Canada Foundation), Latornell Graduate Travel Scholarship

The focus of this research is the disclosure of accounting information in interim reports. The main objective of the research is to assess disclosure of accounting information in interim reports of UK companies listed on the LSE and to investigate whether variations in interim disclosure can be explained by corporate attributes that differentiate companies. The secondary objective is to examine perceptions of investment analysts regarding the importance of information items disclosed in interim reports for investment decision-making. Employing a disclosure-index framework, a list of 113 information items that are and could be disclosed was compiled and a mail questionnaire forwarded to investment analysts to determine the importance of the items. A cross-sectional disclosure model was developed to examine the relationship between interim disclosure and companyspecific and corporate governance attributes. The primary findings show that (1) investment analysts perceive information disclosed in interim reports as important for their investment decision-making and that there exists agreement between what companies disclose and what investment analysts perceive as importance items of disclosure, and (2) there are variations in the extent of interim disclosure and that both company-specific and corporate governance variables help explain these variations. The findings indicate that the extent of interim disclosure is positively related to company size, listing status, external auditor involvement, acquisition transactions, payment of an interim dividend, techMARK listing, and substantial institutional investors. The results also show that interim disclosure is negatively related to liquidity ratio, CEO age and shareholding of audit committee members. This research contributes to the disclosure literature in a number of ways. First it examines variables previously associated with annual disclosures as possible explanatory factors of differences in interim disclosure. Second, it investigates the influence of corporate governance variables on interim disclosure, an area that has been neglected in previous studies. Furthermore, the research introduces two new variables (external auditor involvement and shareholding of audit committee members), which have not been examined in prior disclosure studies. These findings have implications for the development of interim reporting and for corporate governance policy formulation.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-112).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Bethel Theological Seminary, 1991. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 134-137).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Deerfield, Ill., 1998. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 162-165).

Thesis (D. Min.)--Emmanuel School of Religion, 2005. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 110-112).

According to The Economist Democracy Index, Tunisia was at 2.79 during 2010 and by the end of 2011 they had climbed up to 5.53. Therefore Tunisia entered a new category, called hybrid regime. This was a step closer to a more democratic regime. Rustow Dankwart, Shain Yossi and Linz J. Juan would say that the interim government and the political actors within it had a significant impact on Tunisias increase in democracy index. Therefore the aim of this study took the shape of a theory consuming case study. The purpose of the study was to analyze the political actors and the interim government importance during the Tunisian democratic transition, with the delimitation to the year 2011. The results firstly showed us the categorization hardliners within the authoritarian coalition in combination with radicals in the oppositional coalition. During the second interim government the categorization changes from hardliners to softliners. During the third, we see a glint of moderates within the opposition. Secondly, the results showed us that there is evidence of an opposition-led, power-sharing and incumbent-led caretaker regime in Tunisia. The study discusses two conclusions about political actors during the transition. Firstly, the importance of radicals within the opposition and secondly the importance of the authoritarian coalition changing from hardliners to softliners, which allowed the country to transition. Within the categorization of the interim government we have come to the conclusion that the opposition-led government played a significant role in the Tunisian transition.

Streamflow data is used throughout the world in applications such as flooding, agriculture, and urban planning. Understanding daily and seasonal patterns in streamflow is important for decision makers, so that they can accurately predict and react to seasonal changes in streamflow for the region. This understanding of daily and seasonal patterns has historically been achieved through interpretation of observed historical data at stream reaches throughout the individual regions. Developing countries have limited and sporadic observed stream and rain gage data, making it difficult for stakeholders to manage their water resources to their fullest potential. In areas where observed historical data is not readily available, the European Reanalysis Interim (ERA-Interim) data provided by the European Center for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) can be used as a surrogate. The ERA-Interim data can be compared to historic observed flow to determine the accuracy of the ERA-Interim data using statistical measures such as the correlation coefficient, the mean difference, the root mean square error, R2 coefficients and spectral angle metrics. These different statistical measures determine different aspects of the predicted data's accuracy. These metrics measure correlation, errors in magnitude, errors in timing, and errors in shape. This thesis presents a suite of tests that can be used to determine the accuracy and correlation of the ERA-Interim data compared to the observed data, the accuracy of the ERA-Interim data in capturing the overall events, and the accuracy of the data in capturing the magnitude of events. From these tests, and the cases presented in this thesis, we can conclude that the ERA-Interim is a sufficient model for simulating historic data on a global scale. It is able to capture the seasonality of the historical data, the magnitude of the events, and the overall timing of the events sufficiently to be used as a surrogate dataset. The suite of tests can also be applied to other applications, to make comparing two datasets of flow data a quicker and easier process.