Background: In recent years, sponsorship has become an important and heavily implemented marketing communications tool, and the significance of sponsorship is especially seen within the context of sports. Despite the heavy implementation of sponsorship, both in a team context and on an individual level, existing sponsorship literature has been strongly focused on sponsorship in a team context, thus neglecting the individual aspect of sponsorship. Furthermore, previous literature has highlighted the importance of implementing clear objectives into the overall strategic marketing plan to respond to difficulties in tracing and evaluating sponsorship. The lack of existing literature on individual sponsorship and the need for clear objectives raises questions about managerial motivations behind the implementation of sponsorship. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to investigate the underlying managerial motivations behind the implementation of individual sponsorship in outdoor recreation businesses in Sweden. In doing so, this study aims to reduce existing literature gaps within sponsorship. Method: A qualitative collective case study with an abductive approach was conducted utilizing semi- structured interviews with 5 relevant participants who are working in outdoor recreation brands within the Swedish market. Conclusion: Findings of this study revealed that building credibility through the use of individual sponsorship was found to be a highly desired outcome, and strong motivation behind implementation. By transferring meaning, such as credibility, from well known and2  trusted athletes to the brand through associations, the brand in question wished to achieve increased strength of communicated brand messages. The development and strengthening of the brand community was identified as another key motivation behind individual sponsorship. Through the use of individual athletes' mix of properties such as performance, social ability, and own network was believed to strengthen brand community. Another finding was the motivation to achieve brand awareness-through high media exposure using leveraging as a tool. Lastly, the research found that except for implementing sponsored athletes in the marketing activities, utilizing the athletes in the product development process was the motivation behind implementation of individual sponsorship.

It is well known that the inflation linked breakeven inflation, defined as the difference between a nominal yield and an inflation linked yield, sometimes is used as an approximation of the market’s inflation expectation. D’Amico et al. (2009, [5]) show that this is a poor approximation for the US market. Based on their work, this thesis shows that the approximation also is poor for the Swedish bond market. This is done by modelling the Swedish bond market using a five-factor latent variable model, where an inflation linked bond specific premium is introduced. Latent variables and parameters are estimated using a Kalman filter and a maximum likelihood estimation. The conclusion is drawn that the modelling was successful and that the model implied outputs gave plausible results.

Öppen länkad data används i kulturarvssektorn för att strukturera och publicera data och metadata på nätet. Tekniken används för att förbättra interoperabilitet mellan separata system och för att möjliggöra nya typer av utforskande och upptäckande av kulturarv. Öppen länkad data kan implementeras på olika sätt och tidigare forskning visar att den mängd beslut som måste fattas ses som ett hinder för spridningen av tekniken. En brist på kunskap och expertis i sektorn har även identifierats genom tidigare studier. Denna studie har för avsikt att underlätta användandet av öppen länkad data i kulturarvssektorn genom att undersöka hur implementeringar framställs i dokumentation. Detta fokus kan sammanfattas genom följande forskningsfråga: Vilka aspekter av implementeringar av öppen länkad data i kulturarvssektorn förekommer i dokument?  Studien använder en kvalitativ dokumentanalys genom vilken innehållet i relevanta dokument har kodats genom en induktiv metod. Det material som analyserats är dokument som är producerade i samband med fyra svenska kulturarvsprojekt som använder öppen länkad data. Genom analysen har 17 aspekter identifierats. Dessa aspekter är indelade i följande sju kategorier: Bakgrund, Data, Databehandlingsprocesser, Externa källor, Kulturarv, Publicerad data, och Resultat. Aspekterna och kategorierna har sammanställts i en konceptuell modell som visar hur implementeringar av öppen länkad data framställs i dokument. En analys av relationer mellan förekomsterna av aspekterna visar att modellering av data, databehandlingsprocesser, och typ av kulturarv framställs som de mest centrala aspekterna av implementeringar av öppen länkad data. Det faktum att databehandlingsprocesser inte kunde nyanseras ytterligare visar hur flexibel tekniken är och hur många beslut som måste fattas av de institutioner som implementerar öppen länkad data. Detta resultat stämmer överens med tidigare forskning. / Linked open data is used in the cultural heritage sector to structure and publish data and metadata on the Web. The technology is used to improve interoperability between separate systems and to enable new forms of exploration and discovery of cultural heritage. Linked open data can be implemented in various ways, and research shows that the number of decisions that have to be made is seen as an obstacle in the diffusion of the technology. A lack of knowledge and expertise in the sector has also been identified through previous studies. The purpose of this study is to simplify the usage of linked open data in the cultural heritage sector by examining how implementations are expressed in documents. This focus can be summarized by the following research question: Which aspects of cultural heritage linked open data implementations are expressed in documents?  This study employed a qualitative document analysis through which the content of relevant documents were coded through an inductive method. The analyzed material consisted of documents produced in relation to four Swedish cultural heritage projects which utilize linked open data. 17 aspects were identified through this analysis. These aspects were grouped into the following seven categories: Background, Cultural heritage, Data, Data processing methods, External sources, Outcomes, and Published data. The aspects and the categories were compiled in a conceptual model which displays how implementations of linked open data are expressed in documents. An analysis of the relations between the occurrences of the aspects showed that data modelling, data processing methods, and type of cultural heritage are perceived as the most central aspects of implementations of linked open data. The fact that data processing methods could not be split into multiple aspects shows how flexible the technology is. It also illustrates the many decisions that implementing institutions have to make. These results match results from previous studies.

If P&C Insurance Company faces a challenge when their treasury system needs a new interface to a software as a service application. They need a suggestion for configuration for how the system and the application can work together. The work presented in this report is a suggestion for how you can make business configuration of an IT-based Treasury System in general. The exact configuration for the case received from If is presented as a separate report, found in Appendix A and is called the If-report. The If-report presents the suggested technical set-up of the configuration. It is not company specific but system and application specific. The work made in that report will be a standard in future version of the treasury system. The work made in this report is presented to the Royal Institute of Technology and can work as an example of how to approach a business configuration that needs to be done in an IT-based Treasury System.

Este trabajo aporta lineamientos para la publicación de cuadros de mando para la evaluación del uso de bibliotecas digitales en la Web semántica. Actualmente los indicadores publicados de los cuadros de mando no permiten su reuso y fácil combinación con otros indicadores para tomar mejores decisiones por lo que este trabajo contribuye a resolver este problema. Esta tesis comprende un estudio de tecnologías de datos enlazados y sus aplicaciones, los usos actuales en bibliotecas digitales, la elaboración de propuestas de arquitecturas técnicas y procedimientos de generación y publicación de cuadros de mando y metadatos de registros bibliográficos en la Web semántica. En forma complementaria se analizaron también características especiales a considerarse en los modelos de datos para encadenamientos de información como son el versionado de documentos legislativos y metadatos de preservación digital. Los resultados de las investigaciones han sido probados con metadatos de un tipo de biblioteca digital, una revista científica digital de acceso abierto incluyendo nuevas funcionalidades y sin afectar las estructuras ya existentes. La tesis se presenta como un compendio de publicaciones en congresos y revistas indizadas.

Präsentationsfolien eines Vortrags im Rahmen der Jahrestagung der IAML Deutschland 19.09.2018 in Augsburg.

Isolated noncompaction of the left ventricular myocardium (INVM) is characterized by the presence of numerous prominent trabeculations and deep intertrabecular recesses within the left ventricle, sometimes also affecting the right ventricle and interventricular septum. Familial occurrence of this disorder was described previously. We present a family in which 6 affected individuals demonstrated X-linked recessive inheritance of this trait. Affected relatives presented postnatally with left ventricular failure and arrhythmias, associated with the pathognomonic echocardiographic findings of INVM. The usual findings of Barth syndrome (neutropenia, growth retardation, elevated urinary organic acids, low carnitine levels, and mitochondrial abnormalities) were either absent or found inconsistently. Fetal echocardiograms obtained between 24-30 weeks of gestation in 3 of the affected males showed a dilated left ventricle in one heart, but were not otherwise diagnostic of INVM in any of the cases. Four of the affected individuals died during infancy, one is in cardiac failure at age 8 months, and one is alive following cardiac transplant at age 9 months. The hearts from infants who died or underwent transplantation appeared, on gross examination, to be enlarged, with coarse, deep ventricular trabeculations and prominent endocardial fibroelastosis. Histologically, there were loosely organized fascicles of myocytes in subepicardial and midmyocardial zones of both ventricles, and the myocytes showed thin, often angulated fibers with prominent central clearing and reduced numbers of filaments. Markedly elongated mitochondria were present in some ventricular myocytes from one specimen, but this finding was not reproducible. Genetic linkage analysis has localized INVM to the Xq28 region, where other myopathies with cardiac involvement have been located.

To determine the origin of non-vagal afferent fibers innervating the heart of guinea pigs, capsaicin was injected into the ventricular myocardium to induce depletion of substance P (SP). The lower cervical, upper thoracic and lumbar spinal ganglia, as well as the left atrium and base of ventricles, were assayed for SP depletion by using the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemical procedures. Capsaicin affected spinal ganglia from the 3 regions differently. The substance P level in lumbar spinal ganglia remained fairly constant, while the level of SP from cervical and thoracic regions declined significantly. At the maximal depletion dosage (173 μg of capsaicin/kg), SP concentration decreased 72.3% in cervical spinal ganglia, 45.5% in thoracic ganglia and 56.1% in the atrium. The lack of SP depletion in lumbar ganglia indicates that capsaicin acted locally on cardiac afferents rather than systemically. Data from this study suggest that capsaicin-sensitive neurons of the heart have cell bodies in the lower cervical spinal ganglia as well as in the upper thoracic spinal ganglia.

Lipid transfer inhibitor protein (LTIP) is an important regulator of cholesteryl ester transfer protein function. We report the development of an immunoassay for LTIP and its use to quantify LTIP in plasma of varying lipid contents. A rabbit antibody against bacterially produced recombinant LTIP detected two LTIP isoforms in plasma differing in carbohydrate content. This antibody was used in a competitive, enzyme-linked immunoassay that uses partially purified LTIP bound to microtiter plates. To optimize LTIP immunoreactivity, plasma samples required preincubation in 1% Tween-20 and 0.5% Nonidet P-40. In normolipidemic plasma, LTIP averaged 83.5 mg/ml. LTIP was 31% higher in males than in females. LTIP was positively associated with HDL cholesterol in normolipidemic males but not in females. In hypertriglyceridemic males, LTIP was only 56% of control values, whereas in hypertriglyceridemic females, LTIP tended to increase. Additionally, in males with normal cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) ≤ 200 mg/dl, LTIP varied inversely with plasma TG. Overall, we have confirmed the negative association between plasma TG levels and LTIP previously suggested by a small data set, but now we demonstrate that this effect is seen only in males. The mechanisms underlying this gender-specific response to TG, and why LTIP and HDL levels correlate in males but not in females, remain to be determined.

Poly (vinyl ether)-based graft polymers have been synthesized by the combination of living cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers with other living or controlled/ living polymerization techniques (anionic and ATRP). The process involves the synthesis of well-defined homopolymers (PnBVE) and co/terpolymers [PnBVE-b-PCEVE-b-PSiDEGVE (ABC type) and PSiDEGVE-b-PnBVE-b-PSiDEGVE (CAC type)] by sequential living cationic polymerization of n-butyl vinyl ether (nBVE), 2-chloroethyl vinyl ether (CEVE) and tert-butyldimethylsilyl ethylene glycol vinyl ether (SiDEGVE), using mono-functional {[n-butoxyethyl acetate (nBEA)], [1-(2-chloroethoxy) ethyl acetate (CEEA)], [1-(2-(2-(t-butyldimethylsilyloxy)ethoxy) ethoxy) ethyl acetate (SiDEGEA)]} or di-functional [1,4-cyclohexanedimethanol di(1-ethyl acetate) (cHMDEA), (VEMOA)] initiators. The living cationic polymerizations of those monomers were conducted in hexane at -20 0C using Et3Al2Cl3 (catalyst) in the presence of 1 M AcOEt base.[1] The PCEVE segments of the synthesized block terpolymers were then used to react with living macroanions (PS-DPE-Li; poly styrene diphenyl ethylene lithium) to afford graft polymers. The quantitative desilylation of PSiDEGVE segments by n-Bu4N+F- in THF at 0 °C led to graft co- and terpolymers in which the polyalcohol is the outer block. These co-/terpolymers were subsequently subjected to “grafting-from” reactions by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene to afford more complex macromolecular architectures. The base assisted living cationic polymerization of vinyl ethers were also used to synthesize well-defined α-hydroxyl polyvinylether (PnBVE-OH). The resulting polymers were then modified into an ATRP macro-initiator for the synthesis of well-defined block copolymers (PnBVE-b-PS). Bifunctional PnBVE with terminal malonate groups was also synthesized and used as a precursor for more complex architectures such as H-shaped block copolymer by “grafting-from” or “grafting-onto” methodologies, which yielding in well-defined PVEs segments with control Mn(GPC) = [VE]/[initiator] and narrow MWDs.