<p>The principle purpose of this thesis has been to study and analyse the conception of men and women in business bankruptcy during the 20th century. The analysis is built on a theoretical gender perspective and, combining this view and business and bankruptcy research, the thesis has focused on five themes: business networks, bank contacts, business competence, business characteristics and finally bankruptcy causes. These themes have been in focus when analysing bankruptcies in Uppsala 1920-1939, 1988, 1992 and 1996. A questionnair- and interview study with receivers active in Sweden 2001 has also been carried out. From the bankruptcy cases that have been studied, no specific gender differences have really been discovered. There were some variations between men and women, but it is very hard to claim that these are related to the sex of the debtor more than to the branch or to the individuals. Changes from the inter-war period to the latter part of the 20th century are in these respects also small. The image that the receivers gave through the questionnaire and interview study indicates on the other hand that there existed a conception that men and women seemed different as business owners. It is obvious that there were many receivers who thought that women were different from men in a situation of business bankruptcy, even though several of them stated that they did not beleive in any gender differences.</p>

The collection and interpretation of data is a critical component of traffic and transportation engineering used to establish baseline performance measures and to forecast future conditions. One important source of traffic data is commercial motor vehicle (CMV) weight and classification data used as input to critical tasks in transportation design, operations, and planning. The evolution of Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) technologies has been providing transportation engineers and planners with an increased availability of CMV data. The primary sources of these data are automatic vehicle classification (AVC) and weigh-in-motion (WIM). Microscopic traffic simulation models have been used extensively to model the dynamic and stochastic nature of transportation systems including vehicle composition. One aspect of effective microscopic traffic simulation models that has received increased attention in recent years is the calibration of these models, which has traditionally been concerned with identifying the "best" parameter set from a range of acceptable values. Recent research has begun the process of automating the calibration process in an effort to accurately reflect the components of the transportation system being analyzed. The objective of this research is to develop a methodology in which the effects of CMVs can be included in the calibration of microscopic traffic simulation models. The research examines the ITS data available on weight and operating characteristics of CMVs and incorporates this data in the calibration of microscopic traffic simulation models. The research develops a methodology to model CMVs using microscopic traffic simulation models and then utilizes the output of these models to generate the data necessary to quantify the impacts of CMVs on infrastructure, travel time, and emissions. The research uses advanced statistical tools including principal component analysis (PCA) and recursive partitioning to identify relationships between data collection sites (i.e., WIM, AVC) such that the data collected at WIM sites can be utilized to estimate weight and length distributions at AVC sites. The research also examines methodologies to include the distribution or measures of central tendency and dispersion (i.e., mean, variance) into the calibration process. The approach is applied using the CORSIM model and calibrated utilizing an automated genetic algorithm methodology.

Large and ever-increasing numbers of chemicals, including large quantities of a broad spectrum of organic compounds are used in modern society. More than 30 000 of the more than 100 000 chemical substances registered in the EU are estimated to be daily used, of which many will be discharged into the waste-streams handled by municipal sewage treatment plants (STPs). The main objective of the work underlying this thesis was to improve understanding of the relationships between the characteristics of sewage contaminants and their sewage treatment efficiency. Further objectives were to examine the relationships between socio-economic uses of chemicals and sludge quality, and the effects of regulatory actions on sludge quality. The quality of the sewage sludge and the levels and distribution patterns of the sludge contaminants, both within and between the STPs, seem to remain quite constant over time. The overall findings indicate that the levels of contaminants in sewage sludge seem to be largely independent of the location, size and treatment techniques applied at the STPs, and generally, of the types of human activity connected to them. The total and relative concentrations of the sludge contaminants were found to be fairly constant on a dry weight basis, with some exceptions, indicating that the pollutants originate from broad usage and diffuse dispersion rather than (industrial) point sources. The proportion of cyclic methylsiloxanes recovered in sludge seems to strongly depend on their vapour pressure, which decreases with the number of siloxane units. The higher water solubility and biodegradability of organophosphorus flame retardants and plasticizers than polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) were also reflected in lower percentages (relative to their national use) found in sludge. Significant time-trends in levels of a-third of the sludge contaminants included in the annual national measurement program were detected over a period of seven years. The levels of compounds displaying significant time-trends generally decreased following declines in the quantities used nationally. However, a quarter of these compounds showed increasing trends, of which the linear methylsiloxanes followed the same trend as used quantities. The decaBDE was also found to be increasing in sludge, probably as a result of the phase-out of pentaBDE and octaBDE. The results indicate that the STP removal efficiency of anthropogenic substances, in Sweden, is generally good and that STPs, at least those in cold climates, do not efficiently remove certain polar contaminants. A non-targeted screening (by use of environmetrics and GCxGC-TOFMS) was performed and found to fulfil the objective to assess the STP removal efficiency, with emphasis to systematically analyse which compound classes that are not efficiently removed using the current STP technology. Many polar aromatic compounds were identified to be poorly removed. The acquired data on levels, profiles and variations in sludge contaminants (sludge quality) extend both the available information and understanding of the degree and nature of sludge contamination, which should help attempts to track changes in its contaminants and revisions, if necessary, of guideline values. This thesis also contributes to improve the knowledge base for the development of future STP technologies, and that archived sewage sludge can be used in retrospective analysis of new and emerging pollutants.

<p>This research assessed landuse changes and trends in vegetation cover in the Sandveld, using remote sensing images. Landsat TM satellite images of 1990, 2004 and 2007 were classified using the maximum likelihood classifier into seven landuse classes, namely water, agriculture, fire patches, natural vegetation, wetlands, disturbed veld, and open sands. Change detection using remote sensing algorithms and landscape metrics was performed on these multi-temporal landuse maps using the Land Change Modeller and Patch Analyst respectively. Markov stochastic modelling techniques were used to predict future scenarios in landuse change based on the classified images and their transitional probabilities. MODIS NDVI multi-temporal datasets with a 16day temporal resolution were used to assess seasonal and annual trends in vegetation cover using time series analysis (PCA and time profiling).Results indicated that natural vegetation decreased from 46% to 31% of the total landscape between 1990 and 2007 and these biodiversity losses were attributed to an increasing agriculture footprint. Predicted future scenario based on transitional probabilities revealed a continual loss in natural habitat and increase in the agricultural footprint. Time series analysis results (principal components and temporal profiles) suggested that the landscape has a high degree of overall dynamic change with pronounced inter and intra-annual changes and there was an overall increase in greenness associated with increase in agricultural activity. The study concluded that without future conservation interventions natural habitats would continue to disappear, a condition that will impact heavily on biodiversity and significant waterdependent ecosystems such as wetlands. This has significant implications for the long-term provision of water from ground water reserves and for the overall sustainability of current agricultural practices.</p>

The principle purpose of this thesis has been to study and analyse the conception of men and women in business bankruptcy during the 20th century. The analysis is built on a theoretical gender perspective and, combining this view and business and bankruptcy research, the thesis has focused on five themes: business networks, bank contacts, business competence, business characteristics and finally bankruptcy causes. These themes have been in focus when analysing bankruptcies in Uppsala 1920-1939, 1988, 1992 and 1996. A questionnair- and interview study with receivers active in Sweden 2001 has also been carried out. From the bankruptcy cases that have been studied, no specific gender differences have really been discovered. There were some variations between men and women, but it is very hard to claim that these are related to the sex of the debtor more than to the branch or to the individuals. Changes from the inter-war period to the latter part of the 20th century are in these respects also small. The image that the receivers gave through the questionnaire and interview study indicates on the other hand that there existed a conception that men and women seemed different as business owners. It is obvious that there were many receivers who thought that women were different from men in a situation of business bankruptcy, even though several of them stated that they did not beleive in any gender differences.

This thesis grew out of a problem encountered by a subsidiary of a Swedish multinational industrial corporation. This subsidiary is responsible for the corporation’s customer financing activities. In the thesis, we refer to these entities as the Division and the Corporation. The Division needed to find a new approach to finance its customer loan portfolio. Risk control and return maximization were important aspects of this need. The objective of this thesis is to devise and implement a method that allows the Division to make optimal funding decisions, given a certain risk limit. We propose a funding approach based on stochastic programming. Our approach allows the Division’s portfolio manager to minimize the funding costs while hedging against market risk. We employ principal component analysis and Monte Carlo simulation to develop a multicurrency scenario generation model for interest and exchange rates. Market rate scenarios are used as input to three different optimization models. Each of the optimization models presents the optimal funding decision as positions in a unique set of financial instruments. By choosing between the optimization models, the portfolio manager can decide which financial instruments he wants to use to fund the loan portfolio. To validate our models, we perform empirical tests on historical market data. Our results show that our optimization models have the potential to deliver sound and profitable funding decisions. In particular, we conclude that the utilization of one of our optimization models would have resulted in an increase in the Division’s net income over the past 3.5 years.

La classificació de la circulació atmosfèrica s’ha abordat de diferents maneres: mètodes manuals, mixtes, basats en l’estadística multivariant, entre d’altres. En aquest treball es fa un extens i actualitzat recorregut per aquests mètodes i es fa una proposta metodològica basada en l’anàlisi per components principals: el mètode de les puntuacions extremes. Aquesta metodologia, basada en l’aproximació tradicional que empra la matriu tipus S, proposa una estandardització espacial de les dades originals (malles), l’ús dels valors més elevats de les puntuacions factorials per a la determinació del nombre de grups de la classificació i els seus centroides, i finalment l’assignació dels casos a algun dels grups sense l’ús de les iteracions característiques dels mètodes de k-mitjanes. La proposta s’aplica posteriorment a diferents casos pràctics relacionats amb diferents enfocs de les ciències atmosfèriques: meteorologia de muntanya, variabilitat climàtica i canvi climàtic, cartografia climàtica i riscos meteorològics. Aquests casos pràctics es presenten a través de quatre articles publicats a diferents revistes internacionals. El primer cas fa una caracterització de les nevades intenses al Principat d’Andorra a partir de la classificació de la pressió en superfície a l’àmbit de l’Europa Occidental, obtenint-se set patrons de circulació que expliquen la varietat de situacions associades a nevades superiors a 30cm en 24 hores en algun lloc del Principat. La detecció d’aquesta variabilitat, i la detecció de situacions de la mateixa component però amb diferencies en el gradient de pressió fan del catàleg obtingut com una eina interessant en la predicció meteorològica en aquest sector del Pirineu. Aquest article va ser publicat a la revista International Journal of Climatology l’any 2005. El segon cas fa una classificació genèrica de la circulació atmosfèrica a l’Europa Occidental, entre 1960 i 2001 i emprant, com en el cas anterior, el reanàlisi de l’NCEP-NCAR (1 dada diària i 2.5º de resolució espacial). S’obtenen 20 patrons que expliquen de forma molt completa la variabilitat de la circulació atmosfèrica en aquest sector. A més, per cadascun dels patrons obtinguts s’ha calculat la seva distribució anual i la seva tendència al llarg del període. Precisament sobre aquest darrer punt, alguns patrons mostren tendències estadísticament significatives que apunten cap a un increment de les situacions de bloqueig anticiclònic durant les dècades estudiades. L’article fou publicat a International Journal of Climatology al 2006. El tercer cas aborda la obtenció de cartografia de temperatura i precipitació en zones d’orografia complexa (Andorra) relacionada amb els patrons de circulació obtinguts en el treball anterior. Els resultats, 80 mapes d’alta resolució calculats amb el mètode de la regressió múltiple, mostren la variabilitat climàtica local basada en la discriminació que estableix un catàleg de la circulació atmosfèrica. L’article fou publicat a la revista Theoretical and Applied Climatology al 2009. Finalment, el quart cas aborda l’activitat dels llamps al sector d’Andorra i Catalunya, però en aquest cas classificant una malla de pressió en superfície de més resolució temporal i espacial (dades cada 6 hores i a 1º). S’obtenen nou tipus de circulació atmosfèrica que representen situacions de caràcter advectiu (definides sobretot pel context sinòptic), dominades per la dinàmica mesoescalar (normalment efecte del dipol orogràfic pirinenc), o situacions de caràcter tèrmic dominades per la manca de gradient bàric. Aquest treball fou publicat a Physics and Chemistry of the Earth al 2010. Els resultats mostren que la proposta del mètode de les puntuacions extremes és una opció prou robusta per a la obtenció de tipus de circulació atmosfèrica i que pot ser aplicada a diferents resolucions temporals i espacials. Aquest mètode ha estat implementat al programari lliure COST733class desenvolupat en l’àmbit del projecte europeu COST733 (2005-2010) centrat en la comparació i avaluació de mètodes de classificació de la circulació atmosfèrica. / Atmospheric circulation types classification: a method proposal and applications The classification of atmospheric circulation has been addressed via different methodological approaches: manual methods, mixed methods, based on multivariate techniques, etc. In this work we present an extensive overview of the main existing typologies of circulation type classification methods for finally propose a new approach based on principal component analysis: the method of extreme scores. This new approach highlight the spatial standardization of the original data (gridded data), the use of the factor scores for determining the total amount of circulation types and their centroids, and finally support the non use of iterations for the final classification of all the cases into the groups via the Euclidian distance. The proposal is then applied to heavy snow precipitation events in Andorra (Pyrenees), to climate variability analysis over Western Europe, to the interpolation of climate variables in mountain areas (temperature and precipitation in Andorra) based on circulation types, and for analyze relevant lightning activity over the sector of Catalonia and Andorra. These applications are presented trough the corresponding publications in international scientific journals, and exemplify the usefulness of the atmospheric circulation classification methods for the study of mountain meteorology, climate variability and climate change, climate mapping in areas of complex topography using GIS techniques, and weather hazards situations. In addition, these applications also demonstrate the goodness of the proposed method of the extreme scores. This method of the extreme scores has been included in the classification software COST733class developed by the European project COST733 that was focused on the comparison and evaluation of circulation type classification methods.

Varje studie av en verklig process eller ett verkligt system är baserat på mätdata. Förr var den tillgängliga datamängden vid undersökningar ytterst begränsad, men med dagens teknik är mätdata betydligt mer lättillgängligt. Från att tidigare enbart haft få och ofta osammanhängande mätningar för någon enstaka variabel, till att ha många och så gott som kontinuerliga mätningar på ett större antal variabler. Detta förändrar möjligheterna att förstå och beskriva processer avsevärt. Multivariat analys används ofta när stora datamängder med många variabler utvärderas. I det här projektet har de multivariata analysmetoderna PCA (principalkomponentanalys) och PLS (partial least squares projection to latent structures) använts på data över avloppsvatten insamlat på Hammarby Sjöstadsverk. På reningsverken ställs idag allt hårdare krav från samhället för att de ska minska sin miljöpåverkan. Med bland annat bättre processkunskaper kan systemen övervakas och styras så att resursförbrukningen minskas utan att försämra reningsgraden. Vissa variabler är lätta att mäta direkt i vattnet medan andra kräver mer omfattande laboratorieanalyser. Några parametrar i den senare kategorin som är viktiga för reningsgraden är avloppsvattnets innehåll av fosfor och kväve, vilka bland annat kräver resurser i form av kemikalier till fosforfällning och energi till luftning av det biologiska reningssteget. Halterna av dessa ämnen i inkommande vatten varierar under dygnet och är svåra att övervaka. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka om det är möjligt att utifrån lättmätbara variabler erhålla information om de mer svårmätbara variablerna i avloppsvattnet genom att utnyttja multivariata analysmetoder för att skapa modeller över variablerna. Modellerna kallas ofta för mjukvarusensorer (soft sensors) eftersom de inte utgörs av fysiska sensorer. Mätningar på avloppsvattnet i Linje 1 gjordes under tidsperioden 11 – 15 mars 2013 på flera ställen i processen. Därefter skapades flera multivariata modeller för att försöka förklara de svårmätbara variablerna. Resultatet visar att det går att erhålla information om variablerna med PLS-modeller som bygger på mer lättillgänglig data. De framtagna modellerna fungerade bäst för att förklara inkommande kväve, men för att verkligen säkerställa modellernas riktighet bör ytterligare validering ske. / Studies of real processes are based on measured data. In the past, the amount of available data was very limited. However, with modern technology, the information which is possible to obtain from measurements is more available, which considerably alters the possibility to understand and describe processes. Multivariate analysis is often used when large datasets which contains many variables are evaluated. In this thesis, the multivariate analysis methods PCA (principal component analysis) and PLS (partial least squares projection to latent structures) has been applied to wastewater data collected at Hammarby Sjöstadsverk WWTP (wastewater treatment plant). Wastewater treatment plants are required to monitor and control their systems in order to reduce their environmental impact. With improved knowledge of the processes involved, the impact can be significantly decreased without affecting the plant efficiency. Several variables are easy to measure directly in the water, while other require extensive laboratory analysis. Some of the parameters from the latter category are the contents of phosphorus and nitrogen in the water, both of which are important for the wastewater treatment results. The concentrations of these substances in the inlet water vary during the day and are difficult to monitor properly. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether it is possible, from the more easily measured variables, to obtain information on those which require more extensive analysis. This was done by using multivariate analysis to create models attempting to explain the variation in these variables. The models are commonly referred to as soft sensors, since they don’t actually make use of any physical sensors to measure the relevant variable. Data were collected during the period of March 11 to March 15, 2013 in the wastewater at different stages of the treatment process and a number of multivariate models were created. The result shows that it is possible to obtain information about the variables with PLS models based on easy-to-measure variables. The best created model was the one explaining the concentration of nitrogen in the inlet water.

The today quarry planning at Klinthagen is rough, which provides an opportunity to introduce new exciting methods to improve the quarry gain and efficiency. Nordkalk AB, active at Klinthagen, wishes to start a new quarry at a nearby location. To exploit future quarries in an efficient manner and ensure production quality, multivariate statistics may help gather important information. In this thesis the possibilities of the multivariate statistical approaches of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Partial Least Squares (PLS) regression were evaluated on the Klinthagen bore data. PCA data were spatially interpolated by Kriging, which also was evaluated and compared to IDW interpolation. Principal component analysis supplied an overview of the variables relations, but also visualised the problems involved when linking geophysical data to geochemical data and the inaccuracy introduced by lacking data quality. The PLS regression further emphasised the geochemical-geophysical problems, but also showed good precision when applied to strictly geochemical data. Spatial interpolation by Kriging did not result in significantly better approximations than the less complex control interpolation by IDW. In order to improve the information content of the data when modelled by PCA, a more discrete sampling method would be advisable. The data quality may cause trouble, though with sample technique of today it was considered to be of less consequence. Faced with a single geophysical component to be predicted from chemical variables further geophysical data need to complement existing data to achieve satisfying PLS models. The stratified rock composure caused trouble when spatially interpolated. Further investigations should be performed to develop more suitable interpolation techniques.

Självskattningsformulär utgör ett viktigt kliniskt redskap för både utredning och intervention av röstproblem men i nuläget är tillgången till olika formulär i Sverige begränsad då antalet validerade svenska översättningar är få. Syfte med studien var att översätta och preliminärt validera The Voice Symptom Scale (VoiSS) som består av 30 frågor tilldelade komponenterna Nedsättning, Emotionellt och Fysiskt. Den svenska versionen av VoiSS framtogs genom ”Forward-backward Translation” med en efterföljande pilotstudie. Sammanlagt deltog 203 vuxna individer som rekryterades via webb- och pappersenkät. Av dessa uppgav 86 deltagare att de upplevde röstbesvär. Resultaten visade på tydliga gruppskillnader där gruppen Med upplevda röstproblem genererade högre genomsnittliga svarspoäng än gruppen Utan upplevda röstproblem. Inga överlappningar kunde konstateras. En principalkomponentanalys (PCA) var i stort sett förenlig med en trekomponentstruktur som tillsammans med gruppseparationen visade på hög konstruktvaliditet. Vidare noterades samstämmighet mellan den svenska versionen och VoiSS-originalet. Sensitivitets- och specificitetsvärden bekräftade en hög diagnostisk validitet. Slutsatsen drogs att formuläret med god validitet förmår att diagnosticera upplevelse av röstproblem. Den preliminära valideringen visade således att den svenska versionen av VoiSS kan användas som ett instrument vid utredning av röstproblem men att ytterligare forskning behövs för att säkerställa formulärets användbarhet i klinisk verksamhet. / Self-assessment questionnaires are important clinical instruments for both investigation and intervention of voice problems but at date access to various questionnaires in Sweden is limited due to few validated translations. The objective of this study was to translate and preliminary validate the Voice Symptom Scale (VoiSS) consisting of 30 questions assigned Impairment, Emotional and Physical. The Swedish version of VoiSS was developed through ”Forward-backward Translation” followed by a pilot study. The questionnaire was completed by a total of 203 adults who were recruited by web and paper survey. Out of these, 86 participants experienced voice problems. Obvious group differences were observed in that the group With experienced voice problems generated higher mean scores than the group Without experienced voice problems. No overlaps were observed. A principal component analysis (PCA) was largely consistent with a three component structure that, combined with the group separation, affirmed high construct validity. Moreover, concurrence between the Swedish version and the VoiSS-original was found. Calculated values of sensitivity and specificity confirmed a high diagnostic validity. The conclusion was made that the self-assessment questionnaire with good validity was able to diagnose experience of voice problems. In conclusion, preliminary validation showed that the Swedish version of VoiSS can be used as a diagnostic tool in assessing voice problems. However, more research needs to be done to ensure the questionnaires adaptation to clinical context.