För att öka bland annat trivsel och säkerhet inom ett bostadsområde är det av av stor fördel att anlägga bostadsparkering i utkanten och på sätt minska trafikflödet inom området. En sådan parkeringslösning förutsätter dock att viss markyta inom området avsätts för att kunna ställa upp sin bil under en kortare period för att hämta eller lämna passagerare samt lasta i eller ur gods. Detta kallas för att korttidsangöra. Examensarbetet har kartlagt hur korttidsangöring används samt undersökt om behovet att angöra påverkas av avstånd till parkering och socioekonomiska faktorer inom ett område.

Several experiments are presented to evaluate the development of visuo-spatial short term memory from childhood to old age (from five-year-olds to about 70-year-olds). Visuospatial short term memory was assessed through transformational imagery tasks. The first set of experiments (chapters 3, 4 and 5) concerned the development of mental rotation abilities. A review of the literature suggested that young children (specifically so-called preoperational children) and elderly people are poor at rotating a mental image of a visual pattern. However, as some mental rotation abilities have been reported while using Shepard's paradigm, attention was focussed on the role of the first steps necessarily taken while performing a mental rotation task, specifically the maintenance of a visual pattern in STM. The second set of experiments (chapter 6) considered another imagery subsystem, namely "mental scanning". Like mental rotation, it requires the maintenance of a visual pattern in short term memory. Image maintenance ability has been assessed in reference to Kosslyn's (1994) model although Baddeley's (1986) working memory model- specifically, Logie's (1995) revision of the VSSP - has been sometimes considered while interpreting the data. These two different theoretical models suggest the existence of two related but different subsystems for sorting visual and spatial information. Most of the data presented in this thesis suggest that young children and the elderly have some difficulties maintaining spatial characteristics of a visual pattern in short term memory, i.e. the orientation of the stimulus in the mental rotation tasks and the location of targets in the mental scanning tasks. These results tend to provide some developmental evidence for a dissociation between the dorsal and ventral subsystems. It seems that the two subsystems develop at different speeds. The ventral subsystem might be better developed earlier than the dorsal subsystem. Similarly, some data suggest that the same ventral system is not yet affected by ageing when the dorsal subsystem has already begun to deteriorate.

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Master / Master of Philosophy

This study evaluated the effectiveness of an instructional programme designed to improve the regulatory fit of, and lessen the working memory demand upon, students in the process of second language (L2) writing. Drawing on the theoretical understanding of regulatory focus theory (RFT) and cognitive process of writing, a quasi-experiment with control group was designed and testified on 138 secondary school students in Hong Kong over a period of 16 weeks. The findings suggest that the aforementioned instructional design is effective in promoting students’ writing performance in terms of quality, creativity and accuracy. The pretest-posttest gains exhibited in the experimental group suggest that the students were able to internalize the writing instruction, self-regulate their writing processes, and benefit from it. In hierarchical regression, working memory explained unique variances in the control group but not in the experimental group, perhaps because the writing instruction rendered working memory constraint unimportant. The results not only offer empirical support for the application of RFT in education settings, but also inspire teachers with ways to improve students’ writing performance by fine adjustment in writing activities and grading system. / published_or_final_version / Educational Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

<p>Course:        Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration, 15 ECTS</p><p> </p><p>Topic:          The Impact of Strategic Purchasing on an Organization’s Profitability</p><p>                     A Case Study of Ghana Telecom Company        </p><p>                                         </p><p> </p><p>Supervisor:     Mats Viimne</p><p>Background:  The purchasing function contributes directly to the operating results and</p><p>                       profitability of an organization. It has been argued out that, the fact that</p><p>                       purchasing is responsible for spending more than 60 percent of an organization’s    </p><p>                       sales dollars highlights the profit-enhancing potentials of the purchasing on an</p><p>                       organization.</p><p> </p><p>                                 </p><p>Problem:       How can strategic purchasing affect the profitability of an organization?</p><p> </p><p>Purpose:       The purpose of this research is to describe how strategic purchasing impact on</p><p>                      the profitability of Ghana Telecom Company.    </p><p> </p><p>Method:      The author collected both primary and secondary data in order to fulfill the  </p><p>                    purpose of the paper; the primary data was gathered directly from relevant sources</p><p>                    in Ghana Telecom Company, through telephone and email interviews. The</p><p>                    secondary data was obtained from indirect sources, such as textbooks, articles, and</p><p>                    websites. The method used can be described as a qualitative.</p><p> </p><p>Conclusion: An organization’s purchasing strategy is becoming recognized as a strategic weapon</p><p>                    equal in importance to its marketing, conversion and finance strategies as pointed</p><p>                     out by Dobler et al. Ghana Telecom Company’s strategic approach to buying include</p><p>                    multiple sourcing, short-term contracting and competitive bidding as a measure</p><p>                    towards increasing its profitability by being able to source at the lowest cost, and</p><p>                    having other sourcing alternatives, which leads to cost reduction.</p>

The digit span test has long been used in the study and evaluation of memory processes in children. The study of memory processes in bilingual children has received only limited attention. The purpose of the present study was to examine the influences of bilingual interference, English proficiency, and item familiarity on a task of short-term memory. One-hundred nineteen third grade subjects were assigned to one of four groups based on their language background and ethnicity. Subjects were administered the Digit Span subtest from the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised in English as well as a test of general ability, the Coloured Progressive Matrices, and a reaction time measure, item identification. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and multiple regression procedures. Results showed that Mexican-American bilingual subjects who were proficient in English performed comparably to monolingual Mexican-American subjects. These results were discussed in terms of their support for the dual storage and independence positions of bilingual memory. Results of the data analysis also revealed a small but significant direct causal link between English proficiency level and digit span. This finding was discussed in terms of its support for the use of digit span measures with bilingual Mexican-American children providing the students have been determined to be proficient in English on a standardized measure. A final finding of the present study concerned the absence of a role for item familiarity as an intervening variable between English proficiency level and digit span. Results showed a direct association between English proficiency level and reaction time, but no significant association between reaction time and digit span. Implications of the current findings were discussed in relation to relevant theory and prior research findings.

ABSTRACT Legumes are becoming increasingly important in cropping systems due to their beneficial effects on soil nutrient availability. Including legumes into a cropping system not only positively affect many soil physical properties and increases soil nitrogen (N) supply, but is also reported to have a positive impact on soil phosphorus (P) availability. Although a series of studies have examined the effect of grain legumes in rotation on increasing soil N and P fertility after several years, the effect of forage legumes like alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) on soil P availability, the yield and P uptake of subsequently grown crops remain unknown in Western Canada. To address this gap, a four year field experiment was conducted in four soil zones of Saskatchewan: Dark Brown soil zone (Saskatoon), thin Black soil zone (Lanigan), Brown soil zone (Swift Current), and Gray soil zone (Melfort). The objectives of this study were (i) to evaluate the impact of including a two-year period of forage legumes alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) and red clover (Trifolium pratense L.) along with annual crops on soil P forms, amounts and availability and uptake of P by the crops in rotation and (ii) to evaluate the effect of the different crop rotations over the four years on soil P dynamics and P balance. After two years of forage legume and annual crop rotations, it was observed that alfalfa and red clover removed more P from the soil in the hay harvest as compared to the amount of P removed in grain in the barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) - pea (Pisum sativum L.) and barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) - flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) rotations at all four sites (P < 0.10). However, the four crop rotations did not significantly affect the amount of soil available P and P supply rate at all four sites (P > 0.10) despite greater P uptake and removal by forage legumes relative to annual crops in 2010 and 2011 growing seasons. Also, similar amounts of labile and stable P were measured in the different sequentially extracted chemical fractions after two years of different crop rotations at all sites (P > 0.10). Grain yields of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and canola (Brassica napus L.) crops grown following two years of forage legume and annual crop rotations were positively affected by forage legume rotations at Saskatoon, Lanigan and Melfort (P < 0.10). Wheat P uptake was improved significantly by two years of red clover at Lanigan, Swift Current and Melfort (P < 0.10) but canola P uptake was not affected by different crop rotations at all locations (P > 0.10). The amount of soil available P and P supply rate measured after wheat and canola harvest were not affected by different crop rotations at all sites (P > 0.10) despite the greater P removal by forage legumes during the first two years of the four year crop rotation period at all sites and the enhanced P removal by wheat and canola crops following forage legume rotations at Lanigan and Melfort. This suggests that forage legumes are able to maintain soil P fertility in the face of greater P removal by crops in rotation, at least in the short-term. Four years of continuous cropping with the minimum amount of fertilizer P addition resulted in a significant reduction of soil P fertility over time at all locations (P < 0.10). The lack of a significant effect of rotation treatment on available P levels in the soil does not rule out that there is an effect but variability prevented its detection. Further research is needed to evaluate the effects of several cycles of this rotation over a number of years on soil P availability and the P uptake of crops in rotation.

Memory binding is a cognitive process that enables complex objects to be stored or retrieved coherently during perception, learning, or action. Binding functions are aimed at reducing the misattribution of the features of objects in crowded and changing sensory contexts, ensuring accurate representation in visual working memory. Binding is a relatively new concept in working memory research. However, as an integrative function it provides a rich context in which to investigate the mechanisms underlying memory deterioration. In this PhD project, a range of experimental temporary binding paradigms were used to investigate whether some of the memory impairments observed in patients with Alzheimer’s Disease could be accounted for by deficits in this memory function. A set of neuropsychological tasks were used to investigate binding operations across memory domains (i.e., verbal and nonverbal), sensory modalities (i.e., visual and auditory), types of information (e.g., objects and colours), and retrieval processes (i.e., recognition and recall) in healthy individuals, Alzheimer’s Disease patients and other clinical populations. The results suggest that the efficiency of short-term memory to store bound complex events depends on the nature of the information presented (e.g., type of information bound into objects) (Chapter 2). Short-term memory seems to be equipped with relatively separate mechanisms to store integrated objects and individual features (Chapter 4). It was also observed that the binding properties of short-term memory apply to healthy young and older people, and are functions which are preserved in the elderly (Chapter 3). In two additional experimental chapters (5 and 6) the preserved binding abilities of older people were compared with temporary binding in Alzheimer’s Disease. The latter group showed a very large impairment in binding that was distinct from their impairments in memory for individual features. These findings suggest that memory binding tasks could reliably separate the cognitive changes in normal ageing from those linked with Alzheimer’ Disease. Moreover, the results of Chapter 7 suggested that memory binding tasks may detect memory changes in people that will develop Alzheimer’ Disease (i.e., asymptomatic carriers of the gene defect E280A of the Preseniline-1 gene) almost 10 years before the average age of onset. These results are relevant to our understanding of short-term memory and to the memory models currently available. Finally, it is suggested that the constructs of memory binding may increase the sensitivity of current assessment procedures for people at risk of developing Alzheimer’s Disease.

Operational risk management has been identified as one of the primary risk types that short-term insurance companies will have to deal with on a rigorous basis in the future.

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Short‐term surgical missions (STSMs) provide an opportunity for the global health care community to address the surgical needs of developing communities worldwide. Conditions that require a one‐time intervention, such as cleft lip and palate, clearly demonstrate the positive impact these short‐term missions can have on the individual patient. However, the long‐term impact on the local health care system, economy, and community is less clear. Many in the global health care community believe that STSMs should seek to have a long‐term impact by establishing sustainable health care programs. Information regarding the impact of STSMs is scarce, however, due to limited regulation, research, and data from short‐term missions. This study investigates how short‐term international missions impact health care sustainability in low‐income and developing communities. This study uses a systematic review to investigate the impact of STSMs on health care sustainability. Additional outcomes included education and skills‐transfer, cost‐effectiveness, and cultural awareness. 15 articles were included in the study. The following outcomes were found: sustainability in 9 studies, education and skills‐transfer in 5, cost‐effectiveness in 4, and cultural awareness in 3. STSMs can successfully establish sustainable programs abroad. Factors that contribute to this success include education and training of host providers, cost‐effective services, and cultural awareness. Understanding the complex dynamic between STSMs and developing communities is key to developing effective and sustainable programs that offer long‐term benefits to those communities.