By the time of 2011, Taiwan Futures Exchange has issued 8 kinds of stock index futures. By taking a closer look at the transaction of the index futures, we found out that, in terms of trading volume, there is a significant difference among each others. Based on the observation, our research focuses on studying the existence value of the index futures in terms of hedging and speculating functions. The definition of futures¡¦ existence value is that the investors can use the futures to achieve the objectives of hedging and speculating in financial market. The research objects are TX, TE, TF, MTX, XIF, and GTF. The method to measure the hedging function is based on Portfolio and Hedging Theory of Johnson (1959). We estimate the hedging ratio with different data periods to calculate the hedging effectiveness. The method to measure the speculating function is based on the theory of Rutledge (1979) et al. We calculate the speculating trading volume to study the relationship with the basis by using OLS model. The empirical result shows that, in the hedging function, all of the index futures¡¦ hedging ratios are almost less than 1, and all have high hedging effectiveness. There is no significant influence on hedging effectiveness with different data periods and issuing time. In the speculating function, TX, MTX, and GTF will make speculating activities increase when the basis get bigger but TE, TF, and XIF will not. To sum up, TX, MTX, and GTF have higher existence value than TE, TF, and XIF. At last, based on the observation from this study, we propose several policy suggestions for enhancing the existence value of the index futures in financial market.

The diploma thesis provides the reader with a comprehensive view of the U.S. tax system and other vital information about U.S. taxation. The thesis deals with analysis of the tax system in the United States, which can be characterized as very sophisticated and complex. The basic tax theory in the context of the U.S. environment are stated in the first part of thesis. The paper also includes information about taxes that are levied on U.S. federal, state and municipal level. The thesis deals with the anti-crisis measures introduced and proposed in the United States in fiscal matters. The significant part is focused on the possibility of implementation of tax issues to the Czech tax law. The thesis contains also proposals for improvement of the Czech tax law, particularly the improvement of tax payment discipline and enhancing legal certainty. The possible procedural elements, the access and quality of information, the reducing the tax burden, the tax structure and education in taxation could also improve the Czech tax system.

The Affectionate Gesture Planner (AGP) is a smartphone application (i.e., “app”) that aims to increase relationship satisfaction for couples in long-term relationships by prompting couples to complete loving acts for each other on a daily basis. The AGP app is informed by concepts from social exchange theory and the investment model (Rusbult, 1983), which predict that increasing the mutual exchange of beneficial investments to the relationship improves the quality and stability of the relationship. The present study is a formative evaluation on the prototype of the AGP app. Based on participant feedback, the AGP app will be improved prior to future trials. Future models of the AGP app will be used to compare the efficacy of using standardized suggestions versus personalized prompts.

Den mobila användningen har ökat ordentligt de sista tio åren och smarttelefonen har blivit en viktig del av många människors vardag. Applikationer används i vår vardag och användningen av dessa kan reflektera vår vardag, dock så är gränssnittet på smarttelefonen statiskt och förändrar sig inte beroende på användarens plats och tid. Syftet med studien är att undersöka om användarupplevelsen går att främja med hjälp av en dynamisk hemskärm på en smarttelefon utifrån användarens plats och tid. Detta gjordes med hjälp av konceptdriven designforskning drivet av följande frågeställning: “Hur kan ett designkoncept av en dynamisk hemskärm på en smarttelefon teoretiskt förankras och konceptualiseras baserat på användarens plats och tid i syfte att främja användarupplevelsen? Konceptet grundar sig i tidigare forskning och resultatet blev ett koncept för dynamiska applikationsförslag som bemöttes av sju deltagarna som deltog i studien. Enligt deltagarna har konceptet en potential att minska stressen då navigering till rätt applikation underlättas. Konceptet var också enkelt att förstå men frågan kring integritet och säkerhet delade deltagarna. I resultatet presenteras designkonceptet som bygger på tidigare forskning samt kritiken från studiens deltagare. Konceptet har en potential och kan utforskas vidare från många olika perspektiv. / The mobile usage has increased considerably in the last ten years and the smartphone has become an important part of many people's everyday lives. Applications are used in our everyday life and the use of these can reflect our everyday lives, however, the interface on the smartphone is static and does not change depending on what context the user are in. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the user experience can be favoured by a dynamic home screen on a smartphone based on the user's location and time. This was accomplished with the help of concept-driven design research driven by the following research question: "How can a design concept of a dynamic home screen on a smartphone be theoretically anchored and conceptualized based on the user's place and time in order to favour the user experience? The concept is based on previous research and the result was a concept for dynamic application suggestions that were met seven participants who participated in the study. According to the participants, the concept has the potential to reduce stress as navigation to the right application is facilitated. The concept was also easy to understand but the question of integrity and security shared the participants. In the result, the design concept is presented, which is based on previous research and the criticism from the study's participants. The concept has great potential and can be explored further from many different perspectives.

SammanfattningDenna rapport har utarbetats i samarbete med företaget Back on Track som till hösten skall lansera ett nytt friluftsvarumärke. I denna kollektion kommer en grov skidhandske att ingå. Avsikten med denna rapport är att hjälpa företaget att ta fram underlag för att produktutveckla och producera denna handske med störst fokus på material och miljömärkningar. Handsken har delats in i fyra materialdelar; grundmaterial, detaljmaterial, foder och isolering. För varje materialdel redovisas 3-4 förslag med dess positiva och negativa egenskaper, miljöaspekter och i vissa fall även priser. Det är mycket komplext arbete att utveckla en skidhandske. En handskes konstruktion och passform gör att sömnadsmomenten blir avancerade. Handens rörlighet är av högsta prioritet och dess utformning är en väsentlig del för handskens ergonomi. När det kommer till funktionsplagg måste materialvalen vara genomtnkta. Materialen är avgörande för att handsken uppfyller sina krav gentemot komfort. Det finns en djungel av funktionsmaterial framtagna med olika konstruktioner och behandlingar. Det är övervägande syntetmaterial som redovisas som förslag till denna handske.Företaget önskar också att ha en etisk och miljömässig kärna i nya varumärket. Därför innehåller även rapporten ett underlag på en rad olika leverantörskrav i form av organisationer, certifieringar och standarder som de kan implemetera i sin verksamhet. Många organisationer som arbetar med miljö och etik är till grunden mycket lika varandra. Det tar upp mycket tid att bygga upp ett miljöarbete samtidigt som det genererar stora kostnader. Det gäller att se över sina egna resurser och överväga vilka delar i produktionsledet man skall fokusera på.Trevlig läsning!Anna Eriksson och Cajsa Thomsson / <p>AbstractThis report has been composed in cooperation with the company Back on Track. In fall 2010 they will launch a new outdoor brand and in this first collection a ski glove is included. The report is intended to help develop a basis for product development and production of this glove with greatest focus on materials and environmental work. Gloves were divided into four different part materials; basic materials, detail materials, linings and insulation. It’s given 3-4 suggestions per part of material with its positive and negative features, environmental aspects and in some cases prices. It is a complex work to develop a ski glove. The construction of the product makes sewing operations advanced. Hand movement is of highest priority and its design is an essential part of the glove ergonomics. The choice of materials in such product must be well considered. There are a lot different kinds of functional materials to choose between at the same time as you have to be aware of the structure and treatments of the material. It is predominantly synthetic materials suggested. The company also wish to have an ethical and environmental base in the new brand. Therefore, the report also contains a basis on a variety of supplier requirements. Many organizations working with environmental and ethical questions are fundamentally very similar. Environmental work demands lot of time and generates costs as well. The company needs to review their own resources and consider which part of production to focus on. Hope you’ll find the report interesting,Anna Eriksson & Cajsa Thomsson</p><p>Program: Textil produktutveckling med entreprenörs- och affärsinriktning</p>

The thesis shows the view of the process of recruitment and selection of the employees applied in companies. The process is decomposed into the specific activities that are analysed in more detail. Recruitment methods are evaluated from the perspective of both employers and applicants for posts. On the basis of the questionnaires lists the specific procedures used in practice by employers, applicants' approaches and experiences of the recruitment procedure.

Visą laiką kiaulininkystė Lietuvoje buvo antroji gyvulininkystės šaka, turinti senas ūkininkavimo tradicijas [40]. Kiaulės lyginant su kitomis gyvulių rūšimis, auginti patogu dėl gana trumpo kiaulių auginimo laikotarpio, per kurį bandą galima greitai atkurti arba didinti. Kiaulienos gamybos apimtys pasaulyje pastebimai didesnės už kitų gyvūnų rūšių mėsos gamybą. Pagal ES žemės ūkio produktų rinkos vystimosi prognozes 2006-2013 m. tikimasi, jog bendras mėsos suvartojimas Europos Sąjungoje per artimiausius 3 metus padidės iki 89 kg/gyventojui, o didžiąją jo dalį sudarys kiauliena – apie 44,4 kg/gyventojui. Visame pasaulyje prognozuojamas spartus mėsos poreikio didėjimas, kuriam patenkinti numatoma 20 procentų pasaulinės mėsos gamybos iki 2020 metų augimas. Kiaulininkystė bus svarbi šaka tenkinant šį poreikį. Iš kitos pusės, visuomenė atkreipia dėmesį į kiaulininkystės plėtros pasekmes aplinkai, ypač dėl kiaulių mėšlo įtakos vandeniui ir orui. Keliamos problemos dėl žmonių sveikatos, ypač tose teritorijose, kuriose plėtojamas šios šakos verslas ar žmonės gyvena netoli stambių kiaulininkystės objektų. / “Saerimner” Ltd. is Danish capital based company maintainings its activities in Lithuania starting with the year 1999. The company maintains and controls three swine farm complexes, namely Šalnaičių (Pasvalys region), Rupinskų (Ignalina region) and Mūšos (Pakruojis region). “Saerimner” Ltd. main activities involve the growing and feeding of pigs centered in “Sajas“ Ltd. company branch. “Sajas“ Ltd. is a joint venture branch of “Saerimner” Ltd. In this research paper the problems related to the swine farm complexes were analysed and certain measures or suggestions to cope with them have been provided.

VIDA Vislanda har ett behov av att veta hur effektiv produktionen är på deras nya hyvleri. Därför är arbetets syfte att undersöka stopptidslängder samt bakomliggande orsaker till stoppen på företaget. Det ingår även i arbetet att lämna förslag på åtgärder som kan leda till förbättringar i verksamhetsgrad samt reduktion av stopptid. VIDA Vislanda vill veta vilken verkningsgrad, verklig löpmeter ut och verkligt stycketal ut för varje enskild dimension och längd. Resultatet presenteras efter detta önskemål men den totala verkningsgraden för hela mätperioden har också beräknats, till 52 %. Om VIDA åtgärdar de största återkommande stopporsakrna enligt våra förbättringsförslag kommer stopporsakerna att minska och således verkningsgraden att öka. / VIDA Vislanda has a need to know how efficient production is on their new planing mill. Therefore, work to investigate the stopping time lengths and the underlying causes of stoppages at the company is needed. It is also part of the work to submit proposals on measures that could lead to improvements in activity rates and reduction of downtime. VIDA Vislanda wants to know the efficiency, real meters out and real units out for each dimension and length. The results are presented after this request, but the overall efficiency of the entire measurement period was also calculated, to 52%. If VIDA addresses the major recurring causes of stoppages with our proposed improvements it will decrease the stoppages and thus increase efficiency.

abstract: Using Spencer-Oatey's rapport management approach, the present study evaluates the interlanguage pragmatic development of 17 native English-speaking American learners over the course of a semester in Spain, specifically in terms of the strategies they used in their second language (L2) to manage rapport in an advice-giving, oral role-play situation at semester start and semester end. To allow for a more in-depth analysis of the effect that a semester abroad has on Spanish L2 advice-giving behaviors, the learners were grouped into two distinct proficiency levels. Group 1 (n=9) represents learners who entered the semester abroad with a beginning to intermediate-low proficiency level and group 2 (n=8) represents learners who entered the semester abroad with an intermediate-high proficiency level. The results indicate that both learner groups had similar overarching behavioral expectations in this context. Specifically, both sets of learners expressed empathy, involvement, and respect for the interlocutor, while at the same time they used advice-giving strategies of varied illocutionary force to claim authority in addressing the interlocutor's dilemma. Both groups also balanced face sensitivities through strategies that both enhanced and challenged the interlocutor's identity face. However, it is argued that in this context claiming authority and challenging the interlocutor's identity face were permitted behaviors that emphasized the relational goals of the participants. Additionally, when developmental differences between the two proficiency levels were analyzed, the results showed that learner proficiency had an impact on specific strategy choices. / Dissertation/Thesis / M.A. Spanish 2011

The diploma thesis analyzes a procedure of closing financial operations in an agricultural company, evaluates their correctness and points to the most frequent mistakes. The Closing financial statement processes and the particular accounting operations are described in the theoretical part. The practical part is done based on data provided by Agricultural Cooperative Třebelovice. These data were obtained in personal conversation with accountant-general of the agricultural cooperative. Imperfections in inventorying of animals and products were identified by the analysis mentioned above. Recommendations, leading to removal of these imperfections and following stock undervaluation, were proposed to the Agricultural Cooperative. The Agricultural Cooperative Třebelovice doesn't make a cash flow statement. For this reason the cash flow statement was made by the author.