It is necessary to authenticate users when they want to access services in WLANs. Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) is an authentication framework widely used in WLANs. Authentication mechanisms built on EAP are called EAP methods. The requirements for EAP methods in WLAN authentication have been defined in RFC 4017. Besides, low computation cost and forward secrecy, excluded in RFC 4017, are noticeable requirements in WLAN authentication. However, all EAP methods and authentication schemes designed for WLANs so far do not satisfy all of the above requirements. Therefore, we will propose an EAP method which utilizes three factors, stored secrets, passwords, and biometrics, to verify users. Our proposed method fully satisfies 1) the requirements of RFC 4017, 2) forward secrecy, and 3) lightweight computation. Moreover, the privacy of biometrics is protected against the authentication server, and the server can flexibly decide whether passwords and biometrics are verified in each round or not.

During the last decade, investments into the Swedish mutual fund market have increased substantially. The increased popularity of actively managed Swedish equity funds among households and investment companies, correspondingly, funds need to deliver substantial results, raised the importance to evaluate these funds’ performance. This thesis adds to the scarce empirical literature on Swedish equity mutual fund performance. Employing the Fama-French three factor model, it analyzes whether actively managed Swedish equity mu- tual funds outperform the Fama-French benchmarks net- and gross of management fees. The study uses time-series data and constructs equally-weighted portfolios of the 42 Swe- dish based actively managed equity mutual funds investing in Sweden for the period 2003- 2013. The portfolios’ excess returns are calculated by estimating the Fama-French three factor model by means of ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis. The empirical results show that actively managed equity mutual funds over performed the Fama-French three factor benchmarks by an average annualized net- and gross excess return of 3.60 and 4.67 percent respectively. Sorting out the funds by the performance into deciles, the find- ings indicate that management fees influence the performance of the equity mutual funds in the sample of our study. The conclusion is made such that there is an indication that Swedish equity funds’ managers are able to add value above passive investing.

Researchers criticize predominant expected return models for being imprecise and based on fundamentally flawed assumptions. This dissertation evaluates Implied Cost of Capital, CAPM and the Three-Factor model abilities to estimate returns. We study each models expected return association to realized return and test for abnormal returns. Our sample covers the period 2000 to 2012 and includes 2916 US firms. We find that Implied Cost of Capital has a stronger association with realized returns than CAPM and the Three-Factor model. Implied Cost of Capital also has lower abnormal returns not accounted for by expected returns. Our results suggest that we can replace CAPM and the Three-Factor model with Implied Cost of Capital.

Problembakgrund: Studier för sambandet mellan volatilitet och avkastning har för det aggregerade marknadsperspektivet varit odelat enliga i att detta är negativt. Detsamma gäller inte sambandet vid studier på aktier för enskilda företag där ett antal har kunnat observera ett positivt samband. Detta skulle betyda att det är fördelaktigt när en akties volatilitet ökar, vilket går emot tidigare teorier som säger att sjunkande aktiekurser leder till en ökande volatilitet. I en teori har reala optioner presenterats som en förklaring genom dess konvexitet som leder till ett samtidigt ökande värde när volatilitet ökar. Problemformulering: Existerar ett positivt samband mellan volatilitet och avkastning för enskilda aktier noterade på den svenska aktiemarknaden? Syfte: Studiens huvudsyfte ligger i att avgöra om det går att observera ett positivt samband mellan volatilitet och avkastning på företagsnivå. Sambandet kontrolleras för de variabler som indikerar på en relativt stor tillgång reala optioner för att avgöra om ett företags flexibilitet gör att avkastning och volatilitet ökar samtidigt genom de reala optionernas värdeökning i enlighet med den teori presenterad av Grullon, Lyandres och Zhdanov. Ett delsyfte är därefter att undersöka huruvida vanliga prisjämviktsmodellers förklaringsgrad kan förbättras för att utreda om reala optioner har en så betydande effekt för svenska aktiers avkastning att investerare bör ta dessa i beaktande. Teori: Studien avhandlar de två teorier som tidigare presenterats som huvudförklaringar för det asymmetriska sambandet mellan volatilitet och avkastning, hävstångseffekten och volatilitetsfeedback-effekten. Dessutom presenteras den teori som genom ett företags flexibilitet eventuellt förklarar ett symmetriskt samband och de nyckeltal som indikerar på en relativ tillgång reala optioner. För att kunna undersöka detta samband använder vi CAPM, Fama-French tre- och Carhart fyrfaktormodell, samt en vidare modifierad modell som beaktar reala optioner. Metod: För att besvara vår problemformulering har vi valt att genomföra denna kvantitativa studie med en deduktivt ansats. Ett totalurval bestående av 1131 företag på aktiemarknaden mellan åren 1992 – 2011 ligger som grund för de statistiska testen.  Empiri/analys: Resultaten visar på att det inte föreligger ett positivt samband mellan volatilitet och avkastning för enskilda aktier noterade i Sverige, det samband vi finner är signifikant negativt. De undersökta prisjämviktsmodellerna visar på en något ökande förklaringsgrad för de variabler som indikerar reala optioner men utan signifikanta resultat. Dessa resultat skiljer sig från referensstudien på den amerikanska marknaden av Grullon et al. som kunnat visa på ett positivt samband. Slutsats: Ett existerande symmetriskt samband går inte att helt utesluta, resultaten visar däremot på att de teorier som driver ett negativt samband är dominerande på den svenska marknaden. Detta kan bero på exempelvis skillnader i företagsklimat eller juridiska trösklar mellan länder som hämmar ett företags möjligheter till att vara flexibla och att denna effekt därför blir begränsad.

A substantial body of literature links precarious employment with increased exposure to occupational hazards and adverse OHS outcomes. While a majority of these studies has found that precarious work has adverse effects on OHS outcomes, findings are more mixed with regard to temporary employment (the focus of this study), and there are still many gaps in the research that have yet to be addressed. Various models have been proposed in an attempt to explain the causal mechanisms behind the health effects of precarious employment. However, relatively few studies have empirically investigated these mechanisms. There is also a dearth of research on the effects of precarious work on OHS outcomes in parts of the service sector, such as hospitality, despite the fact that these industries make extensive use of precarious work arrangements. Further, few studies have been based on international comparative data (and even fewer where the focus has been on a particular industry). This thesis seeks to address these gaps by investigating OHS outcomes of hotel workers engaged under different employment arrangements in Ireland and Australia. There are two principle objectives to the study. The first is to examine OHS outcomes, while the second is to test and refine the Quinlan, Mayhew and Bohle (2001) Three Factor Model in an attempt to explain the links between health and precarious employment. It also aims to enhance the understanding of the mechanisms by which these factors interact to influence outcomes. This study defines and tests a health and injury structural model. The structural equation modelling techniques employed have not been used in previous studies in this area and provide a clearer portrayal of the complex relationships between the many variables affecting the OHS of precarious employees in the hotel industry. The OHS outcomes range from exposure to occupational violence and stress to a wide variety of debilitating physical ailments. This research also highlights several indirect or spillover effects of precarious employment. The inconsistencies between both locations are mainly regarding perceived job security, economic and reward pressures and lack of control over working hours. Despite these differences, there are basic similarities between the locations that are important.

yes / Over the past 30 years, the understanding of eating behaviour has been dominated by the concept of dietary restraint. However, the development of the Three Factor Eating Questionnaire introduced two other factors, Disinhibition and Hunger, which have not received as much recognition in the literature. The objective of this review was to explore the relationship of the Disinhibition factor with weight regulation, food choice and eating disorders, and to consider its aetiology. The review indicates that Disinhibition is an important eating behaviour trait. It is associated not only with a higher body mass index and obesity, but also with mediating variables, such as less healthful food choices, which contribute to overweight/obesity and poorer health. Disinhibition is also implicated in eating disorders and contributes to eating disorder severity. It has been demonstrated that Disinhibition is predictive of poorer success at weight loss, and of weight regain after weight loss regimes and is associated with lower self-esteem, low physical activity and poor psychological health. Disinhibition therefore emerges as an important and dynamic trait, with influences that go beyond eating behaviour and incorporate other behaviours which contribute to weight regulation and obesity. The characteristics of Disinhibition itself therefore reflect many components representative of a thrifty type of physiology. We propose that the trait of Disinhibition be more appropriately renamed as ¿opportunistic eating¿ or ¿thrifty behaviour¿.

yes / Eating behaviour traits, namely Disinhibition and Restraint, have the potential to exert an effect on food intake and energy balance. The effectiveness of exercise as a method of weight management could be influenced by these traits. Fifty eight overweight and obese participants completed 12-weeks of supervised exercise. Each participant was prescribed supervised exercise based on an expenditure of 500 kcal/session, 5 d/week for 12-weeks. Following 12-weeks of exercise there was a significant reduction in mean body weight ( 3.26 ± 3.63 kg), fat mass (FM: 3.26 ± 2.64 kg), BMI ( 1.16 ± 1.17 kg/m2) and waist circumference (WC: 5.0 ± 3.23 cm). Regression analyses revealed a higher baseline Disinhibition score was associated with a greater reduction in BMI and WC, while Internal Disinhibition was associated with a larger decrease in weight, %FM and WC. Neither baseline Restraint or Hunger were associated with any of the anthropometric markers at baseline or after 12-weeks. Furthermore, after 12-weeks of exercise, a decrease in Disinhibition and increase in Restraint were associated with a greater reduction in WC, whereas only Restraint was associated with a decrease in weight. Post-hoc analysis of the sub-factors revealed a decrease in External Disinhibition and increase in Flexible Restraint were associated with weight loss. However, an increase in Rigid Restraint was associated with a reduction in %FM and WC. These findings suggest that exercise-induced weight loss is more marked in individuals with a high level of Disinhibition. These data demonstrate the important roles that Disinhibition and Restraint play in the relationship between exercise and energy balance. / BBSRC

Over the past years, the total assets under management among hedge funds and equity mutual fundshave increased significantly. The question from an investor point of view iswhich investment vehicle can provide the greatest return adjusted for risk. The purpose of this study involves an analysis on the historical net asset values todetermine and evaluate what one can except from actively managed hedge andequity mutual funds. It supports the determination of the most profitable asset, adjusted for risk, as part of a diversified portfolio. The performance is measured net of fees and costs with the inclusion of potential performance fees individual hedge funds may apply. Hedge funds practice different investment approaches depending on what strategy is applied and hence, return levels can vary dramatically. The study is designed to answer questions by comparing net returns and risk-adjusted returns for respective investments and the different hedge fund strategies. With a deductive research approach, the analysis is conducted by applying existing models and theories as the Fama-French three-factor model through time-series regressions measuring excess returns (alpha), risk-adjusted performance measures as Sharpe ratio, M-squared and the Sortino ratio. The results show that hedge funds outperform equity mutual funds in all examined aspects and produce positive monthly net alphas,on average. Equity mutual funds are unable to provide investors with positive excess returns and subsequently fail the purpose of an actively managed fund by providing returns lower than the return of the market. The results are increasingly strengthened with both time-series regressions and performance measures showing homogenous results and reaching the equal conclusions. From the conclusions that hedge funds provide the most profitable investment compared to equity mutual funds, the hedge fund strategy CTA/managed futures strategies perform best in both net and risk-adjusted terms.

This research attempts to test the performance of the Fama-French three-factor model (1993) in explaining the stock portfolio returns on the China A-share Stock Market from 1996 to 2005. We will follows Drew, Naughton and Veeraraghavan (2003) method, who adopted the Fama and French's (1993) method to test small sample stock markets. We find the positive relation between book-to-market ratio and stock excess returns, and the negative relationship between size and stock excess returns. And our result demonstrated that the three-factor model is more accurate in predicting stock excess returns than the CAPM, since the adjusted R² value increased and the intercept are not significantly different from zero. The size effect is stronger than the BTM ratio effect. Moreover, our results present that stock profitability is related to size and BTM ratio in China stock market. However, the relationship between stock profitability and size and BTM ratio are unconditional.

Pension funds play a large role in the UK pension system since the returns of the funds determine how large the total pension will be. The future retirees can choose between active and passive fund management where the active management often is more expensive. In this study 102 actively managed UK equity pension funds are analyzed in order to see if managers have sufficient skill to generate risk adjusted return to cover the cost imposed on the investors. The result implies that the active pension funds in aggregate, before expenses, hold a portfolio that imitates market returns during 2000 to 2012. Bootstrap simulations suggest that only eight funds out of the sample of 102 have skilled managers and six of these managers are skilled enough to produce risk adjusted excess return large enough to cover the expenses imposed on the investor.