Searching for Standards: Disclosure in the Municipal Securities Market

Prokrastinering, eller att mot bättre vetande skjuta upp något, är ett stort problem i samhället i allmänhet och för studenter i synnerhet. I denna artikel beskriver vi en utbildningsmodul om prokrastinering som vi introducerat på två civilingenjörsprogram på KTH, varav denna rapport behandlar datateknikprogrammet där 466 studenter deltog. Utvärderingen hade 100% svarsfrekvens, och visar att 95% av studenterna hade problem med prokrastinering varav 43% hade stora eller mycket stora problem. 88% ansåg att prokrastinering var ett bra tema att ha med i utbildningen, och 57% ansåg att momentet haft positiva effekter på deras studievanor. Endast 7% ansåg att momentet inte hade gett några märkbara effekter på studierna. Då modulen endast kräver ca 8 timmars arbete från studenternas sida anser vi att fördelarna är så stora att denna eller en liknande modul borde ingå i samtliga utbildningsprogram.QC 20131216</p

Impact of organic pig production systems on CO2 emission, C sequestration and nitrate pollution

Organic rules for grazing and access to outdoor area in pig production may be met in different ways, which express compromises between considerations for animal welfare, feed self-reliance and negative environmental impact such as greeehouse gas emissions and nitrate pollution. This article compares environmental impact of the main organic pig systems in Denmark. Normally sows are kept in huts on grassland and finishing pigs are being raised in stables with access to an outdoor run. One alternative practised is rearing also the fattening pigs on grassland all year round. The third method investigated was a one-unit pen system mainly consisting of a deep litter area under a climate tent and with restricted access to a grazing area. Using life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology, the emissions of greenhouse gasses of the all free range system was estimated to be 3.3 kg CO2-equivalents kg-1 liveweight pig, which was significantly higher than the indoor fattening system and the tent system yeilding 2.9 and 2.8 kg CO2-eq. kg-1 pig respectively. This was 7-22% higher compared with Danish conventional pig production but, due to the integration of grass-clover in the organic crop rotations these had an estimated net soil carbon sequestration. When carbon sequestration was included in the LCA then the organic systems had lower green house gas emissions compared with the conventional pig production. Eutrophication in nitrate equivalents per kg pig was 21-65% higher in the organic pig systems and acidification was 35-45% higher per kg organic pig compared with the conventional system. We conclude that even though the all free range system theoretically has agro-ecological advantages over the indoor fattening system and the tent system due to a larger grass-clover area this potential is difficult to implement in practice due to problems with leaching on sandy soil. Only if forage can contribute a larger proportion of the pigfeed-uptake may the free range system be economically and environmentally competitive. Improvement of nitrogen cycling and efficiency is the most important factor for reducing the overall environmental load from organic pig meat. Presently a system with pig fattening in stables and concrete covered outdoor runs seems to be the best solution from an environmental point of view

Monetary restraint and borrowing and capital spending by large state and local governments in 1966

Interest rates ; Local government ; Capital investments ; Credit

Differential Survival among Batches of Atlantic Cod (Gadus morhua L.) from Fertilisation through to Post-Metamorphosis

Aquaculture production of cod has decreased from over 20,000 tonnes in 2009 to less than 2,000 tonnes in 2014 and the industry faces many challenges, one of which is high and unpredictably variable mortality rates in the early life stages. Hence, full-cycle farming with hatchery produced juveniles is still considered unprofitable compared to fisheries and on-growing of wild cod. In the present study, potential batch differences in progeny survival of wild-caught, hatchery-spawned Faroe Bank cod (Gadus morhuaL.) were investigated at two defined periods during early life history; i) the embryo stage (60 day degrees post fertilisation) and ii) the fry stage (110 days post hatch), post metamorphosis. The fry stage experiment was conducted in three replicates (N= 300 per replicate), and a panel of three polymorphic microsatellite markers was used for parental analysis. Mean survival rate at the embryo stage was 69% (&plusmn; 20% SD). Survival was positively associated with egg diameter (P&lt; 0.01), explaining 90% of the variation in egg survival rates. The data were too scarce to conclude either way concerning a possible correlation between survival rates between the two periods (P&lt; 0.10). Offspring from three batches (from a total of eight) dominated in the fry stage, contributing over 90% of the progeny, and results were consistent over all three replicate tanks. The skewed batch representation observed may be of relevance to the effective management of selective breeding programmes for cod