The Swedish Transport Administration manage nearly 4,000 railway bridges in different condition and age around the country. These bridges is in constant need of maintenance and requires continuous inspections. This thesis is designed as a damage investigation on a single-track railway bridge south of Solvarbo in Säter municipality. The railway bridge is in operation and serves over 10,000 trains a year, everything from speed trains to freight trains. The bridge is built as a beam bridge, simply supported over a road.

Titel: RIX-systemet och dess påverkan på finansinstitutens marknadsmaktFörfattare: Tom Douglas och Eric NarfströmHandledare: Evert KöstnerKurs: NEG300, kandidatuppsats Nationalekonomi fördjupningskurs, 15 hp, HT-2013Nyckelord: marknadsmakt, oligopol, räntabilitet, riksbanken, RIX-systemet, konkurrensSyfte: Denna studie syftar till att undersöka om det finns ett samband mellanmedlemskap i RIX-systemet och räntabilitet på eget kapital beträffande företag vilka är aktiva på den svenska finansmarknaden.Metod: I denna studie används både en kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod med insamling av kvantitativ sekundärdata från framförallt Svenska Bankföreningen. Kvalitativ data har främst hämtats från Riksbanken.Teori: Structure-conduct-performance paradigm (SCP) samt Porters femkraftsmodell ligger till grund för den teoretiska referensram som ligger till grund för studien att tillägga till detta används även konventionell konkurrensteori.Slutsats: Studien visar på att det föreligger ett statistiskt signifikant sambandmellan ett deltagande i RIX-systemet och räntabilitet på eget kapital. Title: The RIX-system and its impact on financial institutions market power.Author: Tom Douglas and Eric NarfströmAdvisor: Evert KöstnerCourse: NEG300, Bachelor thesis in Economics, 15 hp, fall 2013Keywords: Market power, oligopoly, return on investment, central bank, the RIX-system, competitionPurpose: This study aims to investigate whether there is a correlation betweena membership within the RIX-system and return on investment regarding companies with in the financial industry of Sweden.Method: In this study, both a quantitative and qualitative approach has been used. Regarding the collection of quantitative data, it has been retrieved mainly from Swedish Bankers' Association. Collection of qualitative data has been collected mainly from The Swedish central bank Riksbanken.Theory: Structure-conduct-performance paradigm (SCP) and Porters five-forces framework underpin the theoretical framework underlying the study.

Abstract: This study is focused on blogging from the perspective of the individual. Weinvestigate why one uses the weblog format, functions on the blog that are seen to work asdriving forces, attitudes towards self-disclosure and anonymity on the weblog and how therelation between an online- and offline-identity is interpreted by the bloggers themselves, forexample to what extent it is possible to get to know the blogger by reading the weblog.Finally, we investigate the weblog-readers meaning to the blogger, as well as their possibleimpact on both his or her personal blog-content and the everyday-life.The empirical material consists of half-structured interviews via MSN Messengerwith nine informants, being bloggers found on the Swedish website bloggportalen.se. Thetheoretical framework behind the interview guide focuses on the identity concept, containingidentity theories in psychological and sociological perspectives, symbolic interactionismconcerning the concept of roles, as well as Bauman?s liquid theory on postmodern societytendencies. This material is further included in related previous research articles, derived fromboth international and Swedish databases.

Organic cotton has been in the medias field of vision for quite some time. This interestalso reflects in a growing awareness in the textile industry where more and morecompanies today offer organic cotton in their product range. With this in mind wequestion whether organic cotton has become a viable commercial product. We alsoacknowledge there is a lacking of understanding the complex problems that organiccotton manufacture involves, for example the huge effort and cost required for a transitionfrom conventional to organic cotton farming.The purpose of this paper was to study how textile, ecology and competition today arebeing combined by companies. We wanted with our investigation to find out whethercompanies in the textile industry use ecology as a competitive advantage.

Garden center and market gardens are a growing trade, undergoing great changes with new actors and purchasing habits. The interest in gardens and plants is steadily increasing, official statistics show an increase of garden plants and flower consumption, of an annual 3 per cent. Garden centers and market gardens are in great need of development to be able to tackle the prevailing competition, and maintain a steady growth. Many companies are heading for a generation shift and are founding it difficult to find and employ younger managers. The aim of this report is to examine different strategies of garden centers and market gardens through the manager/ owner?s views and opinions about competition, growth and success.

The aim of this master thesis is to study how the development of a public library by means of ideas and methods from the private sector can be related to traditional core values. We base our study on institutional theory, which focuses on norms and values in an organisation, and new institutional theory, which focuses on how organisations are influenced by changes in the environment. We also use New Public Management with a market focus to analyze the implications of a development towards a more market oriented view.The method used is that of a case study of a new library concept, Idea Stores in London. Idea Stores are a number of new public libraries in Tower Hamlets developed from the results of a major opinion survey about libraries. The Idea Stores combine traditional library services with elements of adult education and lifelong learning in a partnership with local learning centres.

Equal treatment in school is an on-going debate in the Swedish society. At the same time teachers around the country struggles to make ends meet because of a heavy workload. Voices have been raised that teachers no longer have the time to actually be teachers since they get piled up with paper work and other administrative tasks. However, schools are bound by law to take action against harassments and discrimination of any kind. There is also an overall policy in the Swedish national curriculum that every school must embrace diversity and actively teach students about solidarity and respect.

 AbstractThis Master?s thesis analyses the dynamics of the medieval counterweight lever engine, ortrebuchet, a type of mechanical artillery. The purpose is to study the differences between different types of these machines, and see if computer simulations can be used to validate preserved advice on construction. Simulations include machines with a fixed counterweight, a hinged counterweight and a combination of both counterweights.Due to the almost complete lack of archaeological finds and insufficient historical source material there are still, after more than a century of research, many unanswered questions concerning the design and performance of these machines.The present study is based on an analysis by Jahsman (2004). A more detailed mathematical model employing Coulomb-friction is used.

The enterprises of today are beginning to realize that environmental issues are a important part of their activity. Companies and organizations are expected to a greater extent communicate their environmental work to the world surrounding them in a trustworthy and structured way. Lack of information or information that is incorrect may bring farreaching consequences. Communication is mentioned in several of the ISO 14001-standards. But what is missing is a guideline how companies should act to create and be sure of the quality of the data that can be used in the environmental communication.

The current demanding business environment requires corporations to act fast in finding effective solutions to problems given the myriad of challenges they face (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2001). The challenges include the impact of climate change on business practices, natural resource consumption, chemical pollution, technological change etc. Moreover, the forces of globalization, heightened concerns about the deteriorating quality of the physical environment and increased stakeholder power are also increasingly having a real influence on business practices (Rainey, 2008). Since 1992, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has encouraged the adoption of the concept of ecological efficiency (eco-efficiency) to support business efforts aimed at addressing some of these challenges. The aim of eco-efficiency is to reduce the amount of energy and materials used in production processes to achieve economic and environmental benefits (WBCSD, 2000).

AbstractTitle: Corporate Social Responsibility within the banking-sector ? A case study of the CSR-strategies of Nordea.Seminar date: 130108State University: Mälardalen University ? Västerås Institution: School of Sustainable Development of Society and TechnologyLevel: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration ? FÖA300Authors: Samir Ghaddab, Josefine Jonsson, Sam LindforsExaminor: Cecilia Lindh Thillenius Supervisor: Magnus LinderströmPages: 35 Attachments: 1 Key words: CSR, bank, sustainability, communication, awarenessResearch questions:- What is the nature of CSR-related work in Nordea, and how do they practice CSR? - How can Nordea raise awareness about CSR among employees and other stakeholders?Purpose: The purpose with this thesis was to get an increased understanding about how Nordea interprets CSR and how they work with CSR. Finally with relevant theories in mind, this thesis presents suggestions on possible changes and opportunities within Nordea?s CSR-activities and how they can co-operate with NGO?s like CSR Sweden.Methodology: A qualitative study with deductive methods. A case study has been done with semi-structured interviews at a company and a nonprofit organization.Conclusion: The reality in which Nordea operates conforms to the theories presented in the thesis when we look at the driving forces behind working with CSR and the demands on the company that stakeholders have.

This report is the result of a master thesis at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Industrial and Economical Development, at Linköping University of Technology. The project was carried out on behalf of Fanerami AB, Mjölby and includes 20 weeks of full time schedule work.Cabinets with vertical mounted roller shutters all share the same problem, namely weight balancing. A roller shutter has an equilibrium area where the sum of the different forces acting on the shutter equals zero. As the shutter leaves that area it will pick up speed as it falls towards the bottom. When the shutter hits the bottom of the cabinet there is a potential risk of getting fingers caught and in this project a solution to prevent this from happening was to be presented.In this project, three concepts have been generated with the following different purposes:?In concept 1 the risk of getting any fingers caught when the shutter closes was to be eliminated in an efficient and inexpensive way.?In concept 2 the roller shutter had to be balanced at all time providing the possibility to keep the cabinet open in any position.?The last and most challenging task was to create a remote controlled TV cabinet.

Insufficient intake of vegetables is a reason for micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition in developing countries. With urbanization, globalization and a growing world population it is of major importance to secure sufficient food supply for the world?s population. Part of the solution to increased food security among the world?s poor could be the introduction of vegetable home gardens, plots for small scale vegetable production which can provide households with sufficient vegetables as well as serve as an extra income source. The study Improving peri-urban home gardens aims at examining the existence of vegetable home gardens in the peri-urban areas of Hyderabad, India.

The grain market is facing substantial changes. Tradionally, cereal has been a supply-led market i.e. supply conditions have had a major impact on price level or indirectly, through market interventions implemented through the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP). Just a few years ago, Sweden and the EU were not affected so strongly by world market prices for cereals. EU was a surplus-area and to a substantial degree a local market.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine how investments are justified in the Swedish data center industry, with a focus on cooling equipment. This is achieved through semi-structured interviews with 20 different interviewees. These interviewees represent different facets of the industry and facilitate an understanding of which factors, such as: investment costs, operating costs, reliability, environmental impact and the influence of external and internal actors, come into play and to which degree they impact the investment decision-making process. The results show that primarily low operating cost in the form of low energy consumption is the driving factor when it comes to the procurement of new equipment. A lower environmental impact is a positive side-effect of lower energy consumption.