Elephants are hindgut fermenters, which affects their diurnal rhythm. To reach their nutrient demands, elephants must eat almost constantly throughout the light part of the day. Sexual dimorphism may also affect their behavioral patterns. To understand the elephants' normal living habits and foraging behaviour, we conducted a pre-study in the Mara Triangle, the north-western part of the Maasai Mara National Reserve. Each of four to six observers randomly chose a focal animal within the group of elephants by the criteria that they were adults and visible.

This Master?s thesis provides insights into adult women?s fictional reading within the conceptual phrase ?a good book?. Eight qualitative and semi-structured interviews were performed in order to examine the nature of response and perceived benefits. The collected data were analyzed by Louise M. Rosenblatt?s reception-oriented transactional theory of reading and the cognitive psychology-based model of reading developed within the joint Nordic project SKRIN.

Rearing in organic pig production differs from conventional rearing; pigs have outdoor access and larger space allowances. Regardless of production system all pigs are transported before slaughter and during transport pigs are crowded together in a new environment and in a space smaller than they are used to. As pigs in organic herds are reared at even larger space allowances than conventional pigs, such crowding could possibly have a stronger impact on pig behaviour and well-being. Six pig producing herds, three conventional and three organic, were visited and pigs from each herd were enclosed during 12 minutes in a test area corresponding to the crowding on a transport vehicle. During the crowding, pigs? behaviour was observed, before and after enclosure in the test area skin lesion scores were recorded, and also measures of heart girth (for weight estimation) was done.

The purpose of this study was to explore preschool- and primary school teachers? perceptions of fairytales, why they use fairytales and what thoughts they have about the impact of fairytales on children?s reading and writing development. We interviewed seven teachers and three preschool teachers in northern Sweden to find out how work with fairytales is carried out in preschool and primary school. We also interviewed twelve pupils who were seven and eight years old to find out what they thought of fairytales in primary school. The result showed that preschool- and primary school teachers had a positive attitude towards fairytales and the opportunities provided by fairytales.

The aim of my thesis was to examine if educators need to be critical of what they read to the children from a gender perspective. I examined how picture books depict gender and if the books enhances or breaks perception of gender roles. I also examined educator?s perception of gender and if they think picture books can affect children?s perceptions of gender, but also what educators think about gender equality through picture books. The study is based on analysis of five picture books and interview with five educators.The results of analyzes showed that picture books are stereotyped and enhances perceptions of gender roles.

Transportation of pigs might be a welfare problem. Stress during and after transportation can negatively affect the meat quality or cause carcass damages, which leads to major economic losses every year. The transportation chain can be divided into several stages; loading, transport and unloading. This literature review focuses on unloading of pigs from a transport. When arriving at an abattoir pigs can be fatigued and need to be as smoothly unloaded as possible.

This Master?s thesis explores three contemporary Swedish poets? ? Lars Mikael Raattamaa, Anna Hallberg and Johan Jönson ? understanding of their work as a political activity. By using Jonathan Culler?s theory on literary competence and literary conventions as a theoretical tool for an idea analysis, the three poets' arguments for or against certain literary techniques, and their ideas about readers and reading, are explored and discussed. In what ways are established literary methods questioned by the three poets? In what ways are established theories on readers and reading questioned? In what way can their poetic work be regarded as political? As a background, the debate about poetry in Swedish newspapers and literary magazines is presented, as well as the common focus on readers and reading in social sciences and in humanities and arts.

 My goal with this essay was to find out what makes certain teachers more successful than others to hold good and well functioning classes. This is important because this in turn affects the learning of the students. I wanted to find out what factors people within the world of research have pointed out as important aspects when creating a good teaching situation, with focus laying on the teacher?s behaviour in the classroom. In my investigation I have used qualitative research, observing two upper secondary school classes, for a total of nine lessons during a two-week period. In my observations I wanted to see if the class as a whole was behaving differently when interacting with different teachers.

AbstractHerbivores can be classified into either hiders or followers depending on their postpartum behaviour. The two behaviour types affect the spatial relationship between the mother and her infant. Goats are seen as hiders, although the environment plays a central role when it comes to the behaviour. Therefore, in the first part of this study the aim was to investigate how the goat kids? spatial relationship changed in the transition from indoor housing to pasture.

This is a study of how four teachers work with pupils? early literacy learning. Interviews were conducted with two teachers who chose to use a specific method, Writing to Read (WTR), for teaching pupils to read, and with two teachers who had not chosen a specific method. The aim of the study was to compare how the teachers worked, their motives for their choice of method, and the ideas the teachers have about early literacy learning. To see whether the teachers? choice of method was related to the individualization of the teaching and their views of pupils? learning in interaction, Vygotsky?s theories about children?s learning have been used.

Bokakademin i Östergötland AB möter framtiden ? En studie av studenters köpbeteende vad gäller kurslitteratur och ett förslag på marknadsföringsstrategi för Bokakademin (Bokakademin i Östergötland AB meets the future ? A study of students? purchasing behaviour regarding textbooks and a proposal for a marketing strategy for Bokakademin)Authors: Fabian Hamnqvist and Emma SvenssonBachelor?s thesis in business administration Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, 2013 Supervisor: Mehran NoghabaiAbstractThis paper examines the competition arising from online textbook retailers met by physical college bookstores. The paper examines the implications of college students' purchasing behaviour when buying textbooks, how a specific corporate clientele is composed and the purchasing habits of these customers to the specific company in question. The company used as a practical example is a bookstore located on a university campus of Linköping University in Sweden. Data have been collected using a paper and pen survey of 200 students from Linköping University as well as conducting interviews with eight students and the Managing Director of the company in question.

The aim of this study was to explore and describe how four teachers work with literacy in preschool and grade one, ages 6 and 7. The aim was also to explore the progression of reading and writing as well as the collaboration between teachers in preschool and grade one. The study has a qualitative approach and data was collected through observations and interviews. The findings indicate that teachers in preschool have similar activities and approach to what guides the work. Regarding teachers in grade one it shows that they both are working with reading and writing in a varied way.

Several studies have shown that people misjudge and fail to correctly combine probabilities. An explanation for these tendencies is the conjunction fallacy. Basically, the conjunction fallacy refers to violations of the conjunction rule, which states that the probability of a combination of two independent events (A & B) cannot exceed the probability of neither event (A or B). In connection with the growth of the Swedish gambling market and the fact that betting is an everyday-event containing well-defined probabilities, it is considered to be both up-to-date and relevant to study whether the conjunction fallacy also occurs in betting. Previous studies have shown that people fall victims of the conjunction error, however, only in controlled laboratory settings.

5-hydroxytryptamin (5-HT) is biochemically derived from Tryptophan. Kynurenic acid and quinolinic acid are also known metabolites of tryptophan. 5-HT is considered to play a role in depression and today selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are used for treatment of depression. 5-HT may also play a role in pain perception. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a supplement of tryptophan may affect conditions such as depression and/or pain.

The aim of this study is to investigate a number of class teachers' thoughts on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) in early literacy learning. The study has been conducted as a qualitative study, interviewing five teachers with the help of an interview guide. Three central questions were posed.What perception do the teachers have about the use of ICT in their tuition?What perception do the teachers have about the pupils' literacy learning in teaching with ICT tools?What perception do the teachets have about teaching and learning by means of ICT when it comes to pupils with reading and writing difficulties/dyslexia?The overall theoretical basis of the study is Vygotskij's sociocultural theory.In conclusion, the result of the study is as follows.Most class teachers feel that the training they have undergone in ICT education was adequate, but they also call for skill development.Most teachers believe that the use of ICT tools provide opportunities to adapt their teaching to pupils' knowledge level. The teachers' opinion is that ICT in teaching is useful for pupils' progress in early literacy learning.Most teachers also believe that ICT tools in teaching can be of some help for pupils with reading and writing difficulties/dyslexia.One obstacle in helping these pupils is lack of time.Therefore, the majority of the teachers hand these pupils over to special education outside the classroom..