Fuel produced from renewable resources is of big interest. In this project the difference between a few different renewable materials are compared on the matter of environmental load when ethanol is produced. The renewable materials that are compared are Salix, straw and reed canary-grass (rörflen). The cellulose in the material is cut down to small pieces and then hydrolysed so that the sugar from the cellulose can be fermented into ethanol. Tha amount of ethanols that is studied in this work is the smount of ethanol needed to cultivate 1000 ha. The functional unit in the report is 1000 ha.

The real estate industry is a sector where the companies generally have a capital structure which is high leveraged. The financing? with the related terms ? is therefore specifically of high importance for the companies in the sector. Traditionally, the way of obtain financing is by borrowing from the bank. Lately, due to new bank regulations, the banks have become more restrictive in their lending which have lead to a growth of other financing alternatives.

The Swedish Parliament has decided to increase the share of electricity produced by wind power. The same parliament has decided that the Sami have the right to herd reindeer over 50% of the country's land area. In this literature review the potential impact wind power development and associated infrastructure may have on reindeer husbandry conditions are examined. The unique physiology of the reindeer enables it to live out of grazing in the arctic climate in the north of Sweden. For reindeer husbandry to be long-term productive and sustainable, it is important that there is enough land for grazing. The research available on how reindeer are disturbed by human activities such as roads, mines, hikers, etc., clearly indicates that the reindeer avoids areas close to such disturbance.

AbstractThe research project Liberation, supported by the European Commission under the Environment and Sustainable Development Programme (Fifth RTD Framework Programme) aimed at developing a decision support system for ecological risk assessment of contaminated sites has proposed a tiered system including the triad method. This method integrates contaminant chemistry and bioavailability analyses with observed ecotoxicological effects in soil and groundwater. In this study the triad method was used to perform a risk characterization of a former surface treatment and metal industry, now used for the student union buildings of the Mälardalen University in Eskilstuna, Sweden. On the site, high concentrations of copper, zinc and nickel have been detected in the soil in a preliminary investigation of contaminant levels with XRF. For performing the risk assessment of the site according to the triad method, contaminant bioavailability, soil metal concentrations and soil toxicity were determined and an ecological assessment was carried out on four selected soil samples (one reference soil and three samples with low (B), medium (C) and high (D) contaminant levels). Contaminant bioavailability was measured through leaching (ISO TC 190/S7) and biouptake tests (DGT).

Human capital is professional service firms' most valuable resource and its quality is closely linked to the quality of its services. The purpose of this study is to investigate how professional service firms appraise their employees. A comparative study between an architecture firm and a management consulting firm is conducted with the aim to identify and explain similarities and differences in performance appraisal. Two qualitative case studies are performed and interviews as well as documents are used to explore the area. The thesis builds on a critical perspective and it has an explorative approach.

Sweden has distinct seasons with cold winter and temperatures down to minus 25 ?C andpleasant summers with temperatures above 20 ?C. During spring and autumn there could becomechallenges with precipitation. The diverse climate in Sweden affects many homeowners. For thepeople living in leisure boats and permanent housing boats the seasonal changes are clearlyimpacting their economy and the indoor climate.

[?If we zigzag in the middle, it?s OK?] The purpose of the following study is to examine the relationship between tourism and religion in a Balinese context. We look specifically at changes in religious practice, culture and mentality, as well as how religious philosophy is used as a tool for limiting the negative impact of tourism. The methods used are semi-structured interviews and participant observations. Central themes in the following essay are globalization in the form of tourism, westernization, subsystem theory and capitalism, which also make up the theoretical framework.

Social hållbarhet är ett högaktuellt ämne. Delegationen för hållbara städer presenterade år 2012 sin slutrapport och bara ett år senare presenterade Malmökommissionen sin slutrapport för ett social hållbart Malmö. Syftet med uppsatsen är att bredda kunskapen om social konsekvensbeskrivning samt att undersöka dess potentiella effekt på social hållbarhet, eftersom det är av största vikt att hitta konkreta arbetssätt för att uppnå ökad social hållbarhet. Genom en litteraturstudie undersöks i uppsatsens första del vad begreppet social konsekvensbeskrivning har för bakgrund, varför det förespråkas, hur en metod för genomförande skulle kunna se ut samt vilka utmaningar som finns. I uppsatsens andra del studeras tre artiklar som utvärderat effekten av att utföra social konsekvensbeskrivning. Litteraturstudiet resulterar i slutsatsen att social konsekvensbeskrivning har stor effekt på social hållbarhet, på flera olika sätt. Trots att metoden medför en hel del komplexa frågor att förhålla sig till finns det därmed god anledning att utveckla arbetet med social konsekvensbeskrivning, för att vi tillsammans ska nå en mer socialt hållbar framtid..

The composition of the board of directors and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) are two widely researched subject and discussed by the media. This study aims to examine the impact of the board of directors' composition on CSR performance among the largest companies listed on Nasdaq OMX stock exchange 2008 in Stockholm, Sweden. A linear regression analysis is applied to investigate the relationship and evidence is found that board attributes have an effect on CSR performance. Among these; the size of the board, outside directors and employee representatives all have a positive impact on environmental performance. Furthermore; female, outside directors and employee representatives have a positive impact on social performance.

Gastric ulcer is a common disease among pigs in the whole world where an intensiveproduction occurs. It is mainly the upper region, the nonglandular region of the stomach thatis affected. Gastric ulceration is a disease with several risk factors. The factor that seems tohave the largest impact on the development of gastric ulceration is a small particle size of thefeed. The reported prevalence of gastric ulceration differs from 5 to 100 % and it is a largeherd-to-herd variation.

X-rays are a potential risk for animal health care personnel. The present study will examine the risks for scattered radiation to the personnel, if no lead gloves are used when holding an animal during the x-ray examination. Furthermore, how the impact of the exposure values and body parts examined, affect the scattered dose to the hands of the holder. Also, the distance between the animal and the hand that holds it was evaluated to see the impact on scattered radiation exposure. Tested by a survey, to animal health care students, the frequency of the usage of lead gloves in Swedish animal hospitals was studied. According to the results from the analysis, animal health care personnel don't need to use lead gloves every time they hold an animal or a cassette during x-ray examinations.

The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate whether or not tattoos have an impact on perceived customer satisfaction. We constructed an experiment where a service worker's physical appearance was manipulated. Our result indicates no significant impact of tattoos on customer satisfaction. However, the thesis succeeds to replicate previous findings on the links between physical attractiveness, attitude and customer satisfaction, and creates a ground for further discussion on the subject of tattoos in a professional environment..

Between 1860 and 1940 approximately 1,1 million Swedish citizens emigrated to North America. But over 200 000 of them returned to Sweden. In this essay I have tried to estimate the impact of these people on the Swedish society. To make a deeper analyze possible, I have studied the parish of Glima?kra in southern Sweden and tried to trace the immigrants? lives after their return to Sweden and thus estimate their impact on society.By statistical analysis of migrants between Sweden and USA and between the parish of Glima?kra and USA I have concluded that the result can be used as a model for Sweden on a national basis.

The aim of this study was to develop and psychometrically evaluate an instrument for measuring the impact from chronic pain on daily life. Traditionally psychometric evaluation is done with parametric methods even if the items are ordinal data. In this study the instrument to be developed is solely based on ordinal data, and the psychometrically evaluation is done with both traditional methods (i.e. parametric statistics) as well as with non-parametric methods. These two different ways of psychometrically evaluation are then compared with each other.

The numbers of natural disasters caused by extreme weather are increasing through out the world. A large majority of the research concerning the climate shows that this is a trend that can be expected to continue. At the same time the urbanisation is increasing more than ever and for the first time in history more than fifty percent of the population lives in a city. How we build these cities will have a crucial importance for our adaption to the new climate. In Sweden, our capacity for an adaption are high because of our economic situation as well as our rather well built society.