The first official Islamic bank was established in 1975. The characteristic of an Islamic bank is that the bank is based on an interest free system. The interest free system is a requirement for an Islamic bank. The Islamic bank system is based on Sharia laws which are laws that are followed by Muslims and it is based on the text from the Quran. The Islamic Banks had a rapid expansion between 1993 and 2003, the expansion was about 23 percent and since 2003 have the expansion been about 20 percent.

Sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) is a common broadleaved species throughout Europe, however often of minor interest to the forest sector. There is currently a lack of research on sycamore maple, and some of its characteristics have throughout history contributed to a negative reputation in both literature and the forest society. Since broadleaved species in general are of great importance to the forest sector in Europe and presumably of enhanced significance in the future, deepened research is needed and particularly Swedish. With a desire to hopefully increase the interest for sycamore maple, was the objective of the study to examine the current status of the sycamore stands in southern Sweden. The study was carried out both as a survey with inventory field work and as a literature study. Parts of the latter mentioned is also presented in the introduction. The study shows that the majority of the sycamore stands in Sweden are growing well, producing fairly high qualities and volumes.

It has become popular for political scientists to discuss the transformation from government to governance and the networks? greater influence on public policymaking. However, this debate lacks methodological, empirical and theoretical research about the relationship between governance networks and representative democracy. The main objective of this essay is to understand the relationship between governance networks and representative democracy through a case study of the governance network Leader Linné. The theoretical framework includes four analysis models about the relationship between governance networks and representative democracy that are analysed by five factors connected to representative democracy.

This thesis discusses the representation of bodies in todays non-fiction television in Sweden. I have chosen to focus on deviant bodies (sexual, deformed or unhealthy) on display in reality-shows and documentaries on SVT, TV4 but especially on the commercial channels TV3 and Kanal5. Also discussed are the viewers emotional and bodily reactions. Altough these shows are different from one another in many respects, I argue that there is also a common thread between them. From a sociological and cultural perspective, and with help of some historical examples, I try to illustrate how we view these shows and what their function is.

The neo-classical conception of the market place does not provide a framework to account for ethical or moral action. As a result, the neo-classical model is unable to explain the impact of ethical and moral issues on business sustainability present in the modern economy. To address this limitation, this thesis investigates whether theories of ethics can help explain the motivations and actions of stakeholders within the field of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In addition, the thesis explores whether theories of ethics are presented differently within aspects of the stakeholder model. Semi - structured interviews were conducted with various stakeholders within the CSR sector, including a NGO, a commercial firm and a CSR consultancy firm.

Och nu blir det reklamfilm - En kvalitativ innehållsanalys av de sju svenska politiska reklamfilmerna inför EU-valet 2009Seminar date: 2010-01-14Department: Media- and Communication scienceReport category: Degree project undergraduate levelAuthors: Johan Heikensten and Elin LarssonAdvisor: Kristoffer HoltPurpose: When TV4 for the first time offered advertising time to the Swedish political parties for the upcoming election of the European Parliament in 2009, a huge debate broke loose in the media. Regardless of opinions on the matter, we find it safe to say that political television commercials will have a great influence on future election campaigns in Sweden. Hence, we find it of great interest and importance to examine these seven commercials in order to look for tendencies, strategies and trends within the material. Theories: The theory chapter includes Communication, Political communication, Videostyle, Commercial strategies, Rhetoric and Semiotics. Methodology: The survey is based upon two qualitative analyses, a rhetorical analysis and a semiotic analysis.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to study if teenage fiction, published in Swedish during the course of one year, matches what boys in eight grade claim they want to read about. The background for our work is a survey initiated by Lärarnas Riksförbund, Läsa för att lära, in 2005. The conclusion drawn in Läsa för att lära is that many children, especially boys, lose their interest in reading when they become teenagers. Information on fictional books for teenagers has been collected from Bibliotekstjänst.

The first main purpose of this essay is to describe the situation of young women today here in this part of the world concerning influences from commercial media.The second purpose with this essay is to investigate if dance could be used as a tool against all these sterotyped and superficial pictures and ideals in the industy of commersial media.With some questions I also want to get closer to the answer if dancing is a way for young women to get insight knowledge. I also describe women from dance history who experienced that dance filled them up with energy but also environment where there was oppression.This essay has a gender perspective.The methods are manly based on literature studies but information is also gathered from the Internet and from one film.My results are that dance is a very constructive way to give the young woman that force which is needed when meeting media pictures everywhere. It gives her self-confidence, body awareness, joy and strength in life..

Today there is a shortage of skilled IT-technicians in Sweden. It is approximated that Swedish companies can hire 31 000 IT-technicians in 2015 and the need seems to increase in the coming years. One proposed solution to this problem is to make programming more desirable to youths. In this study we attempt to investigate the effects of an introductory course in computer science on youths? (16-17 years old) in a classroom setting.

As energy prices skyrocket and the environmental issues become more frequently debated, interest in energy-efficient buildings has increased sharply in the past decade. Because of this, the interest to achieve high air tightness in building envelopes have once again awakened, due to a good air tightness contributes to lower energy consumption in several ways and to a healthier indoor environment.As the regulations for energy consumption and controls of achieved air tightness has tightened considerably in recent years, the work regarding sheets for air tightness changed significantly for construction contractors. This thesis includes a study that aims to detect what kind of manuals, recommendations or instructions contractors working according, and how a number of randomly selected construction companies in Halland, Sweden, are dealing with the matter of high air tightness of the building envelopes. The study also includes a knowledge inventory of supervisors, site managers and skilled workers, and what their opinions and attitudes are like towards work regarding the sheets of air tightness. The results have been compared with a similar survey dated to 2004, conducted by the SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden in collaboration with Chalmers University of Technology.

Background: Recently, the Swedish food culture has expanded by leaps and bounds. Interest in food and cooking has taken more space in the Swedish welfare state. Products and icons, such as organic free range chicken or Per Moberg have had greater impact on the way we consume food. Consumers have become increasingly aware of what they should and should not be eating. With an increased interest in food, supply and distribution channels have become increasingly important for the major grocery retailers (Board of Agriculture 2011).

This essay is about integration of theoretical subjects and practical subjects at the vocational training education in a Swedish Upper secondary school. The purpose of the essay was to examine if integration of the subjects increases the students` motivation for, interest in and knowledge of the subject Swedish. Other purposes were to examine how the teachers organize their teaching of Swedish in order to adjust it to the students? interests and to examine the students? attitude towards Swedish as a subject.The essay also describes the recent development of the vocational training education of Swedish Upper secondary school and presents theories about learning and other examinations about teaching of theoretical subjects at the vocational training education.The examination carried through with a questionnaire which was distributed to the students at three programs at the school and interviews with the headmaster and two teachers. The result of the study showed that a small majority of the students believe that integration increases their motivation in and knowledge of Swedish.

Thesis purpose: The main purpose of this study is to empirically verify the applicability of Kozinets´ model on an interest, activity or lifestyle based online community, in order to develop an adaptive segmentation approach for segmenting online communities. Methodology: This research is deductive by nature, cross-sectional by design and undertakes a quantitative approach using self-completion questionnaire as a part of a web survey to collect the empirical data needed. Theoretical perspective: The main theories guiding our work and supporting the findings of this study include: market segmentation (descriptive and behavioural) and communities (consumer communities and online communities). Empirical data: A web survey with self-completion questionnaire used to gather empirical data from members of interest, activity or lifestyle based online communities. Conclusions: This study took the specific characteristics of online communities into more consideration than previous research and literature has done and also recognized that an adaptive segmentation approach is needed, depending on the communities of study.

This is a Minor field study addressing the current situation in Vientiane, Laos where focus lies on the green structures past, present and future. The city of Vientiane is growing rapidly and as a result of this there is a increasing development. The once peaceful capital known for it?s lush and green environment is standing in a crossroad where important decision must be made to preserve valuable areas. During 8 weeks inventories and observations where made resulting into a proposal for future development. The proposal is divided into three parts. The urban fringe and surrounding landscape are still quite undeveloped and have a great potential of green wedges etc. The city of Vientiane and the green network linking important recreational, commercial and cultural places. Detailed proposal over certain green objects such as parks and squares..

Previous research shows that Swedish teenagers? reading of fiction have decreased during the last decade (Skolverket 2006). As future librarians we found ourselves asking why, and an interest to look into this was triggered. The purpose of this Bachelor thesis is therefore to examine why teenagers? reading of fiction is decreasing. Focus lies on students? perception of their own reading, both inside and outside the school environment.