Textiles are made in an unsustainable way and there is a need to find alternative ways and material to reduce the negative impacts on the environment, humans and animals. Problems like pollution, excessive water consumption and loss of soil fertility is a result of this lack of diversity. It is a necessity to find innovative alternatives in other fabrics due to the unsustainable use of cotton and polyester fibers. As in many other countries in the Western part of the world, in Sweden there is a rapid turnover and increased selling of clothes that result in increased textile waste. About 15 kilogram of textiles (net inflow) is consumed per person each year.

The purpose with this essay is to find out how aware students are about the environment, andif they believe that their actions can influence the environment. I have used both earlierresearch and questionnaire surveys in order to fulfill the purpose. In earlier research, I haveused research based on materials that are scientific. According to the researchers it isimportant that the children and young people become involved and dedicated to theenvironment and its surrounding world. It is important to listen to the children's thoughts andvisions as they are aware about what happens, but do not reflect on the worst, but hope that itbecomes an improvement in the future.

Sparse matrices are often used in numerical algorithms that solve linear equation systems. Many methods for storing sparse matrices have been proposed and implemented during the years. These methods focus primarily on minimizing the total memory consumption and the time that it takes to store a sparse matrix. This report researches the available storage methods for sparse unstructured matrices. The formats that are researched and implemented are COO, CRS and ELL.

Embedded Systems Lab at Umeå University is currently part of a research project with the purpose to examine the behavior of dairy cows inside a barn. Each cow needs to be tracked with a precision of 50 cm, and since GPS-technique has poor functionality at indoor environments, an indoor positioning system needs to be developed.Embedded Systems Lab has already developed an indoor positioning system using IR-light and radio, but since this system demands extensive infrastructure and is rather expensive, an alternate positioning system using ultrasonic pulses and radio is being examined.In this report the range, beam angle and current consumption of ultrasonic transmitters- and receivers are investigated. Three different driver stages for the transmitter is tested, and two amplifier solutions for the receiver. The report also describes how the length of the transmitted ultrasonic pulse affects the received signal, accessibility of a ?shadowed? signal, and the effect of different sound frequency..

Women all over the world have been victims for oppression during a long period of time. One main thing they were excluded from was the possibility to educate themselves. Fortunately, the situation is different today and studies shows that there are more women applying for higher-education than men, at least in Sweden. What motivates them is unknown, but according to the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, it is always something in one?s social environment.The aim of this thesis was to examine how five female students have been motivated to apply for university and college educations, despite the fact that they are from non-academic families.

The purpose of this essay is to illustrate the ideas that have influenced parents' choice of a Christian private school and how parents justify their choices. The essay also aims to examine the expectations that parents have in the schools, as well as the pros and cons as they consider private school compared to other schools.My study is based on qualitative data collected through interviews with parents who have chosen to place one or more of their children in a specific Christian private school. Using a qualitative approach has made it possible for me to get a deeper understanding of this investigation. I have also used the previous research on this field and theoretical starting points to explain and connect to my inquiry as Maslow's hierarchy of needs and the school Weber document types and identity in a multicultural society.The study shows that parents seek to or from the public school due to various reasons. To seek out a Christian private school depends on different reasons.

This study explores the selection processes regarding fictional literature in English as asecond language education. The aim is to illustrate the relationship between the knowledgeteachers seek to pass on to their students and how the governing documents and the Westernliterary canon affect which literature that is chosen. The study uses qualitative interviews withsix teachers from different gymnasial schools in Northern Sweden. The results show thatteachers use literature as a tool for teaching grammar, lexicon, language structure and storytellingskills. In the more advanced English courses, the teachers prefer to exert more controlover which literature is read, mainly due to the fact that the governing documents specificallyrequire a presence of older, culturally established works.

The purpose of this essay is to analyze and understand how people in different ways can take on the role as carriers of brands and understand what part they play in today?s society. Brands are everywhere today and the competitions are becoming harder and harder for the customers? attention and consumption, which is why I am curious of how an individual in a company?s frontline or a celebrity can help the success of a brand. The essay is based on a qualitative method where six interviews have been performed.

At Forsmark nuclear power plant the rather old-fashioned software COPTA is used in containment safety analysis. There exists a desire within the organisation to introduce a more modern software with ability to more detailed modeling and increased usability.The goal of this thesis was to evaluate the software APROS in containment safety analysis. APROS models describing one of the containments at Forsmark NPP have been developed. Two simulations of typical containment incidents, one of them a large pipe break, have been made where containment safety parameters such as pressure and temperature are studied. Results are analyzed and verified against results from corresponding COPTA models.

Sweden has one of the best elderly cares in Europe and the Swedish care work is also one of the best in terms of quality, compared to other European countries. In recent years, higher demands have been set on the care work and the number of privatizations of public services has increased. In 2009 a new law came into force, the Act on System of Choice (LOV) which increased individual?s right to a greater participation and a free choice in the selection of health and social care providers. This paper aims to highlight the impact of the law, system of choice.

Abstract The global average temperature has increased by 0,74°C over the last 100 years. Most probably, the explanation is due to increasing use of fossil fuels and the agricultural expansion of land use. The new life stile of mankind leads to increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Food consumption contributes with approximately a quarter of the total greenhouse gas emission per person and year, why it is an important task to reduce these. The aim of this work is to quantify energy use and greenhouse gas emissions for (Swedish) herbs produced in Swedish greenhouses. The study is based on a LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) and collected data from participating companies producing herbs in pots.

Youth unemployement in Sweden is at an all-time high, a fifth of all university and college students live in poverty and the number of young on welfare is increasing. This study attempts to answer the question of how youth deprivation has been made possible as a consequence of political action, focusing on youth unemployment.I critically examine the role of the Swedish government, the Swedish Labour Organisation (LO), and the various government departments through text analysis, in order to answer the question of how the current discourse on youth position in the labor market. Because youth unemployment is not an isolated phenomena the analysis covers several policy areas, such as education policy, labor market regulation and housing policy. I use discourse theories drawn from Laclau and Mouffe to expose how language is used as an instrument of political power.I conclude that the current situation is a result of policy choices where the young have fallen behind due to lack of political organization. Their situation is not problematized to the required degree and is often explained on an individual level rather than on a structural level..

The aim of this project is to examine the needs and problems that exists amongst homeless people and to develop a solution that will help them in their everyday life. Since the homeless are a relatively large vulnerable group i Sweden, their everyday lives could be made easier in many ways.A clear definition of the target group is put together to create a good starting point. What state and help orginazations do to help the homelss and the society?s view of the homeless is also relevant and has been documented. Four personal stories have been put together to desicribe cases of clear problems existing in everyday life.Several interesting problems has been defined from the research and acceptance in the communtiy, desire to be seen and heard and a lack of confidence were the main needs.

Today every organization is committed to some kind of environmental scanning in order to get necessary knowledge of the world around them. The acquisition, organization and storage of information in combination with a strategic use, is today an important factor for a successful organisation in any sector of our society.In this Master thesis I have studied how an organisation such as The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise (Svenskt Näringsliv) handles its information resources. I have also looked at the flow of information within the organization. The Confederation of Swedish Enterprise is Sweden?s largest business federation representing 50 member organizations and 55 000 member companies.

This study is about fourteen-year-old boys, who are not interested in reading. It deals with what thoughts and feelings some boys have around books, reading and libraries. Further the study investigates the boys' leisure activities and their making of identities. The study is built on interviews among twelve boys in a secondary school. The result is compared to earlier reports and research.