The sun is an endless energy source and the heat it produces can be used to heatup our homes. This technology is relatively old and was introduced in the late70-s. There are two kinds of solar collectors that are most frequently used todayand these are plain solar collectors and vacuum solar collectors. The plain solarcollectors are the once that are used the most but the vacuum solar collectorshave increased more as a percentage the last couple of years.The biggest question asked regarding an investment in solar heating is if theplant is economically profitable. This question has no direct answer because itis dependent on a couple of prerequisites.

The need for snow-free surfaces at squares, bus stops, platforms, car parks and sports facilities increases and at the same time energy price rise and the environment is becoming a hotter issue. The construction of the ground heating systems often lack thermal insulation under the heating pipes, which means that the heat from the pipes not only warm up the soil surface but also heats the surrounding soil. The insulation also has more features, by insulating the risk of frost damage is minimized. The goal of this report is to demonstrate the large heat loss and energy costs in the absence of insulation under the heating system.The report begins with a scientific way to study and treating the soil heating system uses, and the theory involved. Furthermore it also deals with different routing principles of heat pipes depending on the facility.All calculations are made with so called finite element method (FEM), in COMSOL Multiphysics 3,5a, where models are created with different conditions.

This thesis was conducted at Linköping University and SAAB Aerostructures, Linköping, and focuses on the automation of flexible fixturing in machining applications. At Linköping University a project called "Koofix" is conducted with support from Strategiska stiftelsen and several manufacturing industries including SAAB Aerostructures. The purpose of this project is to develop a more cost-effective, flexible, technique for fixation of workpieces during processing and assembly.Fixtures are an important part during the machining process, especially if you process the parts with high accuracy. Today a large number of fixtures are used at SAAB and they would prefer to reduce the number of fixtures by using flexible fixtures instead. SAAB uses one fixture for each article and this result in a high fixture cost and it also takes time to design and construct a new fixture.There are several advantages with using a flexible fixture such as that you can process workpieces with different length, height and thickness in the same fixture.

Andelen flerspråkiga barn i Sverige ökar och följdaktligen så även behovet av kunskap om deras språkutveckling. Flerspråkiga barns språkutveckling har visat sig skilja sig i viss mån från den hos enspråkiga barn och då normer för flerspråkiga barns språkutveckling saknas i logopedisk verksamhet idag finns en osäkerhet kring hur deras språkutveckling bör bedömas. Föreliggande studie ingår i det internationella forskningsnätverket COST Action IS0804 och ämnar utgöra ett litet bidrag till en växande databank om flerspråkiga barns språkutveckling, i detta fall i jämförelse med enspråkiga barns språkutveckling. Studien utgår från 100 narrativer berättade av sex- och sjuåriga enspråkiga svensktalande och flerspråkiga engelsk-svensktalande barn. Narrativerna eliciterades med hjälp av två bildsekvenser från bedömningsmaterialet MAIN och samlades in inom ramen för tre tidigare magisteruppsatser i logopedi från Uppsala universitet.

Despite the fast growing development of IP-telephony services, only a small number of people in Sweden use them. Of the total amount of fixed telephony subscriptions, maximally five percent are based on IP-technology. Through an exploratory study, the main purpose with this thesis is to identify factors that influence the use of IP-telephony on the consumer market, and the factors? internal relationships. The thesis also has two sub-purposes: firstly, chart the supply of IP-telephony services and secondly, discuss what IP-telephony services that are requested by today?s customers in the future.

Despite the fast growing development of IP-telephony services, only a small number of people in Sweden use them. Of the total amount of fixed telephony subscriptions, maximally five percent are based on IP-technology. Through an exploratory study, the main purpose with this thesis is to identify factors that influence the use of IP-telephony on the consumer market, and the factors? internal relationships. The thesis also has two sub-purposes: firstly, chart the supply of IP-telephony services and secondly, discuss what IP-telephony services that are requested by today?s customers in the future.

The past and ongoing structural change in Swedish agriculture has led to an increasing number of large-scale farms. The biological factors associated with large-scale farming operations may cause increasing variability, risk and reduced yields due to sub-optimal timing and management of field operations. The theory of economies of scale suggests that largescale production may benefit from lower costs due to scale efficiencies. Thus, large-scale farms may face cost reductions in terms of long term inputs factors, e.g. agricultural machinery.

In Sweden, harvesting pre-commercial thinning (PCT) stems for energy purposes is a interesting way of financing the high cost of preparing dense stands for a profitable first conventional thinning. This concept can be labelled bioenergy thinning. The aim of this study was to quantify the productivity of a Vimek 404R light harvester with an accumulating Naarva-Grip cutting head during the bioenergy thinning of a self-regenerated stand west of Sunnansjö in Dalarna. The stand was birch-dominated, contained 15 371 stems/ha, and measured on average 4,6 cm Dbh and 7 m tall. Even though the driver was well experienced with the machine, the stand in question was the first one that he ever thinned in this manner. Nevertheless, the driver strived to accumulate as many stems as possible during each crane cycle and chose to cut taller stems in half so as to make the handling and forwarding of the harvested stems easier.

The global wood pellet market has seen a rapid growth after the adoption of the Kyoto protocol and the renewable energy incentives created within the European Union. The global consumption of wood pellets reached 13,5 million tonnes in 2010 and several experts estimate the consumption to be between 35-50 million tonnes by 2020. These forescasts raise the questions which regions that can supply this vast amount of wood pellets and what the conditions are for producing it. This study evaluates the conditions for wood pellet production and export from British Columbia, on Canada?s west coast, focusing on existing industry structure, raw material supply and the distribution chain.

Success in treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy against different types of cancer tumors is limited by side-effects such as hearing loss which can have a large impact on the individual`s quality of life. It is of great importance to continue with studies that address this complex of problems.Objective: The aim of this literature review is to investigate the impact of platinum-based chemotherapy on hearing in children and adolescents treated for different types of cancer.Method: A descriptive review of literature was made based on sources from 15 different studies on the impact of platinum-based chemotherapy on hearing in the target group.Results: The survey of the studies shows that platinum-based chemotherapy causes incidence of hearing loss by differing degree in the target group. Dosage of a platinum-based substance appeared to be the most significant factor. Treatment with both cisplatin and carboplatin was more ototoxic than treatment with only one of these. Greater risk for hearing loss was to a higher degree observed in younger children.

Miljonprogram is a Swedish building program from 1964 to 1975. During that time about a million homes were constructed. Now, almost 50 years later, they are in desperate need of renovation. In order to fulfil the Swedish environmental objective to decrease energy consumption 50 per cent until 2050, considerable housing stock built under the Miljonprogram has to be renovated.Focus in this thesis is on the building services and theirs profitability that can decrease energy consumption in households build during the Miljonprogram. Building construction is not considered in this report.

The purpose of this study is to find out how the non-governmental shelters for battered women identify themselves in context of their dependence and cooperation with the municipality. Their legitimacy is also investigated which is based on, along with identity, key concepts of the neoinstitutional organization theory. The mutual dependency between these two actors is problematized along with the question of who is responsible for assisting the battered women, and who takes on the responsibilities for them. The empirical result that is analyzed was gathered through three qualitative semi structured interviews with employed personnel at three different battered women?s shelters in three different municipalities in Sweden.

The purpose with our thesis is to understand and explain the advantages and disadvantages there is with the self scanning system. The advantages and disadvantages we will highlight from three different angels; the store management perspective, the staff perspective and the customer perspective. These three perspectives will together form an overall perspective over the advantages and disadvantages as the self scanning system has contributed with. Finally we will highlight the differences and resemblances we have found between the perspectives.Through a qualitative approach we have gathered data to our thesis. Furthermore we have based our theory chapter and our empirical chapter on the base of Grounded Theory.

Arbetet visar praktiskt hur en organisation kan utnyttja kvalitetsbristkostnader, för att sedan utifrån dessa identifiera möjligheter till förbättring. I arbetet används identifierade kvalitetsbristkostnader för att ta fram en projektplan för motortillverkningen. Projektets resultat ska medföra att kvalitetsbristkostnaderna vid motortillverkningen minskas. Arbetet börjar med att identifiera vilka kvalitetsbristkostnader som motortillverkningen har dokumenterat. Därefter tas en enkät med öppna frågor fram, vilken behandlar kvalitetsbrister vid motortillverkningen.

A clean and affordable energy source for cooking is deficient in developing countries. People rely on fuels that contribute to environmental, social and health problems.Biogas is an alternative energy source and an increased investment in small-scale biogas production can in several developing countries be found. Several projects have started to use the technology in developing countries because of the benefits with biogas. Some cases in the establishment of biogas plants have succeeded and some have not. The study is a literature review supplemented by two field studies.