Larvae of Lepidopteran Manduca sexta and Spodoptera littoralis are pests of economical importance in several horticultural and agricultural crops. Knowledge of insect feeding preferences and behavior is crucial in order to find economically and ecologically sustainable solutions to the problems caused by these herbivores. The aim of this thesis was to study the behavior and the induced feeding preferences in larvae of M. sexta and S. littoralis when reared on certain host plants. The hypothesis was that larvae of M. sexta would have an innate preference for plants of the Solanaceae family and therefore discriminate the previously experienced nonhost when faced with the choice between a true host and the previous food source.

Convective snowbands is a weather phenomenon that is associated with heavy snowfall in a limited area. They are formed over ice-free parts of e.g. the Baltic Sea when there is a cold easterly airflow over relatively warm water. These convective snowbands can cause large amounts of snow along the Swedish east coast, often causing traffic hazards. Sometimes they can even paralyze an entire community.  In this study, convective snowbands that have formed over the Baltic Sea during the period 1980-2009 are examined, in order to find out how often they occur, what place they are most common and in what month they usually appear.

The last decades the populations of wild boar (Sus scrofa) has increased rapidly over the species? entire European range, including Sweden. This is followed by increasing human-wildlife conflicts as a result of the wild boar foraging behavior, causing damage to agricultural crop fields due to trampling and feeding. To be able to minimize damage we need more knowledge of where in the fields the risk of damage is high and what features in the landscape that affect this risk. I analyzed damage distribution in relation to the distance to six different landscape features; forest, road, ditch, building, game field and bait station, in the study area, the Island Mörkö in eastern central Sweden.

The main aim of this bachelor thesis is to describe through a quantitative study the extent of support received by foster families, their opinion of the support and any areas that might need improvement. The foster families receive foster care support through a private agency. We concentrated on the following areas of support; education, health, contact with the children?s biological relatives and behavioral difficulties. These four areas have, in previous research, shown to be problematic for foster children.

The Kverneland Ecomat and The Ecomat Seeder has been tested in three different field studies. All the studies were conducted on soils with different clay content during 2005 in Säby outside Uppsala. In one of the trial spring ploughing with the Ecomat and spring ploughing and seeding with Ecomat Seeder were compared with conventional autumn mouldboard ploughing and spring mouldboard ploughing to conventional depth (22-23 cm). In this study the quality of the seedbed, the number of emerged plants and weeds, the pentration resistance and the yield were examined. Shallow spring ploughing (10 cm) with the Kverneland Ecomat has shown to be a good alternative to conventional autumn ploughing when growing spring crops. During the season 2005 tilling with the Ecomat resulted in a higher yield than conventional ploughing. In 2002-2005 the average yield for shallow spring ploughing was 4 percent higher than after conventional autumn mouldboard ploughing and 10 percent higher than after spring mouldboard ploughing to conventional depth (22-23 cm). In the other two studies, ploughing to different depth in the autumn with the Ecomat was compared with conventional mouldboard ploughing and stubble discing.

Smallholder farmers in Uganda suffer from declining productivity. With a rapidly increasing population, marginal land is taken into production and the current land management leads to loss in soil fertility and escalation in soil erosion. There are studies indicating that the use of agroforestry increases soil organic carbon (SOC) compared to systems without trees. Soils which are high in carbon have many advantages, for example better water holding capacity, which can reduce stress on crops during drought. The aim of this study was to determine the effect agroforestry has on SOC concentration in small-holder farming systems in Uganda. The intended system to study was farms practicing agroforestry methods or not in intercropped plantain (cooking banana) fields.

This diploma work covers an investigation over the heat - and hot water systems of thetenant-owner's association, Bogården. The heat - and hot water needs of Bogården aresatisfied by both district heating as well as three heat pumps. Implemented investigationshows that the heat pumps are not used in a profitable way. Apart from that, the reservepossibilities are small. There is also a risk of the growth of Legionella bacterium in thehot water system.Since the heat pumps are already installed, HSB-Gävleborg (responsible for Bogården)has a wish to investigate possible proposed actions for optimization of existing plant.After completed investigation, a new proposed action is presented.

Tylö AB is the leading manufactor of sauna cabins in Europe, but there is a lack of a sauna lightning produced by Tylö. The project of developing a new sauna lightning series was assigned two students at the developmentengineering program at Halmstad University. The main problem with lightning in the sauna is the heat and security aspect. The selection fell on LED technology as the lightning source, thanks to its small measures and low heat emission. The work of constructing of a lightning armature which the capability of cooling down the LED lightning was carried out during autumn ?06 and spring ?07.

Tylö AB is the leading manufactor of sauna cabins in Europe, but there is a lackof a sauna lightning produced by Tylö. The project of developing a new saunalightning series was assigned two students at the developmentengineeringprogram at Halmstad University. The main problem with lightning in the saunais the heat and security aspect. The selection fell on LED technology as thelightning source, thanks to its small measures and low heat emission.The work of constructing of a lightning armature which the capability of coolingdown the LED lightning was carried out during autumn ?06 and spring ?07.

Impression management (IM) handlar om enmedveten eller omedveten process att styra intrycken av sig själv som ges tillomgivningen i syfte att imponera och söka erkännande. Tidigare forskning har istor utsträckning berört anställningsrekommendation utifrån intervjuer och demest framgångsrika resultaten har visat sig vara självförbättrande IM taktik.Studiens syfte vara att undersöka hur självförbättrande IM taktik i personligtbrev, två kvalitéer av meriter, påverkar ett beslut omanställningsrekommendation, samt undersöka hur en uppsättning personliga egenskaperrelaterar till självförbättrande IM taktik. Deltagarna var studenter, 57kvinnor och 32 män. Studien var experimentell 2 x 2 x 2 mellangruppsdesign. Deviktigaste fynden var att, högre kvalité av meriter innebar högre skattning avanställningsrekommendation samt att högre skattning av egenskaper vidsjälvförbättrande IM taktik skattats.

The aim of this study is to investigate the public libraries use of their websites in their marketing. Our study is based on the websites of 60 public libraries. The libraries are chosen because of their geographical location in three different provinces? Skåne in the south, Östergötland in the middle and Norrbotten in the north. These three choices enable us to cover densely as well as thinly populated areas, the agricultural district, the woodland and cities of various sizes.

The purpose of these theses is to show the financial economical situation during the change from conventional dairy production to ecological production. The thesis is accomplished by collecting information from literature and interviews where needed. The target group of these theses is dairy producers who will transform their production from conventional dairy production to certified ecological dairy production. The theses emphasise on the economic situation during the adjustment years. For this I have studied a presently producing dairy farm.

The aim of this study was to find out how many and which of the herbs used for horses that have been scientifically studied with results to justify the use. In order to find out which herbs that are commonly used by horse-owners a phone interview was performed where six companies selling herbs for horses was contacted and asked to provide information on the most sold herbs for horses in Sweden. Devil's claw (Harpagophytum procumbens), chamomile (Matricaria recutita), dandelion (Taraxacum officinalis), nettle (Urtica dioica) and monk's pepper (Vitex agnus-castus) where the most sold herbs, followed by marshmallow (Althaea officinalis), burdock (Arctium lappa), marigold (Calendula officinalis), purple coneflower (Echinacea angustifolia/purpurea), cleavers (Galium aparine), licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra), rose hip (Rosa canina), thyme (Thymus vulgaris) and vervain (Verbena officinalis), in no particular order. Of the most used herbs, research with focus on the use for horses was found for purple coneflower, licorice, devil's claw, monk's pepper, rose hip, thyme, and vervain. These studies did not cover the whole range of traditional use for the mentioned herbs, and more studies are needed to be able to claim that these herbs have, or have not, scientific support for use in equine management..

Slopes in fine till soils are exposed to surface erosion due to rainfall, snowmelt and upland water sources. Large areas of road slopes are therefore covered for surface erosion protection. Preventive methods like ditches and trenches are also being used. Silt tills are particularly troublesome since the water can bring the soil into suspension and cause mudslides. Different methods for erosion protection have been studied in this work, with the emphasis placed on rockfill covering. The need for and the dimensioning of this type of covering has been examined in literature and field studies.

Upplands Väsby municipality has a vision that podcars in the future will become an effective alternative in public transport, with reduced car-dependency as a result. The system would also attract new inhabitants and businesses to the municipality.This report deals with various issues that podcar stations may face. Also, suggestions for possible track laying at the stations and station design are presented. Two areas are investigated. Eds allé which is a neighborhood that is planned for housing and where the station may be planned into the cityscape from the start.