This Master's thesis examines some aspects of children's books for 9-12 year olds, and the children's books market, from a gender perspective. The main objective is to make a gender analysis of attitudes among children and other agents in the book market towards children's books of different qualities. Children's reflections on gender roles in the books and the importance of gender aspects for publishers in the field, are investigated. A combination of methods are used, including literary analyses, surveys of publication lists of the BTJ group Bibliotekstjänst interviews with children and questionnaires sent to children as well as to Swedish publishers of children's books. The analysis of children's books clearly shows that images of gender roles vary in different kinds of books which supports theories of gendered literature.

Biogas is a renewable fuel that can be extracted from anaerobic digestion of many differentsubstrates, for example biological household waste. An alternative handling of the waste is tomix it with other wastes and incinerate it in a combined heat and power (CHP) plant. Thisstudy uses life cycle assessment to investigate which type of waste handling that is betterfrom an environmental point of view, anaerobic digestion with biogas production orincineration. The results are based on a case study of a biogas production plant owned by thecompany Ragn-Sells in Vänersborg. The alternative is incineration at a CHP plant inGothenburg.

This thesis describes the new construction of a small house and it includes studies of three heating systems: geothermal heating, district heating and pellet. The purpose of this thesis is to project a small house which can manage Building Regulations, BBR conditions and then examine three possible heating systems for the small house. This thesis is a literature study which gives an understanding of the heating systems technical structure, properties and costs. An empirical study completes the literature study by giving a deeper understanding of district heating costs and pellet costs. The empirical study contains two interviews, one of which was conducted in a district heating corporation and the other interview was conducted in a pellet corporation.

In the light of the criticism from the Swedish Consumers? Association towards the actions of modern fund managers on the Swedish Sustainable and Responsible Investment (SRI) market, discussions of change has increased. The reasons underlying a change and communication process are scarcely focused on. Thus, grounded on theories in the fields of Critical Management Studies (CSR), Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), change and communication, this study analyses how a change of implementing revised SRI communication is carried out at Handelsbanken Asset Management, existing motives for the change in communication, and how key actors can affect the process. A participant observation and in-depth interviews were carried out enfolding a discussion that contributed with a critical analysis and discussion, concluding external motives to be dominant and that key actors of the change process are influential to a various extent.

Driving simulators are a very important part of the research that is done at VTI. Enhancing the realism and creating a better driving experience in the simulators are very important and an ongoing work process for the engineers and researchers who work with the simulators. This project has been done as a part of this developing process and the purpose is to enhance the realism of the rear-view mirrors.Simulating realistic rear-view mirrors has been demanded, not only from the researchers at VTI, but also from car and truck manufacturers. To achieve a realistic mirror view a method to measure and parameterize real mirrors has been developed. The code for the existing graphics system has also been redone to be able to handle the new types of mirrors introduced..

This thesis attempts to describe the application of variation theory, as developed by Ference Marton, at a Swedish primary school, intermediate level. The aim of the thesis was to investigate some aspects of a learning process. The students were introduced with the theme of ?sustainable ecological development?. This included theoretical and practical knowledge of the art of sustainable living.

Handling product returns has become a critical activity for organizations as the volume of gods flowing back through the supply chain rapidly increases. Few research studies have published specific empirical data concerning the reverse logistics practices of companies. Information technology and information support has long been recognized as a competitive weapon ? capable of enhancing company performance and achieving efficient reverse logistics. Reverse logistics is very unlike the forward, as it is more reactive and also has less visibility.

The average life expectancy and the proportion of elderly are increasing globally and inSweden, causing challenges for the society. Physical activity has proven to bring a number ofpositive benefits in older people, making the promotion of physical activity an important partof healthy aging attempts. The degree of physical activity in Sweden?s elderly population isgreater than in previous generations, making this group a positive exception from a widerperspective. A cross sectional study was made in order to investigate which motives tophysical activity that was considered most important among people above 60.

Skillingaryds stålrörsindustri AB handles different kinds of steel pipes and got theirmarket mainly in the furniture industry and in department stores. At the momentthe company find themselves in a strong up going course. In a few years thecompany?s turnover has increased with over 10 million SEK. This has led to ademand for structure changes and reorganizing through the company.

The aimof this study is to contribute furthermore to understand the complexity of theprocess of learning to read and write in an inclusive environment. It focus on the syllableinstead of the phoneme as a unit in this process which is not the most common way ofdoing it. The report is based on a qualitative analysis of this task in pre-school and gradeone at a primary school in a small municipality.In the result, I have found, that the very structured working process and the diagnosticapproach helps the teachers to understand on what level pupils are at. The pupils whostart working this way in pre-school, feel safe knowing what is expecting from them andthey also learn from each other. All pupils in grade one have, before w 45 in autumnterm, very good letter knowledge and have learnt how to read words with two syllableswith a consonant-wovel-structure.

The aim of this paper is to examine the experience of two Swedish women who survived the tsunami catastrophe in Thailand 2004. Through their biographies, Sävstam and Ernsth-Ohlsson have revealed their experiences, before, during and after the tsunami catastrophe. Coping theory is used to explain how they cope with the consequences of the tsunami catastrophe, and how culture affects the coping process. Pargament´s (1997) theories in coping are used to examine this paper. Pargament argues that the coping process is influenced by the culture context of the individual.

Arbetet har utförts på ABB i Ludvika med avsikt att förbättra revisionsprocessenför kontroll och skydd. En revision är en ändring på ett godkänt och klarmarkeratobjekt. Då objektet i fråga redan kan vara levererat till kund och man behöver göraen ändring krävs en strukturerad process för att utföra denna ändring. Processen föratt göra detta är i dagsläget komplicerad och kräver en hel del administrativt arbete.Processen använder sig utav ett antal program för lagring och databaser så som,Lotus Notes, HiDraw Studio, och HiDra32.Avdelningen för kontroll och skydd är i fasen att övergå till ett annat elCADsystem, Engineering Base. Detta är också en av anledningarna att man önskar en nyprocess för revisionshantering.Arbetet bestod till en början av inlärning av den dåvarande processen.

My thesis is an attempt to clarify the purpose and workings of art in relation to the artist, his/her fellows and society. Can art be considered as a uniting force? If so, where does its unifying quality lie? How does art connect with the individual, the community and society? My interpretation of the political climate regarding the arts has resulted in an exploration of the question: What role does art have in society today?The artistic ego as an altruism ? within the title of this thesis lies an absolute paradox ? a paradox that through this paper is tested, reviewed and demonstrated as a way of describing art and its workings. The thesis is problematized and studied from several angles: Through the inner artistic process, both reflective and empirical, and through philosophical studies..

The requirements for wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are gradually increasing, partly because of higher incoming loads, which in turn require a more efficient treatment process. In parallel with environmental and economic goals there are also desires to lower energy consumption without compromising the wastewater treatment. Furthermore, there is a demand on WWTP´s to alter eutrophication in aquatic systems through better nitrogen and phosphorus removal. An increasing number of WWTP´s have acquired biological nitrogen and phos-phorus removal. A by-product of this type of biological treatment is the formation of nitrous oxide, which is a potent greenhouse gas.

The aim with this thesis is to study the risk management in construction projects at the Swedish Road Administration, SRA. Furthermore, the aim is to find the effects of the risk management. The theorem of this thesis is that the positive effects of the risk management in construction projects create additional value to the project. These additional values are that the project itself becomes resilient and that the project goals are achieved without any significant disturbances.This thesis shows that the risk management in construction projects do not follow the guidelines set out by the SRA. This is due to a lack of education in the method and a difficult method all together.