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.

Detta är studie över Försvarsmaktens arbete med mångfald och jämställdhet. Syftet är att ta reda på varför kvinnor påbörjar deras antagningsprocess, men sedan väljer att inte fullfölja den. Detta är en problematik som Försvarsmakten har och de arbetar med att försöka få in fler kvinnor i organisationen. Deras mål är att kunna ta bättre beslut ur ett mångfaldigt perspektiv och därmed nå hög effekt. Data samlades in med hjälp av semistrukturerade intervjuer, både personliga och via telefon. Först utfördes en personlig intervju med vår kontaktperson på Försvarsmakten, därefter en telefonintervju med en person som arbetar med ett projekt för att få kontakt med kvinnor som påbörjat deras antagningsprocess.

This "cross-culture" study deals entirely on awareness and attitudes among Kenyan andSwedish teachers in terms of gender equality. Parts of this study were conducted in Kenya,where I spent a month living and visited a school in a multi-million city. There, I conductedsemi-structured interviews with teachers and gathered material for my thesis. The purpose ofthis study is to see how teachers in Kenya relate to gender and then compare this withSwedish teachers. The study also includes a review of national policy documents for schoolregarding gender equality.

Purpose: The essay was designed to examine what impact an increased media concentration in the provincial press may have on the society in the future. I also had the intention to create a greater understanding of the concept of media concentration and how the media groups relate to the public interest. Method: The work with this study was conducted by using methods from the qualitative methodological arsenal through interviews with, for the study, relevant informants, but also through a case report on the Stampen Group. The selection of informants had a background and a breadth which secured the credibility in this survey. The starting point was taken in previous research via a deductive approach where I tested how existing theories match reality. Conclusion: After completing this study should be noted that all respondents believe we will see a greater concentration of ownership in the Swedish media market in the future, and that it will reduce diversity. However, there are steps to take which I believe can work well in theory but perhaps not always in practice.

From policy to practice - a study of textile companies view about challenges with implementing CSR policies examine the textile companies awareness of which challenges there are with the implementation of codes of conduct in a global supply chain, as well as to analyze how the companies deal with the challenges. With increased globalization many companies have chosen to outsource entire or parts of the production in various developing and newly industrialized countries. However, the working conditions in these countries do not always fulfill the labor standards that are defined in various conventions. The society began demanding companies to take social responsibility. The social responsibility goes under the term Corporate social responsibility (CSR).

To contribute to understanding of how Thai cultural context affects the leadership of expatriates in management positions. Instead of modifying the leadership styles to fit the local (Thai) context, the expatriates tried to push and influence their culture and leadership styles to Thai employees..

The primary purpose of this thesis is to investigate the operation of membership criteria, which are applied against countries that wish to join the European Union (EU). More specifically, the importance of some criteria in comparison to others is considered. To answer this proposal, three questions are posed: What are the EU membership criteria? Are some criteria more important than other criteria? Does the EU treat candidate countries differently in applying the membership criteria? Three countries are used in this analysis, each country representing one recent enlargement round: Poland (2004), Romania (2007), and current candidate country Turkey. Both official documents, such as EU treaties, and unofficial documents such as statements from EU leaders are used to analyze the application of membership criteria.

Forestry has three main aspects to take into consideration today; economical, ecological and socio-cultural. In order to reach the broad policy goals for sustainable forest management, an increased variety of management approaches are requested. Today clear-cutting is the only method used in 96 % of the managed forests in Sweden. The Swedish National Board of Forestry has therefore initiated a project in order to investigate and develop Continuous Cover Forestry (CFF). This study is a part of this project.

The traditional lawn is believed to be facing a dilemma. On one hand, it is valuable for people because of its esthetical and functional values. On the other hand, the lawn is perceived as a monoculture without biological diversity that hinders the domestic landscape?s flora and fauna. In this graduation-thesis, the private and public lawn?s dilemma of ?to be or not to be?, is examined from these two different perspectives.

The purpose of this study is to examine young peoples' perception of their media criticial competence in relation to digital news. The study is based on quantitative research interviews with young people (15-17 years) and qualitative interviews with people in the same age group as well as teachers and international media professionals.This study's theoretical point of departure is McQuail´s observation that peoples' values and views to a great extent are influenced by the media. Another source of theoretical inspiration was Haberman's ideas about how a diversity of views and arguments increase the citizens' ability to reflect critically on social developments - maybe even more so than in societies with  independent media and "neutral" news.The study shows that the young generation of web based news consumers assumes that it is very important to be an aware and critical consumer but also that they do not feel sufficiently equipped with the right tools required to understand the long-term impact and effect of the media reporting online. Young people basically seemed to acquire their knowledge about media by doing and learning on their own. Surprisingly, according to the young people that were interviewed for this project, the schools seemed to play a secondary role in the development of their media critical capacity.

The study analyses the planning of the Edsvik Konsthall in Sollentuna and the first 14 years after the opening 1996 until late 2010. The study focused on the cultural discourses that have influenced the Edsvik as result of the choice of managers, the public figures and actions taken by different actors around the art gallery.The influence by different actors is analyzed in the art field terminology defined by Pierre Bourdieu.I have demonstrated how the head of Edsvik Konsthall, because of different social capital and habitus, raised different types of conflicts on the local art field.  .

The purpose of this study is to examine the popular cultural form of television within the field of gender studies. The study focuses on the representation of masculinities in the American television series The O.C. This is done by using textual analysis to gain information from the first and the second season of The O.C. The theoretical framework used is based on Judith Butler and R.W. Connell.

This study concerns unaccompanied refugee children and their experiences of living in Sweden and also their thoughts about identity and security. The aim of this study was to find a deeper understanding of these children?s situation. We formulated three research questions in order to obtain this deeper understanding:? What experiences do the informants have of living in Sweden?? What are the informants? views of their identity in their new life situation?? What is security to the informants?This is a qualitative study based on six semi-structured interviews with six youths whom have come to Sweden as unaccompanied refugee children.

”Fan fiction writing”, or the writing of stories based upon a popular entertainment franchise, has become a topic of academic discussion. Fan fiction writers have waked the ire of movie producers, since they often write fiction that is in direct contradiction to the movie’s plot or spirit. While most academic studies on fan fiction have concentrated on his confrontational aspect of the writers’ psyches, we have found that the writers actually have a much more nuanced approach to their work, and are not necessarily hostile towards the directors and producers. Even more surprising is the fact that the internet, beyond giving the writers a forum to post their writings, has potentially had a transformative impact on how the writers interact with each other and with the outside world. .

 Bakgrund: I ett alltmer mångkulturellt samhälle blir det märkbart hur förutsättningarna för en god hälsa skiljer sig mellan olika samhällsgrupper. Hälso- och sjukvården har som uppgift att främja hälsan hos alla patienter oavsett bakgrund. Detta ställer nya krav på den svenska sjukvården, då en mångkulturell utveckling leder till fler transkulturella möten i vården. Dessa möten innehåller ofta hinder som kan vara svåra att överbrygga, vilket kräver en kunskap om vilka faktorer som påverkar mötet och en medvetenhet om kulturens betydelse hos sjuksköterskan. Syfte: Syftet med studien var att utifrån ett sjuksköterskeperspektiv belysa de faktorer som påverkar vårdrelationen i transkulturella möten. Metod: En litteraturstudie baserad på 13 vetenskapliga artiklar var av nio kvalitativa och fyra kvantitativa. Resultatet analyserades och sammanställdes genom ett kvalitativt analysinnehåll.  Som teoretiska utgångspunkter användes en definition av kulturell kompetens och vårdrelation. Resultat: Resultatet visar att kommunikation och språkbarriärer utgör det största hindret i den transkulturella omvårdnaden.