The aim of this master?s thesis is in part to investigate how pupils act and experience their information seeking in connection with a school task, and in part to identify which factors influence the information process. The essay?s theoretical framework is based upon Carol C. Kuhlthau?s model of the process of information seeking where actions, thoughts and feelings are regarded as integrated parts.

Pupil achievement and behaviour in schools was earlier seen as given by socioeconomic and biological factors. But since the late 1970s the school effectiveness research has come to give school factors a much greater role for pupils? attainments. Research has shown that schools´ pedagogical and social climate, which is to be seen as a complex product of deeply felt values and norms held by school principals and teachers and developed through practical actions, can explain variations in effectiveness between schools. Effectiveness is here to be seen as a higher mean cognitive and non cognitive student outcome than is expected with regard to initial attainment or family background.

When drivers overnight in the truck lots of electric energy is consumed by heaters, fans, lights and other extra equipment. If the engine is not running, this energy is taken from the lead/acid batteries of the truck which then needs to be recharged during operating hours. The fact that the charge acceptance of the lead/acid batteries is dependent on the temperature makes it hard to fully recharge the batteries at lower temperatures. A negative charge balance can lead to starting problems within a few days use in cold climate.In this thesis work, the effects of different battery charging concept are evaluated on the most common Scania battery (175Ah). A battery model is implemented in Matlab and some simulations of charging are made.

This study examines whether the policy breadth and the alternatives in European politics affect variations in voter turnout between member states in elections to the European Union Parliament.The theoretical approach assumes that; a larger political polarization, an increase in EU-skeptical parties and a greater voting mobilization among groups with less means results in higher voter turnout figures. The study also consider four other variables; whether the election is held on weekends or weekdays, whether elections coincide with other national elections, whether a country has held the presidential of the EU during or the immediate term prior to the election and finally the turnout figures from national elections.The research design is based upon a quantitative analysis using data from EP elections, national elections and databases from the European Elections Studies (EES). Study unit is twelve member-state countries and their four latest EP elections (1994, 1999, 2004 and 2009). The selected member-states origin from the EU-15 excluding Belgium, Greece and Luxembourg due to their compulsory voting laws.The study found relationships between higher turnout figures in EP-elections and increase in EU-skeptical parties, greater mobilization among groups with less means, elections held on weekends, elections coinciding with other, national elections and an increase in voter figures in national elections..

The aim of the study was to explore the methods used in horticultural therapy gardens in rehabilitating people suffering from fatigue syndrome. Nine horticultural therapy gardens were contacted of wich three chose to participate. Using case study as method e-mail interviews was carried out with the participants about their establishment and what kind of theories they based their methods upon. The material collected from the interviews was complemented with additional data from the establishments web pages and information pamphlets. Collected data was processed trough content analysis and then formed as background for the development of a program theory for horticultural therapy.

Leadership in organizations plays a crucial role in promoting employee motivation. Different leadership styles have been shown to affect motivation in various ways. The purpose of this report is to establish a deeper understanding of the relationship between different leadership styles and motivation according to Self-Determination Theory. The report also aims to highlight potential similarities and differences in the perceptions of leaders and employees in various industries, regarding motivation as defined by Self-Determination Theory. Based on a case study, it includes interviews with eight leaders and eight employees.

Tax revenue is crucial in order for states to survive. States vary a lot in terms of tax revenue however, and different explanations are frequently debated among political scientists. Recently, scholars have argued that the variations in tax revenue among European states today can largely be explained by their ability to collect information about the citizens and their belongings during the early modern period (1450-1800). States that were early in acquiring this information in so called cadasters, could use it in order to collect tax. This fiscal capacity thereafter sustained in a path dependent manner.

Hazel (Corylus avellana L.) is a common feature of meadows and pastures where it can grow in large populations and become very old. Is it possible to use the size of hazel stools for age determination and is it possible to use the size distribution of a population to provide information about how the land has been used? Hazel populations on ground where the lake-water level had been lowered, has been studied to validate an already developed growth model of hazel clones. Different hazel populations, on wooded meadows affected by mowing or grazing or overgrown meadows, were studied to evaluate the method utilizing hazel as land use indicator. The growth model was used to compare the size distributions of hazel populations with historical periods, which has been important for changes in agriculture or demography.

Multiple factors are involved in control of beef sensory quality so great variation can be induced. The perception of meat quality can be affected anywhere in the product chain. Both the environment and the set of genes of the animals have an effect on the final output. A problem facing the beef industry today is the significant variations in meat quality between individual animals, which is reflected in the uneven quality of the meat that reaches the consumer. If the quality of meat in stores varies significantly over time, the consumers? trust may decrease.

Today, pigs are moved on farm, between farms, between countries and to abattoirs. This movement of live pigs requires handling practices that are designed for the purpose. The objective of this study was to research the use of paddle in moving pigs, to investigate if there were different methods of paddle practice, explore the time efficiency of different kinds of paddle use and if there were any time variations in methods that varied in intensity of touch. This study was done on two Swedish abattoirs for a total of five weeks. A total of 22 transporters working at two different abattoirs where studied during unloading of pigs at the abattoirs.

The world is in a stage of climate crisis where the average temperature is rising, with consequences such as, melting ice sheets, increasing sea levels, and floods. The climate panel of the UN, IPCC, has stated that this is a reaction of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases. The most important gas is carbon dioxide, which contributes with 80 per cent to the on going climate crisis.The increasing emissions of carbon dioxide are connected to human consumption patterns. This puts pressure on the earth, as humans demand more and more resources. Today the earth needs one and a half year to regenerate the resources humans? demand of it, by the year 2030 we will need two planets in order to cope with this increasing demand of resources.At a global level it is established that richer countries have a stronger consumption pattern than poorer, and thus generate higher levels of carbon dioxide emissions.

The use of information technology (IT) is exploding. Today, it is in our daily routines to use some kind of information technology. The increase of users increases the number of cyber crimes, ie, crimes that in some way involve IT. As the cyber crimes grow in numbers, the workload for technical investigator increases, these are called digital crime investigators. The thesis is about how police digital crime investigators work and what problems they may encounter during an investigation.

The interest in tiny wireless applications raises the demand for an integrated reference oscillator with the same performance as the macroscopic quartz crystal reference oscillators. The main challenge of the thesis is to prove that it is possible to build a MEMS based oscillator that approaches the accuracy level of existing quartz crystal oscillators. The MEMS resonator samples which Philips provides are measured and an equivalent electrical model is designed for them. This model is used in the simulations of the Pierce oscillator and the transresistance amplifier oscillator that are evaluated in this thesis. Finally the Pierce oscillator is implemented in the A BCD2 process and manufactured at Philips Semiconductors in Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

This thesis analyses how the European Unions institutions deal with the issue of illegal and harmful content on the Internet in key documents presented during the period 19961999. Particular attention is attached to content where the legal status is determined in relation to the user and to content that is legal, but characterized as harmful and entailing a need for special protective measures. The theoretical and methodological approach draws on discourse theory as formulated by Laclau and Mouffe. The thesis studies how the problem is represented in key documents from the European Commission, the Council of the European Union, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, with particular regard to the discourse on harmfulness, the child and Europe. The findings are that the overall discourse has shifted focus over time, from an emphasis on the protection of minors toward a more market-oriented discourse stressing the importance of protecting the competitiveness of the European economy.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to examine the theories and visions of five futuristic projects at children's libraries in Sweden and Denmark to investigate if these projects have approaches that are significantly different from today's best practices of the libraries and the current theories behind the children's sections.More specific questions are also asked:Are the projects taking advantage of the children's perspective or is it the adult vision of children's needs that is governing?Are the projects promoting collaborations with other actors, thereby facilitating a future development of the children's library by others than librarians?The comparisons reveal that new methods and tools are beeing developed, while the traditional ambitions and views on children and children's needs are essentially unchanged. The role of the library as a social room and meeting place has increased, while its role as a place for finding and transferring information has been challenged by Internet and home computers. The library can still compete as a public place offering relevant contents and assistance by attentive, well-educated adults.In conclusion, the futuristic projects are expected to promote greater variations between children's libraries, by presenting literature, media and information in many different and more innovative ways. Such greater diversity and multiplicity would allow the libraries to market themselves with a clearer message in order to compete with other (commercial) activities for children..