The use of digital devices are widely spread among us. Children have an iPad in their hands before they learn how to talk and we bet you look at your smartphone more times a day then you would like to admit? Interaction through these devices have become so natural in our daily life that we get confused when a retailer does not offer a website or an app. The habit of searching for information in the most accessible channel and buying in the one that offers the benefit of convenience, and of course, saves you money and time, is a common way of shopping these days. This is referred to as multi-channel shopping.

The purpose of this master's thesis is to examine children's communication and interaction during story time at the public library. The aim is also to examine how to develop the story time ? in terms of participation and equality ? at a specific library.Action research was used as a research strategy and participant observation, log, tutoring and interviews as methods to collect data. Since action research is done on the basis of practice, a significant collaboration with the librarian and the participant children is taking place within this study.Research from the fields of Library and Information Science, Education and Childhood Sociology form the interdisciplinary research area to which this study links. The theoretical framework consists of theory and concepts from the Socio-cultural Perspective, Poststrucuralist Feminism and Childhood Sociology.

Products and services have for a long time competed with their brands. For some time now, cities have begun to compete with each other to attract visitors and other stakeholders to come to their town. It is important that the citizens feel as they are a part of the message that the city sends out in its communication.Cities are today working actively with their brands, much like regular companies, in order to create the profile and image in order to be competitive against other cities and places. Cities and places are part of a dynamic process which includes both positive and negative events. These events might have an impact on the brands, and therefore it is a necessity to be able to react on these events to make the most of positive things and deal with the negative in a way that minimizes the effects on the brand.Citybranding as a research field is quite new.

This master thesis has been performed at Solvina in Gothenburg for Skellefteå Kraftand Vattenfall Eldistribution. The aim of it is to investigate the consequences of theinstallation of a wind power plant on the mountain Uljabuouda in the vicinity ofArjeplog. Especially the impacts on voltage and transient stability are examined.Furthermore, the amount of extra strain on the voltage regulation equipment and theneeds for increased regulation capabilities are looked into.The wind power plant is planned to be built by Skellefteå Kraft and connected to a130 kV grid owned by Vattenfall Eldistribution. The work comprehends the followingmain parts:- Theoretical studies aimed at wind turbines and power system stability issues.- Modelling of the type of wind turbines assumed to be built on Uljabuouda.- Simulations of different operation cases and analysis of the simulation results.The results from the simulations show that, as far as voltage stability and extraworkload on tap-changers are concerned, the wind power plant does not, in anysignificant manner, worsen the present conditions. The problem of overloading theline between Arvidsjaur and Vargfors is also minor.

The dairy market will change importantly in the coming years. The quota system, which has regulated the European dairy production, will disappear in 2015 and the European dairy market will then be importantly affected by the volatility characterizing the dynamic of world prices. Besides this, the global demand of dairy products is expected to increase due to the growing world population. Farmers in countries such as the U.S. and New Zealand, when compared to Swedish farmers, show greater familiarity and experience with risk management tools.

Piled friction soil show a set-up which is increasing with the time after installation. The cost could be reduced if the set-up had been taken into account when designing but in Sweden it is very unusual to do that. Previous studies showed that set-up can vary between 25 % and 75 % during the first 90 days after pile installation. This showed that the effect of the phenomenon is difficult to predict. A study involving five projects have been carried out by specifying certain parameters like pile type, method for pile installation and test method for measure the bearing capacity in friction soils located in Sweden.

The Telecom industry is facing a paradigm shift, where the industry is converging with Internet technologies and the market is becoming more sophisticated. This results in more demanding customers, and the need for offering more content and services with a focus on usability for the end-users. The operators are starting to loose both their strong position and revenue in the Telecom industry, due to new technology and the fact that other actors are starting to enter the market, offering new content and services. In the end, the operators have two choices, to become bit-pipe providers, and only focusing on network management, or keeping the control over their networks. The latter would mean that they block other actors who are taking parts of their revenue, e.g.

The number of inhabitants of the towns and city centers have generelly increased, concurrent as the population in smaller towns has decreased. In Stockholm, the migration is very fast and here is also the most populous place, if one compares with other Sweden. In order to respond to the increasing population and the pressure they put on city spaces has Stockholm's town a town building strategy that says "build inwards". It means that one stem seals the town with spaces and business activities in central locations. The increased population in the towns and the densification of buildings leads however to an increased pressure on parks and public places.

Temporary architecture is an alternative urban planning concept which has been adapted in many cities worldwide during the last decade. There is however no common definition for temporary architecture and it is diversely labelled and applied. In 2013 it also became publicly introduced in Stockholm via the approval of the city's first architectural guideline. Temporary architecture is presented in the guideline as a potential tool for exploring public spaces among other architecture related themes. The ideas for temporary architecture are ambitious and promising. The problem is that they are vague and leaves questions regarding performance unanswered.

SUMMARYThe riding school horse is the base for the riding school. Riding schools are looking for a suitable horse that meets their demands for exterior, age, education, temperament, price and sustainability. Many different aspects may define the sustainability of the riding school horse; of them is how long life the riding school horse has in riding school activity. Previous studies have shown that the riding schools requirements are 8-12 years life span in the riding school.The purpose of this study was to describe the Swedish riding school horse life span in riding schools and at what age the riding school horses were recruited, disposed and the reasons for disposal. Information about the riding school horse life span in riding schools and reasons for disposal can provide important understanding regarding the importance of health for the riding school horse, riding school economy and profitability in the riding school.

This thesis applies to a novel steam expander, one part of a steam engine system, a wobble plateengine. The piston in the expander moves axially with the outgoing rotating shaft and is locatedon a plate, why the engine type is called axial engine. When steam is applied to the plungers theplate wobbles creating a rotation on the shaft going thru the wobble plate. The steam expander issupposed to be used in exhaust gas recovery (bottoming cycle) applications and small scaleenergy production. The commissioner is Ranotor Utveckling AB.

This essay explores the economical and social paradigms surrounding one of the most influentialNordic border dynastic noble families in the second half of the fifteenth century - the AxelssonTotts. How mercantile possibilities and opportunities offered to them, reflected on their politicalactions and social bands. The Axelsson brothers of the Tott Dynasty would become of one of themost powerful noble families within the Nordic Union between 1444 och 1487.Axel Pedersen (Tott) would through well chosen marriage alliances into the noble families of bothDenmark and Sweden, and with political prowess lay the foundation for one of the most dynamicfamily empires of the fifteenth century. In the year 1442, the Axelsson brothers swore loyalty toeach other; to protect and defend their mercantile and economical interests in Denmark andSweden. They would eventually control the trading routes in the border areas of the Union, and byexploiting the political chaos within the Union they would gain access and influence to the landtrading routes for export and import within the Union and the shipping export routes in the BalticSea allowing them access to the Russian market through Finland and Estonia.The island of Gotland, with its tactical and important geographical position in the Baltic Seabecame the key to the Nordic Union.

Actors deliberately change their preferences, contrary to the assumptions of rational decision models. This study shows why, and to some extent how. Preferences are necessarily ambiguous and unstable. Rationality is a regulating myth which has had a profound influence on Western conceptions of what an actor is.The aim of this study is to help individual actors understand the theoretical grounds of their actions. The analysis provides tools for examining decision methods and preference changes.

In order to increase the independence in everyday life of the elderly population, we have developed a lifting aid for loading in the private car trunk. Independence from outside assistance affects self-esteem in a positive direction and can help increase the quality of life for a large group of individuals. As people age and experience changes in performance, it is important that aids and support is available, particularly to reduce the experience of aging and it?s increasing physical limitations. The aim was to develop a function prototype characterized by simplicity, which facilitates loading of the private cartrunk.The project was conducted at the request of Autoadapt AB, which is one of the leadingactors in car adaptations for individuals with disablilities.

Abstract: This study is focused on blogging from the perspective of the individual. Weinvestigate why one uses the weblog format, functions on the blog that are seen to work asdriving forces, attitudes towards self-disclosure and anonymity on the weblog and how therelation between an online- and offline-identity is interpreted by the bloggers themselves, forexample to what extent it is possible to get to know the blogger by reading the weblog.Finally, we investigate the weblog-readers meaning to the blogger, as well as their possibleimpact on both his or her personal blog-content and the everyday-life.The empirical material consists of half-structured interviews via MSN Messengerwith nine informants, being bloggers found on the Swedish website bloggportalen.se. Thetheoretical framework behind the interview guide focuses on the identity concept, containingidentity theories in psychological and sociological perspectives, symbolic interactionismconcerning the concept of roles, as well as Bauman?s liquid theory on postmodern societytendencies. This material is further included in related previous research articles, derived fromboth international and Swedish databases.