The castration of piglets is performed routinely all around the world. Most castrations are done without anaesthesia and analgesia, despite the fact that this procedure has been proved to induce acute pain and stress for the piglets. The procedure regarding castration of piglets is currently a hot topic of debate and an important political issue. The underlying issue is the boar taint which are highlighted in the heating of the meat after slaughter, which in turn can lead to reduced meat sales as it can be perceived as unpleasant for many consumers. The purpose of this study is to examine alternative drugs which may be selected in order to replace the practice of castration of piglets without anaesthesia, in light of improved animal welfare.

The purpose of this study is to examine pupils´ experiences from getting grades in upper secondary education for pupils with learning disabilities and which impact this has on these pupils how they form and get formed as schoolchildren. Four pupils in upper secondary education for pupils with learning disabilities in a Swedish community have participated in qualitative semi-structured interviews. All analysis that has been made has focused on these pupils´ stories about getting grades. I have asked openly formulated questions so that the pupils themselves have had the possibility to highlight those experiences that they want to share.Three categories that I have used, with starting point from the questions in this study, to analyze the answers in the interview material is how the pupils talk about the bases for grading, the pupils´ self-awareness when they talk about their own grades and the pupils´ view when they talk about the importance of grades. The theoretical base of the study is policy enactment.One conclusion of this study is that both teachers and pupils in upper secondary education for pupils with learning disabilities often is based on other factors than what different policy documents says about what should be the ground for teachers grading.

There are numerous of ideas and theories around the present development in our global society, describing an ever changing era based and propelled by information and communication technology (ICT). How influential has this development been on political visions and intentions and on the business worlds views on important competencies? The purpose of this thesis is to describe the national and international visions of important competencies in the ?information society?. Through a case study, focused on how the training and consultancy industry apprehends and answer to this change and development, as they often act as agents for new trends in the business world both as accommodators and originators. The growth and speed of the universally available information demands knowhow in seeking, analyzing and managing information, and this competence is crucial today.

The furniture retail industry in Sweden has gone trough large changes during the last decades. Today the industry is tough and in the maturity stage where few new companies enter, especially if they do not have a unique offer. The furniture companies have become larger and fewer, the changes have lead to difficulties for smaller and medium sized companies to grow and be profitable.Our purpose is to analyse, evaluate and compare three smaller companies in Stockholm with the intention to find what kind of marketing strategies they are using to survive on the Swedish market. First we interviewed the three companies to see what they do to survive on the market, then we asked 100 persons to fill in a questionnaire to see if they had the same opinion as the companies described.With help from theories we prepared questions which laid the foundation to the empirical part of the essay.The result from this study shows that the three companies differ from each other when it comes to using relationship marketing and placing the customer in the centre. All of them are aware of the importance of doing so, but because of different limits and possibilities they can not fully adjust everything to the customer.

Theoretical framework: The Theory of Human Caring by Jean Watson was used as a theoretical framework.Aim: The aim of this literature review was to describe the attitude of nursing patients who go through an induced abortion, from a nurse perspective.Method: This literature review is based on a sample of nine qualitative and quantitative studies, collected in the databases Cinahl, PubMed and PsycInfo. The qualities of the studies were assessed through modified templates. Analysis of the results from the studies was inspired of a content analysis.Findings: The nurses experienced their work as meaningful since they give support to the patient. The nurses felt that their work was justified when the decision to have an abortion was well thought through and they felt respect towards the patient when they were aware of the patient?s circumstances.

The children's ways of showing interest in writing and reading in pre-school have always fascinated me. The joy and pride they show when they start writing their own doodles and then eventually go on to write real letters and words, is a joy so see.The origin of this essay is based on Dante 3.5 years old. He wants me to spell my name so he can write to me. When I mention the second letter, Dante happily says "E, that's what my name starts with! From the other direction" I am amazed by his thoughts, and my enthusiasm for his knowledge knows no bounds. In the same moment I become aware of Alma, who quietly has seen my reaction to Dante's skills.

This master thesis is based on the sociocultural perspective. A qualitative research study was conducted to investigate children's attitudes towards reading, texts and libraries.The theoretical background is constituted by ideas from the new sociology of childhood, literacy-studies and reader-response theory.The study was conducted with 23 children, 13 girls and 10 boys, participating in focus groups.The results of the study reveal that children's literacy-activities in school are strongly influenced and limited by adults. Children's interest in pictures and non-fiction-reading do not correspond to the school institution that favors traditional media and fiction. The study also reveals a gender division between children's literacy-activities that tends to grow with age. All the children in the study regard libraries as book-houses and wished for libraries that combine activity and serenity.The thesis shows the importance of being aware of, and engage in, children's reading-interests and reading-practices if the reading stimulating activities in schools and libraries are to be successful.

Internet and information technology today has a rather obvious role in the activities of companies and organizations. All cash transactions within and between companies is digitized, communication within the company is done via e-mail, sales and marketing is done largely with marketing and ads on the Internet. This has resulted in economic benefits for companies and organizations, and facilitated the work for them. However, this has also led to new threats have emerged. Companies and organizations is well aware that there are numerous threats that comes with using the Internet and Information Technologies but exactly what those threats are for a mid-sized company in Sweden is not clarified anywhere.

This is an essay about journalism and the ethical norms of journalism. Four famous cases have been analyzed; Watergate, News of the World, Joy Rahman and Bill Clinton. When analyzing we used the theories of Denis McQuail and the ethical guidelines of the Swedish Journalist Association. We have also used the ideas of utilitarianism to analyze the chosen cases.We aimed to analyze the roles of the journalists involved and found that the ethical norms are customizable to each and every case. In the Watergate-case the journalists act somewhat in contrast to the ethical guidelines but do so in order to favor the public, which makes it approvable.

This essay is based on a qualitative study of Swedish high school students? discussions of rape. We have a socialconstructive perspective and use theories of gender and power. The purpose of the study is to acknowledge teenagers? views of rape, sexual relationships and the law.

The purpose of this study was to show how two schools from a municipality in greater Stockholm work with a document called "likabehandlingsplan", literally ?plan for equal treatment?. This document is required by law in Swedish schools and a part of each municipality?s program. The goal of the study was to see how teachers and school principals view and work with the plan as a part of their work in preventing discrimination and offensive behavior, in particular in dealing with problems with bullying. The two schools? plans were compared for similarities and differences and how they chose to follow the municipality?s guidelines was examined.

The question how teaching should be organized in order to give the students the help and support they need to reach their goals is always of vital interest. All students are unique individuals with different prerequisities, possibilities and needs. Streaming in mathematics could be one solution.The first week at upper secondary school a diagnostic test is carried through. Thereafter, the result is used as a basis for dividing the classes into different teaching groups. Thus, the groups working with mathematics become more homogeneous and the students? previous knowledge is approximately at the same level.

The aim of this thesis was to examine how newspaper journalism represented the celebrity Anna Anka. Which roles and qualities did the media ascribe Anna Anka and in what way did the media frame her as a woman.We examined texts and photographs from two Swedish newspapers, Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter, 16 texts were analysed. The method we used were discourse analysis with focus on relations, identities and representation.The result showed that Anna Anka was represented in an essentially equal way in both newspapers. The image of Anna Anka seems to be multifaceted. In the texts Anna Anka becomes a symbol for conflicts that emerge in discourses regarding gender, celebrity and Swedish values.

Grubbe Ventilation AB is a sheet metal and ventilation company who provides design, installation, service, and repair of ventilation. The company is expanding their business by building a new facility in Umeå, Västerbotten. The property is designed to be used for both office and industrial work.Grubbe Ventelation AB has not yet decided upon wish system which is to be established to provide the building with heating and cooling. The consulting firm Umeå Projekt Team has therefore been asked to investigate the possibilities to invest in geothermal- heating and cooling.If the investigation of a geothermal heating- and cooling system would provide favorable results it would be a very appropriate alternative that provides energy at low costs and are an environmentally friendly option as the energy comes from stored solar energy in the ground is provided by stored solar energy in the ground.The facility ´s heating and cooling consumptions are calculated in the program BV2 and the result indicate a heating demand of 185 000 kWh per year due to thermal transmittance, transmission losses, heating of warm water and a cooling requirement of 5500 kWh.Three different systems of geothermal heating and cooling were tested in the computer program Energy Earth Design. The results show no difference in the dimensioning of the drill hole if merely heating were to be used or both heating and cooling were to be established.

AbstractThe customer demand for ecological products has increased in recent years, within the garden industry this mainly concerns herbs and other edible plants. The organic trend is increasing and more people are aware of the environment and want to take responsibility for it through their purchases for their garden as well.In this essay the aim is to investigate customer demand and the possibility of selling organicperennial plants in eight garden centres on the Åland islands and in Gävle/Sandviken. I include two garden centres with an organic profile to get a wider point of view. I investigate the global market for organic perennials and look further into existing certification standards on the Swedish market today.The methods I have been using are interviews and a literature study.The study shows that the experienced demand for organic perennials is small in both of myinvestigated groups. The biggest motivation for starting to sell organic perennials would be to find a supplier of these plants and that more customer would ask for them.