Purpose/Aim: In the information and communication technology society (ICT) we live in today it is easy to feel that we are constantly expected to be available. The daily contact with the Internet and the use of cell phones has changed our way to communicate. With this in mind in combination with the increased stress among young adults my aim is to investigate how young adults, aged 23-26 years, experience to be constantly connected and available through the Internet and the cell phone. What are their opinions, attitudes and feelings about what this entails in their lives?Material/Method: The essay is based on four focus group interviews with sixteen students from Uppsala University aged 23-26, two groups consisting of women and two groups consisting of men.

 Performance appraisals- a study of the performance appraisals significance as a tool for development in the public sector.Anders Larsson and Åsalill OlssonPerformance appraisals have been given a central role in leading businesses in the public sector and are seen as a tool to create development opportunities and achieve better results. This has resulted that performance appraisal in many organizations takes up capacity and time. This was the starting point of our interest to study whether the time spent on performance appraisals effectively pays for itself in the organization, in other words whether the effects expected actually are achieved. The paper examines first line managers` views on staff appraisal purposes and effects of a function within the Landstinget. The survey design, methodology and transaction are of qualitative and quantitative method with three different sources: literature review of previous research, interviews with first line managers in Landstinget Västmanland and the results from an employee satisfaction survey conducted on behalf of Landstinget Västmanland.

This text aims to examine how teaching in literature can contribute to the schools work with creating an antidiscriminating environment. When it comes to the Swedish schools antidiscrimination plans, this essay focuses especially on those sections that concerns pupils and student right to their own gender identity and expression.The main theories in this examination are Judith Butler?s theory on gender and performativity, queer theory defined by Fanny Ambjörnsson and theories concerning adolescent psychology with focus on the adolescent identity and it?s forming. Together with Mikhail Bakhtin?s carnival theory the text examines how Jessica Schiefauer?s novel Pojkarna (The Boys; 2012) describes a young adolescent girl?s journey to finding and forming her own gender and sexual identity.

Climate on earth is getting warmer, which effects earth?s energy balance and so forth the ocean and atmospheric circulation.  In many sub-polar regions on the northern hemisphere changes due to warming of the climate can be observed. Some examples that already have been observed are shifts in tree line, towards higher altitudes and latitudes, increased ablation of Swedish glaciers and melting of the permafrost on the Siberian tundra. In Sweden climate change scenarios tell us that it will become warmer and that a higher amount of precipitation in form of rain will be an effect from this. To study climate changes in Sweden, transition zones are useful in order to observe changes in distribution of species and animal populations.

Understanding how innovation and renewal occurs in an industry is important for how to manage technical development for individual companies. It is also important for creating a beneficial industrial context for renewal, from both a political and an industrial perspective, in which new solutions can arise and spread through the involvement of several actors of the industry. How innovation and renewal occurs in the construction industry in Sweden is however viewed differently. One challenge that has been pointed to is that most of the work performed in the construction industry is organized in projects, which in turn should affect how innovation and renewal can be achieved. The aim of this thesis is to provide an understanding of how the project organizing in the industry affects innovation and renewal. This is executed through a case study of the construction of Skandionkliniken, a proton therapy clinic, and by using an industrial network theory that challenges the traditional view of how innovation is achieved.

The aim of this study is to deepen the knowledge of how libraryusers, library personnel and the relationship between them are expressed in ?strategicdocuments? of university libraries in Sweden. As used in this study, strategic documentshave the purpose of pointing out focus and strategic planning for an organization. Sixstrategic documents are chosen. The main theory and method used is critical discourseanalysis signed Norman Fairclough.

The study´s purpose is to investigate the underlying norms of how the concepts of language development and learning, used in the preschool curriculum. Knowledge of the concepts underlying norms can help to make visible what approach preschool teacher is expected to have to children's language, in relation to development and learning. The results of the study may in turn provide a picture of societal norms on children in preschool and a deeper understanding of the importance of preschool to review and analyze the content of the curriculum, then it is not a foregone conclusion.Theoretical basis is curriculum theory, which involves studying curricula in order to create a knowledge of a society and its cultural, social and economic demands. Norman Faircloughs critical discourse analysis is used as a method, in order to achieve the study´s intention and answer the questions at issues in the study. The critical discourse analysis considers that the discourse is creating the social world through language.The results of the study show that there is a language in the curriculum as normatively may influence preschool teacher.

Inventories of epiphytic lichens on Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) were conducted at three sites in east central Sweden: along the newly build motorway (Road E4), along the old road (Road 600) and in a reference site, to compare the effects of traffic pollution on lichen diversities. At each site, species richness, lichen mean sensitivity value (MK), air quality index of the forest stand/sample plot (LKI) and nitrogen impact value (N) were calculated and it was tested if there was any difference between the sites. Twenty-four species were observed in total, and Parmeliopsis ambigua and Hypogymnia physodes were the most common species at all sites. At Road E4, fewer lichen species were observed than at the other sites and this might be due to the impact of air pollution. The species richness at Road 600 was similar to that of the reference site, which might be explained by the improved air quality.

International research has shown that through the involvement of the school library and the school librarian in the daily school work with the pupils, the pupil´s learning can be increased and reading comprehensions significantly improved.One purpose of this master`s thesis is to study the school librarian as a brand, representing the school library as well as the school librarian and whether there is a correlation between different comprehensions of the professional role of the school librarian. This is done by examining whether there is a difference between a specific librarian´s own perception of their professional role, compared to the image of the school librarian among teachers and principals working in the same school district and by comparing the profile the school librarian expresses with the image that is conveyed through communications via webpage, written and oral information given on services and competences provided by the school librarian and work carried out by her.A difference of comprehension of the school librarian´s competence and work, could be part of an explanation as to why the correlation between the involvement of school librarians in the school work and the improved learning achievements of the pupils has not resulted in the expected measures, regardless of the investments in school librarians and school libraries. The school librarians´ school identity could be difficult to establish. Whether or not the profiles and images of the professional role are consistent with each other is a much more manageable purpose which could go a long way of explaining the circumstances of the school libraries.That is the reason why we have examined whether the comprehension the school librarians have of themselves corresponds with the idea/ conception/ image conveyed to their surroundings, and with the idea/conception/image encompassed by people in their immediate surroundings..

The aim of this study is to examine how preschools contribute to the forming of identity in children, with a specific focus on the quiet and socially withdrawn child. How do the teachers describe the quiet child and the socially withdrawn child? Are there any opportunities for children to be quiet/withdrawn in preschools? These questions have also been analysed from a gender perspective. The method chosen is qualitative method. Nine preschool teachers from two Swedish preschools have been interviewed.

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to examine how children interact with each other and what social positions they assume when using the learning pad. The social positions reffered to is the Owner, the Participant and the Spectator, defined by Ljung Djärf (2004). According to Ljung Djärf (2004), the Owner is defined as the one in control of the mouse and keyboard. The Owner is expected to be in charge of what is happening on the screen. The Participant is typically found on a chair near the computer.

Along with rising energy prices and increasing awareness of environmental issues, the criteria for buildings energy performance have been sharpened through the years. Today, ?passive house? and ?low energy house? are commonly used phrases in the construction industry and is expected to become increasingly common in the future.For houses with well-insulated building envelope the importance of well constructed details increases when minimizing the heat losses. Examples of these details are floor-wall junction and window openings in the wall. In such connections thermal bridges occur, which means that heat more easily is transported out of the building, compared to the rest of the building envelope.This report deals with detail solutions around windows and a comparison between a traditional slab and a foundation from Koljern consisting of foam glass.

The main purpose of this study was that, in the light of theories of how street level bureaucrats may affect the implementation of political decisions, examine and analyze the social workers interpretations of the child perspective's impact on the handling of social assistance, and what opportunities and/or limitations they feel that the organizational preconditions means for the application. The survey had a qualitative research approach and consisted of eight thematic interviews with a total of ten respondents operating in five different municipalities. Eight of the respondents were social workers dealing directly with social assitance and two had managerial positions. The results of the interviews were then analyzed with the help of an actor-structure approach to implementation and Michael Lipskys theory of street-level bureaucrats and their role as policy makers. The results of the survey showed that the respondents had relatively similar views on the child perspectives implications for work with social assistance.

In Sweden the amount of people with obesity has increased with almost 50 % during the past 20 years and is now including 500 000 people. A larger energy intake than energy consumption is today one of the most important cause of overweight and obesity that exist in the world. This requires more knowledge about healthier eating habits combined with moderate intensive exercise, exercise that is simple, effective and amusing. A god solution is a combination of fitness training and strength training, a type of circuit training. It is distinguished by a high intensive work in short periods and with a short break.

Travelling by train has increased during the last decades in Sweden. This has put pressure on the existing infrastructure and has created problems with delays and cancelled departures. The railway is a complex system with mutual dependencies and high vulnerability for disruptions. The situation for the railway system in the Stockholm region is today strained. The capacity is fully used.