High demands are set on all equipment used in emergency service work, where small margins can be the distinguishing factor between life and death during a rescue operation. It is important that tools such as ladders quickly and easily can be dismounted from a vehicle and still satisfy the regulatory requirements for securing loads during transport. The existing solution for getting ladders down from the roof of a fire engine requires a large manual effort from the user in an ergonomically unsound posture.In this degree project a new ladder holder is developed with focus on the user to solve the ergonomic problems and at the same time create a more compact design that can be adapted to several different types of ladders. After an initial pre-study with user-interviews and measurement of forces and distances a set of requirements was formulated that came to govern the project's direction. Creative methods were used to generate concepts that improved the function and through design solutions, calculations and testing in CAD a base for manufacturing of a new product was created.The result is a completely new type of ladder holder that minimizes the user's manual effort and simplifies the securing of ladders in the holder.

The global biodiversity loss is mainly due to human activities such as an intensification of forestry. Boreal forest ecosystems in Fennoscandia are characterized by disturbances such as forest fires, storms and floods. However, industrial forestry practices suppress forest fires and change the landscape, leading to a loss of habitats and associated species. Particularly lichen species with slow adaptation abilities and a strong substrate specificity face an extinction debt in boreal forests since their substrates are long-lived but no longer created. In this study the species-substrate relationship of two red-listed forest-fire dependent lichen species Carbon-icola anthracophila and C.

THE CONSTANT IMPROVAL AND REFINEMENT OF THE MOBILE TECHNOLOGY HAVE MADE IT POSSIBLEto use video in settings where such use couldn't be motivated before, due to economicaland practical reasons. The purpose of the study was to identify and explore possiblechallenges in interorganizational use of video during emergency response work. Thiswas done by a case study of a system designed for the use of video in such situations.The study focused on operational challenges for the fire and rescue services and thehealthcare organisations, where the main challenges identified were intended to beanalysed and discussed in terms of design. The empirical results were gathered throughqualitative interviews with representatives from the fire and rescue services and thehealthcare organisations in Göteborg. This material made it clear that contextual aspectsof emergency response work lead to a couple of challenges connected to the use of videoin such situations.

In this report we describe an adaptive simulated annealing method for sizing the devices in analog circuits. The motivation for use an adaptive simulated annealing method for analog circuit design are to increase the efficiency of the design circuit. To demonstrate the functionality and the performance of the approach, an operational transconductance amplifier is simulated. The circuit is modeled with symbolic equations that are derived automatically by a simulator..

Three-dimensional computer graphics enjoys a wide range of applications of which games and movies are only few examples. By incorporating three-dimensional computer graphics in to a simulator the simulator is able to provide the operator with visual feedback during a simulation. Simulators come in many different flavors where flight and radar simulators are two types in which three-dimensional rendering of large terrains constitutes a central component.Ericsson Microwave Systems (EMW) in Skövde is searching for an algorithm that (a) can handle terrain data that is larger than physical memory and (b) has an adjustable error metric that can be used to reduce terrain detail level if an increase in load on other critical parts of the system is observed. The aim of this paper is to identify and evaluate existing algorithms for terrain rendering in order to find those that meet EMW: s requirements. The objectives are to (i) perform a literature survey over existing algorithms, (ii) implement these algorithms and (iii) develop a test environment in which these algorithms can be evaluated form a performance perspective.The literature survey revealed that the algorithm developed by Lindstrom and Pascucci (2001) is the only algorithm of those examined that succeeded to fulfill the requirements without modifications or extra software.

The flow of information in road vehicles intensifies as new techniques develop. Informationsources such as cell phones, navigation equipment and radios demand the driver?s attentionwhile he or she must stay focused on the road to perform a safe driving. Today the visualinformation inside the vehicle is mostly located on the dashboard, which forces the driver tolook down when shifting attention between the environment outside and the informationinside the vehicle. One way to avoid this is to useHead-up Display (HUD), a technique thatprojects information in the visual field of the user.This master thesis has been performed in cooperation with Scania CV AB, a world leadingtruck producer.

The purpose of this risk analysis is to investigate if the transport of dangerous gods through Halmstad is a threat to the surrounding area. The report shall serve as a component in the making of pre-plans and the planning of exercises..

AbstractI denna undersökning tolkas motståndsstrategier i Ulrike Meinhofs skrivna texter.Undersökningsmaterialet består av engelska översättningar av tre krönikor publicerade i denVästtyska tidsskriften konkret under året 1968: ?Counter-Violence?, ?From Protest toResistance? och ?Setting Fire to Department Stores?.Syftet är att tolka Meinhofs syn på motståndsstrategier i de tre krönikorna. Detta görsgenom att först tolka det deskriptiva innehållet i krönikorna; det vill säga vad texterna säger.Tolkningarna görs både kronologiskt och komparativt utifrån vilken typ av motståndsmetodsom beskrivs, motståndsmetodens syfte eller riktadhet, samt värderingen av en specifikmotståndsmetod och dess resultat eller konsekvenser. Den komparativa tolkningen utgörsvidare av en fokusering på krönikornas potentiella skillnader, olikheter eller förändringar.Syftet är också att utifrån den kronologiska och den komparativa tolkningen diskuterakrönikornas performativa funktion; det vill säga vad texterna gör.Uppsatsen är teoretisk och anknyter till en genusvetenskaplig, metodologiskutgångspunkt som innebär att teori och metod inte skiljs åt. Uppsatsen omfattas också av ettepistemologiskt ställningstagande som innebär att gränsen mellan forskningens subjekt ochobjekt ifrågasätts och diskuteras.

The report contains a comparison between computer based modeling of evacuation and evacuation experiments with large crowds. Crowd movement, behavior and management is examined, as well as the evacuation time. The conclusions in this report are based on observations made during the evacuation of a football ground (Swedish)..

The transformation of the Swedish Armed Forces is bringing about major changes in many areas. Indirect fire is one capability affected by these changes. Financial savings, a shrinking organization and higher eligibility requirements mean that fewer soldiers will gain access to exclusive high-tech support resources such as the JAS 39 Gripen aircraft and the ARCHER artillery system. This thesis aims to examine whether access to indirect fire capability can be increased through the use of civilian products and communication networks. Technology development in the civilian mobile communications area is exponential and nations such as the USA, facing challenges similar to those of the Swedish Armed Forces, devote substantial resources to research and development.

Abstract Over the years the consciousness of risk has grown. It?s hard to influence risks, therefore there are guidelines stating that significant risk must be included in the annual report. This paper is a case study; the purpose was to examine how four Swedish listed companies chose to disclose their internal and external risks. Risk is initially described in general sense and then it figures to what constitutes an economic risk.Through a case study of four Swedish listed companies? annual reports we have, through qualitative methods found how the companies chose to disclosure their risks.

The outset of this study is to contribute to the literature concerning China?s increasing economic interest to engage in the African context, its economies and resource abundandce. The overarching research problem is that the approaches held by the respective African state entities may facilitate increasing development gains for the recipient state of this economic interest in principle. To adress this research problem the study is undertaken by conducting a comparative case study where three cases/states, with presumably diverging economic and political status, are likely to effect their overall state approaches differently.Research questions, which are addressed by the creation of an idealtype analytic matrix, concern whether the states of South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe take on a more ?permissive? or ?restrictive? approach towards China?s economic interst and whether the approaches can be looked upon on both aggratege and case/area-specific levels.The main findings are that a clear tendency of the ?permissive approach? may be noted on a aggregate level for all cases.

Syftet med denna studie var att studera samarbetet mellan inköp och utvecklingsavdelningen utifrån ett kulturperspektiv. Studien grundar sig på teori inom två olika ämnesområden. Ett område är organisationskultur där tidigare forskning visar på hur en gemensam kultur skapar effektivitet inom företag. Det andra området är forskning runt inköp och produktutvecklingsgrässnittet. Då studiens syfte kräver tillgång till ett fysiskt företag så har SAAB Dynamics AB i Karlskoga agerat fallföretag.

This report contains CFD-simulations of cable tray fires in nuclear power plant applications with the CFD-code SMAFS. Furthermore the report evaluates the use of CFD-codes within this kind of problems. The assessment of this report is that there is a tendency towards the good use of CFD-codes but before using it solely more research has to be done on the subject..

En skadehändelse i en transformator är en mycket allvarlig företeelse. Ett elektriskt fel inom en transformator kan leda till att en ljusbåge med enorm energi uppstår inom transformatorn. Denna ljusbåge kan i värsta fall leda till en omfattande gasexplosion, med stora sekundärbränder i den isolerolja som finns inom transformatorn som följd. Även om sannolikheten för en sådan händelse är att betrakta som liten, så är konsekvenserna av denna skadehändelse mycket allvarliga för ett vattenkraftverk. Denna rapport är en fördjupning av en skadehändelse utifrån detta ?värsta fall?, på Letsi vattenkraftverk.