Background: Investors have several options to choose from when the goal is to achieve the highest yield at the lowest cost and risk. Stocks are a common investment options, but is also associated with risks. Portfolios are usually constructed with several different assets to reduce the unsystematic risk of investment. Funds are similar to composite stock portfolios, the big difference is that they dealt with in their entirety and investors may not affect the fund's content. The problem remains that whether you choose stocks or mutual funds there is still uncertainty as to how the future will unfold.

The objectives of this research were to determine whether the natural rattan resources in Sulawesi, Indonesia can cope with the strongly increased harvesting pressure that has occurred over the last centuries. I was furthermore looking for patterns in the rattan population dynamics that might give a hint on how the harvesting system could be improved to ensure a maximum sustainable yield. To answer these questions, I developed an individual-based model to analyse the dynamics of rattan growth in connection with rattan harvests by locals to identify sustainable levels of rattan harvests around villages in Sulawesi, Indonesia. Scenarios with different harvesting intensities were run to compare the change in harvest amount. For a given harvesting pressure, scenarios with a high number of harvesters and a low harvesting frequency had the same effect as scenarios with high harvesting frequencies and a low number of harvesters.

Large amounts of birch-timber are imported to Sweden, from particularly the Baltic States, since the domestic production can?t support the pulp industry. The goal of this study was to show the potential of birch and the area?s most suitable for birch production. The study was limited to Gävleborg County. Using site characteristics, site index (SI) for birch was estimated on all National Forest Inventory plots in Gävleborg County.

Abstract ? What is an exhibition hall? ? How do you create tension between art and nature? ? Why should an exhibition hall be situated in the country side; would that add to the experience? ? What are the conditions of exhibiting contemporary art? These are some of the questions I first asked myself when I came to work with this project on an exhibition hall outside Kivik, Österlen. These questions brought me to new places, meetings and ideas. The team working actively to realize this project, calls it ?Art by the Sea?. The team has been working with the project since 2001 .

Den här uppsatsen grundar sig på två fältstudier i nyutlagda demonstrationsförsök på Asa försökspark som ska användas i utbildningssyfte. Studie 1 bestod av försöksytor i ett 13 år gammalt bestånd som röjts till samma röjningsförband men med tre skilda metoder; motormanuell selektiv röjning, maskinell stråkröjning och som en kombination av bägge metoderna. Syftet var att beskriva det nuvarande tillståndet, simulera fram prognoser för beståndsutvecklingen och beräkna dess ekonomiska konsekvenser fram till och med första gallring och jämföra de olika metoderna med varandra. Studie 2 bestod av försöksytor i ett 23 år gammalt eftersatt bestånd där fyra olika åtgärder testades; ingen röjning innan gallring, underröjning i samband med gallring, sen röjning och skogsbränsleuttag. Syftet var även här att jämföra de olika metoderna med varandra genom beskrivning av det nuvarande tillståndet, göra prognoser för beståndsutvecklingen och beräkna dess ekonomiska konsekvenser vid första gallring och i den här studien även fram till och med den andra gallringen.

Traffic accidents where wild animals are involved represents between 60 and 80 percent of all reported accidents, depending on location in Sweden. In a country like Sweden, with a lot of forest, there is always risk of a collision with a wild animal. Imagine if you, as a road user, had the possibility to receive warnings when the risk of an accident according to statistics is extra high.Wildlife Detection Network is a wildlife warning system with an information service, which makes the whole concept unique. When an animal is approaching the road, it is registered by sensors, and warning lights along the road are lit to inform drivers of the potential danger. In conclusion, this is a direct warning to all drivers on the road where the system is placed.When an animal is registered by the sensors, information containing time, date, weather circumstances and coordinates are sent to a database.

Most of the clothes sold in Europe today are produced in developing countries where the production costs are lower. The exploitation of the developing countries has led to that the inferior working conditions in these countries have attracted attention from media and NGOs. Globalisation makes company activities more transparent and the absence of transnational laws calls for alternative regulations. Many companies in Europe has since mid 1990s developed codes of conduct to satisfy the demands of external and internal stakeholders. EU also brought Corporate Social Responsibility to it?s agenda in the beginning of the 2000s and subsequently signals of approaching laws were given.

In veterinary medicine, penicillin is the most used antibiotic in Sweden. Two dosage forms of penicillin are available in Sweden for use in horses, sodium benzylpenicillin (Na-pc) and procaine benzylpenicillin (proc-pc). Proc-pc is the most used dosage form and is used for intramuscular administration which allows horse owners to treat an animal at home under veterinary instruction. Na-pc is only approved for intravenous use in horses. Penicillin is normally well tolerated by horses but a serious, sometimes life-threatening, adverse reaction called penicillin shock may occur.

The wood-living beetle Ceruchus chrysomelinus is a rare species connected to natural forests. In Sweden, it is red-listed as endangered (EN) and an action plan for its preservation has been done by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. In this work I have therefore investigated how a translocation of the species succeeded after 17 years. I aimed to study the species dispersal biology, its substrate preferences and the supply of suitable wood on this site. The study was performed during 2012 in Pansaruddens nature reserve close to Uppsala in Sweden, which is a spruce dominated forest.

Det svenska kulturlandskapet har förändrats radikalt under de senaste 200 åren från ett varierat och heterogent landskap till ett mer monotont, homogeniserat landskap som följd av att olika former av mänskligt resursutnyttjande har effektiviserats. Detta har lett till en fragmentering av livsmiljöerna för flera av kulturlandskapets arter. Kraftledningsgator kan tänkas hysa naturtyper som påminner om vissa av de nu försvunna eller fragmenterade livsmiljöerna (t ex betad skogsmark och vissa typer av ängsmarker) och skulle kunna ha en viktig betydelse som reträttplats och/eller spridningskorridor för dessa arter.I en fallfällsinventering i Köpings och Strängnäs kommun i Mälardalen undersöktes förekomst och abundans av marklevande evertebrater i kraftledningsgator, skog och betesmark. Jämförelser i förekomst och abundans gjordes mellan dessa marktyper (d v s kraftledningsgator, skog och betesmark), samt mellan positioner inom kraftledningsgator (centrala och distala delar) och närliggande skogsmark. Jämförelserna innefattade dels analyser av artantal (eller snarare antal taxa) och flera olika biodiversitetsindex och dels analyser av likhet i artförekomst och individantal med "likhetsindex" (similarity index).

I have worked with Bergum in different courses on the IntegratedConservation of Built Environments program and I thought it was a veryinteresting subject. This is the main reason why I chosen to write mybachelor paper about Bergum.In 1650s Bergum was situated on the border between Sweden and Norway,because of that it occurred some war conflicts.Today Bergum is a socioeconomic border and is situated in an areabetween the city?s concrete suburb and the countryside.The difference between the city?s concrete suburb and the countryside mayfeel like two different worlds, were the social contact is fractional.With this paper, I will indicate a countryside area on the boundary to the citythrough time and try to survey the building history. I will also try todemonstrate the socioeconomic differences between the areas.I will demonstrate Bergum history from prehistory to present time, were I willdiscuss the agriculture history, Vättlefjäll?s forest history and also thedeforestation and replanting.

Most of the clothes sold in Europe today are produced in developing countries where the production costs are lower. The exploitation of the developing countries has led to that the inferior working conditions in these countries have attracted attention from media and NGOs. Globalisation makes company activities more transparent and the absence of transnational laws calls for alternative regulations. Many companies in Europe has since mid 1990s developed codes of conduct to satisfy the demands of external and internal stakeholders. EU also brought Corporate Social Responsibility to it?s agenda in the beginning of the 2000s and subsequently signals of approaching laws were given.

The objective of this thesis was to get more knowledge about how to design a dairy farm reducing the working hours and the work tasks whit high work load. I will try to reduce the working hours and the tasks whit high work load on my own farm witch I am about inherit. Today, the old stanchion barn has room for about 60 cows and 74 young cattle and need two men to run it every day. The total acre is 188 hectare, 100 hectare forest, 65 hectare farmlands and 23 hectare natural pasture. I have studied two solutions. In the first solution, I will use my old barn for young cattle and build a new barn for the cows.

Persistent pink in beef patties and hamburgers is a problem in the meat industry that has been known for a few decades. It is a costly problem as it can give rejections of food by consumers. Studies around the world have tried to solve the problem but it still remains a mystery. There are many different theories of what is causing the red colour. Some of the most likly theories are reducing hemocromes, high microbiological loads, contamination of nitrite or organic/non organic substanses, DFD meat etc.

Respiratory disease with airway inflammation as main characteristic is common in the horse. It is a syndrome that is not yet fully understood. The etiology, pathogenesis and classification into different disease states are subjects for discussion and under continuous revision. Despite a number of modern techniques, the diagnostic procedure is challenging. There is no test considered to be gold standard when diagnosing these diseases.