As trucks are getting more and more advanced, information about their weight has become a key factor for controlling them in a more fuel efficient and safe manner. Knowing the mass of a heavy duty vehicle in real time has been a difficult challenge for the truck manufacturers. With the processing power for electronic control units in trucks steadily increasing, more advanced algorithms for calculating the mass has been developed, but at the moment there still is a wish for better performance.Since there is a lack of good information regarding the external forces acting on the vehicle, forces that depends on the slope of the road, foundation of the road and the wind, the methods have to be able to disregard these. Such an approach, based on an indirect least square solution, has been evaluated in this thesis. The results have been promising and based on these a recommendation about further evaluation has been made..

The reduction of coarse, dead wood is considered to be the biggest threat to flora and faunain boreal forests. Extensive harvest of logging residues would increase this reduction evenmore. However, the role of dead wood created at final felling for boreal, epixylic species isstill largely unclear. It is therefore of interest to examine whether epixylic species inhabit thedead wood in young, boreal stands, especially species considered to be confined to forests inlate successional stages.The aim of this study was to investigate whether forest-interior species in fact can inhabitearly-successional forests arisen after logging. The study was conducted in young standsbordering dead wood rich woodland key habitats.

Namibia, southern Africa, suffers from an energy shortage and is therefore facing severalchallenging problems. The use of firewood as fuel for cooking is common in the whole countryand has negative consequences for health and the environment. This work have focused ondeveloping a solar baking oven, calledSunbaker, adapted for Namibian families needs forbaking. The development was based on classic solar cooking limitations, specific needs forNamibia and to have a feasible manufacturability.The project started with a theoretical study in Sweden where different solar cookers, informationregarding Namibia, technical aspects and end user aspects were studied. To assess the need for asolar baking oven aMinor Field Study took place in Namibia during eight weeks in July toSeptember 2009 and resulted in a product design specification.

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: The effect of naturally existent beta-glucan in adults with hypercholesterolemia. - a systematic review with focus on the Swedish food market.Author: Ida Edman Hellberg, Frida HanssonSupervisor: Mette AxelsenExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: May 01, 2014Background EFSA states in 2010 that there are good evidence that three grams of beta-glucan/day from oat as a part of a balanced diet, has a positive effect on total cholesterol and LDL.Objective Evaluate if there is evidence for primary treatment of lifestyle related hypercholesterolemia with products naturally containing beta-glucan.Search strategyIn February 2014 the databases PubMed and Scopus were used for article research. The search terms used were; cholesterol level, beta-glucan, hypercholesterolemia, oat and barley.Selection criteria Articles, written in Swedish and English, on RCT-studies conducted on otherwise healthy adults with hypercholesterolemia (serum cholesterol >5,0 mmol/L) were included. The intervention product must naturally contain beta-glucan, and an equally product should be retailed in Swedish grocery stores. The control group needed to be supplied with a placebo product and the participants could not be on any lipid-lowering medication.

Uppsatsen behandlar bullerdämpning vid kap på ProfilGruppen Extrusions AB i Åseda. Problemen med ljudnivån beror bland annat på stomljudet som alstras av kapen i de långa profilerna. För att sänka ljudnivån har fastklampningskonstruktioner tagits fram som dämpar stomljudet och förslag på vidare åtgärder rapporterats.Försök och jämförande mätningar av ljudnivån har utförts för att få ett bra underlag att utvärdera. Resultaten av försöken med viskoelastisk plast som dämpelement visar en viss dämpning. Dämpningen kan med all sannolikhet bli större med användning av tjockare dämpelement..

This study analyses the economic consequences due to ethanol production in Eastern Sweden. The analyses consider the cooperative and the farmers as one vertically integrated company. The area that found the market in this study is illustrated in figure 1. The analyses assume that all members act jointly with the objective of maximizing joint profits at the farm level as well as at the cooperative firm. A mathematical model is created to calculate the optimal use of arable land.

This thesis explores the possibilities of avoiding the issues generally associated with compression of noisy imagery, through the usage of vector quantization. By utilizing the learning aspects of vector quantization, image processing operations such as noise reduction could be implemented in a straightforward way. Several techniques are presented and evaluated. A direct comparison shows that for noisy imagery, vector quantization, in spite of it's simplicity, has clear advantages over MPEG-4 encoding..

An Internet application, VEDAIR, for estimation of air quality in regions with small-scale combustion of bio fuel has been developed by Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute with financing from Swedish Energy Agency and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The model contains user interface and a coupled model concept where concentrations of atmospheric pollutions are calculated for regional, urban and local contributions. In this report the model is described and a first study of air quality considering PM10 (particles with a diameter less than 10 µm) in two Swedish municipalities, Vänersborg and Gnosjö, is introduced.According to the result, there are areas with poor air quality even in smaller Swedish municipalities, mostly due to high emission from buildings with older wood heating furnace without hydraulic accumulator.In Vänersborg three areas were analysed in VEDAIR for the year 2003: Vargön, Mariedal and the downtown district. In the whole municipality the upper evaluation threshold for PM10, which is defined as 14 µg/m3 for annual average, was exceeded due to background contribution of particles. In all areas, however, the concentrations of PM10 were less than the environmental quality norms.

The housing sector of today represents for almost 40% of the energy consumption, an energy consumption of which the major part consists of non-renewable energy sources. This is not sustainable and utilization of new energy-efficient technologies in buildings can be a step in the right direction, towards a sustainable energy society.This report has been made on behalf of and in cooperation with Älvstranden Utveckling AB in Gothenburg to examine how future energy-efficient technologies can affect the energy demand in energy-efficient multi-dwelling buildings.The report is based on Älvstrandens passive house, Hamnhuset, a house whose energy consumption is far below the BBR's requirements. The report looks at the opportunities for improvement within windows, insulation, solar energy technologies, as well as white goods. Computer simulations are then made to apply the selected technologies into a reference building. Technologies are selected from an energy efficient perspective and no account has been taken of other aspects such as the economy.

Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur personer med ett injektionsmissbruk, som medverkade i sprututbytesverksamhet i Sverige, upplevde att deras livskvalitet blivit annorlunda. Vidare undersöktes också vilka insatser de blivit erbjudna och om de upplevde att de hade ett minskat riskbeteende. Frågeställningarna som användes i studien för att undersöka detta var:? Vilka insatser inom sprututbytesverksamheten erbjuds personer med injektionsmissbruk att ta del av?? Hur använder sig personer som medverkar i sprututbytesverksamhet av den kunskap de erhåller om hur de ska minska sitt riskbeteende?? Hur upplever personerna som deltar i sprututbytesverksamheten att deras livskvalitet blivit annorlunda?För att kunna svara på frågeställningarna användes en enkät som skickades till sprututbytesverksamheter i Sverige. De centrala begrepp som går att återfinna i studien ärharm reduction och livskvalitet och dessa begrepp är väsentliga när det gäller konstruktionen av enkäten i relation till syfte och frågeställningar.

The thesis describes a completely new biofuel system to generate particle-free heat from combustion of ash-containing biofuel particles at high temperatures.The suggested system gives opportunities to introduce biofuels in new areas.Main components in the suggested system is a heat radiating combustion chamber intended for pulverized wood, combined with regenerators to extract heat from flue gases and simultaneously preheating the combustion air.The thesis contains a description of the suggested system, theoretical considerations, calculations regarding the combustion, and includes results from tests performed.The results from calculations and tests performed concludes that the system is workable and possible to apply..

The aim of this study is to take note of  social worker´s views on opiate addiction and medication-assisted treatment. The definition of social workers in this paper, is people who are involved with individuals  who have an opiate addiction and have therefore been in contact with drug assisted treatment. Data was collected through interviews with social workers. The interviews were based on an interview questionnaire on four explicit themes: Motivation, Medical Assisted Treatment (LA) Other complementary treatment and expenses and its meanings. These are analyzed and discussed through the theory of harm reduction and the theory of labeling..

The environmental requirements and laws on combustion engine emissions are very tough today andthey will become even more stringent in the future. To achieve these requirements there are highdemands on the control systems for these engines. An improved precision in the measurement of anengine's speed and position gives the electronic control system an even better timing when it comes tofuel injection and ignition. This makes the engine more fuel efficient, reducing the emissions. This thesisis part of a collaborative project between Hoerbiger Control Systems and subsidiaries.

ESAB is a world leader in production of welding consumables and equipment. The company manufactures, among other things, welding electrodes. A roller straightening unit is used in the cutting process to straighten the wire, which the welding electrode consists of, by adjusting some of the rollers during operation. According to ESAB?s standard and the European machinery directives, moving parts of machinery, such as rollers of the roller straightening unit, must be out of the operator?s reach.

The little steel industrial community Hofors is situated in Gästrikland on the border to Dalarna and its population is decreasing every year. The biggest housing operator is in a place where they must tear down a lot of buildings because they do not have enough tenants. But what do people really want in an apartment and in the surroundings? What is needed to make it attractive? That is something that this study will discuss and in the end it will lead to a proposal of an area that is suitable for a new housing and a few proposals to make the existing apartments more attractive..