What attribute affects salience on a political agenda? How come some reforms are implemented while others are not? These are essential and central questions for our society. Our society, our democracy and our everyday life are dependent of these factors; communication is the condition. In the 2011 budget from the Swedish conservative government, the question of lowering the VAT on restaurant- and catering services was the single most debated reform. This was occasioned from 2009 when the European Union allowed, for the first time since Swedish entry in 2005, a lower VAT on restaurant services.

The fertility of dairy cows is of great importance in order to maintain high production. The decline in fertility of dairy cows the latest decades can have several explanations. The large emphasis on high yielding cows and the negative genetic correlation between milk production and fertility traits could be one of the main factors for impaired fertility. To find heats and inseminate the cow at the right time is crucial to receive high conception rate. Delaval has, in corporation with FOSS, developed Herd Navigator which is a management program that measure four biological parameters in the milk; progesterone, betahydroxybutyrate, lactate dehydrogenase and urea.

Nynas produces bitumen at two refineries in Sweden. The bitumen is shipped to seven depots along the swedish coast line, and from the depots special trucks handle the transportation to customers. Recently Nynas has transformed its supply chain and closed down a few depots. At the moment the company is considering a further reduction of the number of depots. In connection to these discussions an analyse of the companys distributionsystem and of possible changes is required.

In recent years it has become more and more evident that man has contributed to much of the climate changes that have taken place during the last century. A major challenge today is to reduce emissions and energy usage at the same time as the global population is growing. To contribute to a better environment, Stockholms Stad has set at target of becoming fossil fuel free by the year of 2050. The construction of new districts is done with this goal in mind; energy efficiency and renewable energy sources are examples of methods to achieve this.Solar energy is considered to be a sustainable energy source and the most common techniques to harvest solar energy in Sweden are solar cells and solar collectors which produce electricity and heat respectively. This report aims to investigate whether an investment in any of these systems would prove to be economically beneficial at Kvarnholmen, a district under construction in eastern Nacka, Stockholm.Since the finished blueprints only cover a small portion of Kvarnholmen, the report examines the possibilities for a house where construction has already begun, Nya Kvarnen.

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att göra en investeringsbedömning av en anläggning för kombinerad produktion av biogas och biodiesel åt lantbruksföretaget Lindhs Djur & Natur AB. Utgångspunkt är det koncept för kombinerad produktion av biogas och biodiesel på gårdsnivå som Ageratec AB utvecklat. Konceptet utgår från att glycerolfasen som bildas vid biodieselproduktion är ett värdefullt substrat vid biogasproduktion. Scandinavian Biogas Fuel AB har därför på uppdrag från Ageratec AB utvecklat och optimerat en biogasprocess för samrötning av glycerol och gödsel.För att kunna göra en relevant investeringsbedömning så granskas investeringen både ur ett ekonomisk och miljömässigt perspektiv. Den ekonomiska analysen består av en investeringskalkyl för två olika amorteringstider där teorier för nuvärdesanalys tillämpas.

This thesis was done after a request from the county?s administrative board of Västmanland to provide the board with a better understanding of how green areas have changed within Västerås municipality over time.The purpose and goal of this study was thus to measure and analyze how much of the green areas within Västerås municipality that have disappeared during the past one hundred years as well as to provide a review of previous studies regarding the importance of green areas for humans as well as the biological diversity.In order to answer these questions I have in this study used a combination of a literature study, cartographic analysis as well as a time series analysis. The computer software used to do the measurements of the green areas was ArcGIS which is a geographical information system.In the cartographic and times series anlaysis measurements and analysis was made of the district map of 1911, the economic map of 1950 and the property map of 2011. The measurements show that the municipality has grown with 46,3 km2 over the last one hundred years. New neighborhoods? have emerged and the municipality has expanded.

Climate and environmental issues is now high on the agenda. We live in a generation that must try to solve some major environmental problems. Buildings and habitations account for approximately 40 % of Sweden's total energy today. To reduce this figure, as needed, more research in the field of energy efficiency is required.This thesis concerns the heating of buildings. The load on district heating is heavy during certain times of the day.

This master of science thesis intends to examine how the established innovation theoriesinteracts with the social and cultural phenomena arising from the reduction in communicationcosts as a result of the development of the internet.The aim is to present a knowledge inventory of attitudes to and experiences of an openapproach, with emphasis on collaborative innovation, in product and service developmentdriven companies in different fields. The studied theories and the empirical results forms thebasis for an analysis of how companies can benefit from the diversified knowledge that existsoutside their borders as well as an exploration of the potential for this kind of knowledgeexchange to act as a catalyst for innovation.The theoretical part of the study is based essentially on two tracks: (1) innovation theories witha focus onopen innovation and user innovation, and (2) a broad review of how theories ofdiversified knowledgeand collective intelligence has become possible to apply in an innovationcontext. The empirical part of the study is based on material obtained from semi-structuredinterviews with respondents from six companies.The results show that companies have implemented unstructured innovation initiatives withoutany formal links to the structured product development processes, which are part of thecompanies core activities. The main conclusions include the following insights: There is a needfor structured links between the unstructured initiatives and the core activities, which makes itpossible to take promising ideas to market. The companies also have to lose some control of theunstructured initiatives; consequently it is impossible to pinpoint what the outcome will be.

This master thesis investigates quality procedures and measuring of solid carbide end mills, with the main focus on measuring equipment. The thesis has been written in collaboration with a special production department for solid carbide end mills at Sandvik Coromant in Gimo. The department?s needs and constraints have been the foundation of the project and the main research question is: how to measure end mills in order to ensure good quality of the produced end mills. The project has contained both a theoretical study consisting of a literature review and practical studies in the workshop with the objective to identify an end mill?s main parameters and the relationship between an end mill?s geometry and the manufacturing processes.

The main purpose of this essay is to investigate if Latvia´s pattern of trade has become more similar to the mature market economies, after Latvia´s independence 1991.Today, the intra-industry trade (IIT) dominates the trade of mature market economies. One of the pioneers of intra-industrial trade is Paul Krugman, who was the first to emphasize the importance "of scale and consumers' desire for variety" in explaining the basis for modern commerce. Customers get more variety and usually cheaper goods when the market gets bigger. I mainly use the modern trade theories to explain the trade pattern in Latvia. To measure how Latvia has developed its intra-industry trade, and thereby is approaching the mature market economies´ trade pattern, I use the Grubel-Lloyd index (GL-index).

AbstractPurpose ? The purpose of this study is to investigate possible reasons for long lead-time in a customer driven production, and how the lead-time can be reduced. To fulfil the purpose the study has been broken down into two questions.1. Whichfactorsaffectthelead-timeinacustomer-drivenproduction?2.

In connection with Henriksdals wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) a smaller plant is situated called Sjöstadsverket where new methods for wastewater treatment are tested and evaluated in different process lines. On one of the lines experiments with enhanced biological phosphorous removal (EBPR), have been carried out to evaluate if it is a good alternative to traditional chemical phosphorus removal. This thesis evaluates the results from the experiments conducted during fall 2005.The incoming water from Hammarby Sjöstad consists of only household wastewater, which gives a wastewater with high concentrations of nutrients and organic carbon. This is partly positive, because one of the limiting factors for effective biological phosphorus removal is the lack of easily biodegradable organic carbon. The high concentrations of ammonium and phosphorus demand a high reduction to achieve the requirements of outgoing concentration.To optimize the process experiments with different recirculations and different aeration techniques have been made.

Skärgårdsstiftelsen, which is responsible for several of the archipelago islands in Stockholm, has chosen to explore the possibilities for more sustainable heating systems in buildings on the islands in collaboration with KTH. A reduction of energy use and improving the efficiency of existing heating systems are included as part of the environmental work. This report studies the island of Grinda, which is located outside the area of Vaxholm in Stockholm. The study area consists of a guesthouse consisting of a restaurant as well as conference facilities and four neighboring cottages used for overnighting. The cottages now run solely on direct electricity, both for heating and hot water.

Climate and environmental issues is now high on the agenda. We live in a generation that must try to solve some major environmental problems. Buildings and habitations account for approximately 40 % of Sweden's total energy today. To reduce this figure, as needed, more research in the field of energy efficiency is required.This thesis concerns the heating of buildings. The load on district heating is heavy during certain times of the day.

Föreliggande rapport är ett resultat av ett examensarbete utfört på Lulekraft AB (LUKAB), med syftet att dimensionera en återföring av rökgas. Målen är att sänka utsläppen av NOx, att minska fluktuationerna av temperaturen i överhettarna vid bränslebyte samt att undersöka ifall verkningsgraden ökar med implementerad rökgasåterföring.Ett flertal olika sätt att reducera utsläppen av NOx finns grundligt beskrivna i litteraturen, såväl i rökgasflödet som av modifikation av brännarna. Åtgärder i rökgasflödet är t.ex. rökgasåterföring (FGR, flue gas recirculation) och selektiv katalytisk reduktion (SCR, selecive catalytic reduction). Rökgasåterföringen sänker temperaturen på flamman, vilket leder till en sänkning av bildningen av termisk NOx.