The report describes an ecodesign thesis performed by the author at the ÅF EcoDesign Center. The basic idea of ecodesign is to develop products with a minimized environmental load, without neglecting other significant product aspects such as function and price. During the last couple of years the public interest in environmental friendly products has increased, which has made it possible for companies to make a profit from their investments in ecodesign. To meet the increasing market for ecodesign services ÅF started the ÅF EcoDesign Center, where the company has gathered all of their competence in ecodesign in order to help companies to become greener. The task was to develop a tool for an Eco Screening.

This study explores the effects of two different post-treatment methods on stain reduction in glazed creamware from the late 20th century. The objects stains have been characterized by type one and type two stains which is the result of prolonged contact with food residues, were subjected to the same initial stain reduction. The two post-treatment methods examined are soaking the objects in deionized water and surface rinsing with deionized water. The comparative analysis included photographs under normal and UV-light exposure to assess stain visibility, weight measurements before and after treatments to monitor the absorption and evaporation of liquids, and observations throughout the experiment. The results revealed that while type two stains showed significant alterations after treatments, specifically after soaking, type one stains remained unaffected by both methods.

This Master's thesis explores representations of sexual agency in contemporary, Swedish novels for young adults. Using a representational theory approach the thesis analyzes 24 novels published in 2000 ? 2013. Addressing the following research questions: how is sexual agency constructed and regulated relative to gender performativity in Swedish novels for young adults? How are situations of sexual abuse and sexual ?grey zones? (situations that border on abuse) represented and being made intelligible in the texts? What are the consequences of representations of sexual agency? In the readings of the novels discourse analysis and theories on cultural representation and power have served as the critical points of entry, as well as the methodological basis for the study.

 Aim. To describe patients who have got a recommendation by a telenurse to visit the emergency department and how many of these patients could have received care in the primary health care instead. Further on, the aim was to describe if there are patients not following the recommendations.Methods. Quantitative, descriptive study, with an examination of medical records of the patients, which the telenurses recommended to visit the emergency department, during one week. Assessments whether the patient could seek medical care at the primary health care was made, firstly based on the telenurses documentation and secondly on both the telenurses and the emergency department´s documentation.Results.

The aim of this study was to examine how the interviewed teachers in one school observe their view of gender and equality regarding the educational system.  Accordingly, I would like to present my intention with this study, also be to analyze how the interviewed teachers way of working with matters of gender and equality, carry out as a portrait of their values considering the distribution in terms of gender. The research questions are the following: What is the teachers view on the concepts of equality and gender in school?How do different teachers talk about their way of working in relation to gender and equality in school?How is boys and girls images presented in the teachers descriptions in their discussion about gender and equality?This study is based on a fundamental qualitative method, where a handful number of teacher?s from one school were interviewed in order to obtain information and data for the examination. The interviews were analyzed and discussed in association to earlier research in aspiration to study different writer?s theories about the conception of gender and equality.

The main purpose of this paper is to examine how students in school year nine in the Swedish school come in contact with history outside of the school context. The paper also focuses on, if and how the students consider the contact with history as something different than, or similar to the history education that takes place during school hours, the student´s interest in history will also be examined. To gather the student?s opinions on these subjects, I have done interviews with eight students divided into two groups, with one group consisting of four girls and one group with two boys and two girls. The interviews took place at the students school located in a smaller city in Värmlands län, Sweden.

This study is of a qualitative phenomenological approach. Its background lies in recent reports that show the problem of self-harm increasing among adolescents. The intent of the study was to highlight school counselors? view of self-harm, and their experiences of meeting self-harm through their work. Six school counselors, all employed in secondary school, have participated in semi-structured interviews.

The purpose of this study was to examine why adventure treatment is mainly directed towards young men and how that can be related to the construction of masculinity.Our questions were:- What were the social workers thoughts and images about masculinity?- Why did they think adventure treatment were suitable for young men and for what reasons?- How did the social workers describe their role as treatment providers?This study was a qualitative study that was based on six interviews as well as observations. We tried to find patterns and deviations in our empirical material. Then we connected them with previous research and theories. The social workers described the typical client as a competitive kind of person, interested in physical activities and with boyish manners.

The last few years a lot of media air time has been devoted to training, sports, health and weightloss on a more personal level then before. The new media arena is beeing used at its´ maximumto broadcast wievs on how we should eat, look, exercise and live. This thesis is trying to makebetter understanding on what people in general think is important when it comes to physicaltraining and motivation with the aid of digital media and IT systems. The thesis describes aworkshop that was conducted within the frames of Participatory Design and the outcome of thatworkshop. The workshop was conducted with a group of lead users (in this case instructors at avery large fitness center in Umeå, Sweden) and the main question was ?How can IT be used toachive a positive effect on physical exercise if motivation is the focus??.

The main objective of this research was to study how increased arterial oxygenation by the use of Pulsed Inhaled Nitric-Oxide (PiNO) influenced the metabolic and cardiovascular parameters on horses undergoing acute abdominal surgery because of colic. The parameters blood lactate, blood glucose, pH and heart rate were evaluated before and during anesthesia and closely after recovery. The study showed that blood lactate concentrations decreased significantly during anaesthesia in horses treated with PiNO compared to non-treated horses. It was also seen that the lactate concentration decreased most in horses with the highest levels before PiNO treatment. Since enhanced oxygen extraction ratio was evident in the PiNO group, improved oxygen delivery to the tissue may be a possible explanation for the improved situation.

Food waste from grocery stores - An analysis of municipal management inSweden and a detailed study of the situation in Umeå municipalityThe objective of this thesis was to analyze the municipal management of food waste fromgrocery stores in Sweden in general and in Umeå municipality in particular. Furthermore theobjective was to account for the different waste treatment methods that can be used and toevaluate them from an environmental perspective. In order to analyze the municipalmanagement a survey was sent to all of the municipalities/municipal waste companies inSweden. A general comparison of treatment methods was carried out on the basis of ascientific review and a system analysis was performed in order to compare three differenttreatment alternatives for the food waste generated in grocery stores in Umeå. The surveyshowed that the legal definition of food waste from grocery stores is unclear and variesbetween municipalities.

In the beginning of the twentieth century in Sweden the laboring class grew and became more established. This entailed both a change in housing conditions and the design of the social policies. The purpose of this study is to show how the Child Welfare Committee in Kalmar conducted its work during 1911-1918. The aim is to show on what grounds they made their decisions and how the interaction between the committee and the families functioned in practice. This will be accomplished by giving examples from the protocols written by Kalmar?s Child Welfare Committee.

An increasing demand for wood products in China has resulted in large areas invested in fast-growing tree plantations of eucalyptus. Eucalyptus plantations are often associated with an intensive management including fertilization. By understanding the effects of fertilization and where in the ecosystem nutrients are accumulated a more sustainable forest management could be achieved. In this study, a nutrient budget including all biomass and soil components was created for Eucalyptus urophylla. The examined nutrients were nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.

This essay is about gender equality in a Swedish upper secondary school. The aim is twofold: to obtain knowledge about feminism, gender equality, boys´ and girls´ situations in schools and gender equality work there; and to find out if government management documents for schools work effectively when it comes to promoting gender equality in schools. There are four research questions: How do teachers interpret what´s said in management documents for schools? What strategies do teachers use to promote gender equality? What opportunities and obstacles do teachers see for promoting gender equality at the specific school? And, finally, do the management documents for the school work effectively when it comes to promoting gender equality?The study has a socialist feminist perspective, which sees gender differences as a result of a mix of biological, historical and social factors. Important theoretical standpoints include gender socialization as an explanation for how girls and boys become women and men.The results of the study points out that teachers interpret management documents differently, and that they find the documents hard to understand.

This study aims to examine how social workers, in the Swedish social services, perceive and interpret LVU § 3 from a gender perspective. In total eight social workers participated in the study, attending interviews based on a vignette. From a gender perspective we wanted to found out how the social workers define "other socially destructive behaviour" and understand their thoughts about this subject. Moreover, we aimed to see if social workers perceive any differences between boys and girls behaviour. Based on several theories, two gender theories and concepts we have analysed our result from the interviews.