Lean production is the name given to Toyota?s Production System (TPS) by the west. The continuous improvements of their operations through Lean has made Toyota into the largest car manufacturer in the world. This, in turn, has led to several studies regarding both Toyota and their system as to find ways to apply Lean in other organizations. Even so, over 90 percent of all companies fail to implement Lean.

It's an everyday experience shared by many that nature can be of help in relieving pain, reducing stress, support mental recovery etc. In the last three decades or so this experience has also found support in a large number of scientific investigations. Among other things the experience of nature has been shown to reduce stress and pain in patients and to boost concentration and reduce impulsive behavior in children. Most of this research however has mainly been concerned with the visual modality. In this thesis the aim has been to focus on the auditory modality in this context by trying to reveal some effects on people from the exposure of nature sounds played indoors in three different environments: a grammar school class room, a kindergarten play room and a post-surgery wake up room at an intensive care unit.

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of internal medicine and clinical nutritionAbstractTitle: Can exclusive enteral nutrition replace steroid treatment in pediatric Morbus Crohn?Author: Hanna Rymark Lehnér and Josephine PetterssonSupervisor: Mette AxelsenExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: May 23, 2012Background: Morbus Crohn is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease which periodically causes great suffering for the patient. There is solid scientific evidence that treatment with steroids effectively induces and preserves remission. However, side effects are many and a great risk for stunted growth and skeletal development exists in children. A widespread view is that exclusive enteral nutrition is as effective as steroids in pediatric Crohn´s.

The wild boar (Sus scrofa L.) has expanded across Europe and Sweden in the last decades. It is a generalist species which utilizes a variety of habitats, and its presence has been shown to have both positive and negative effects for people and the landscape they are in. The abundance and increase of wild boar has previously been shown to differ between counties in Sweden, but there have been few explanations as to why. In this study, I investigated correlations between the per capita rate of change (r) among wild boar populations in Sweden and a variety of different habitats on the county level. I also investigated if fragmentation per se or in certain habitats could be associated with the wild boar?s per capita rate of change. My results show that fragmentation/diversity per se was not correlated with wild boar r.

The aim of these two studies was to investigate the possible physiological, behavioural and emotional changes that appear after human-horse interactions and also to find an explanation to why they occur. One aspect that is discussed is whether the wellbeing of humans can be coupled to interacting with horses and of how the animals respond to the interaction. The first study was performed on 9 horses and their owners, both parts being subjects to registrations during 4 different interaction treatments. The second study was performed on 6 horses with registrations only being performed on the horses during 2 different treatments. Nine horses underwent 3 different treatments all performed by their owners (H = stroking of the horses forehead, B = brushing and M = stimulation of the withers) in addition to a control round (K). Each treatment lasted for 4 minutes but observations were performed until after 45 minutes from start.

All companies face risk in their daily business. Internationalised companies tend to experience higher risk due to for example unfamiliar business environment than companies that act only on the national market. Estonia became independent as late as in 1991 and is therefore a new interesting market for many companies in neighbouring countries like Sweden. Risks that are most apparent for an internationalised company are political risk, currency risk, capital and interest rate risk, business risk and credit risk. Our intention of this study was to find out how Swedish companies acting on the Estonian market faced the different risks when entering the Estonian market and how they value the risks today.

The purpose of the study is to investigate and elucidate how low-cost airlines can influence and develop tourism in a region. In order to bring about the purpose the author used two research questions. Have low-cost airlines contributed to regional development? How many additional visitors have low-cost airlines contributed to Stockholm? In order to answer these questions a survey was carried out at Arlanda airport and statistics were collected. The results of the study show that there has been a regional development.

The analysis of regional development and the formation of regional policy have experienced an increasing importance in Europe and in Sweden during the last decades. There is a widespread assumption that the increasing significance of regions is due to the diminishing role of the nationstate in the era of globalization. This essay suggests that there is a hegemonic discourse, heavily relying on the assumptions of New Regionalism, when addressing regional building. Sometimes described as an ideology, New Regionalism, which is derived from research of successful regions, is based on the assumption that regional competitiveness and autonomy creates economic growth. The Committee on Public Sector Responsibilities (Ansvarskommittén) suggests that Sweden requires new regional structure, due to the increasing expenditures facing the welfare state.

The aim of this review was to examine scientific literature to determine what kind of physiological and psychological benefits derive from human-dog interaction, as well as attempt to uncover a possible mechanism behind these benefits and whether or not they are mutually beneficial. A growing body of research indicates there are physiological and psychological benefits associated with human-dog interaction. Significant cardiovascular benefits have been linked with human-dog interaction, as have lowered blood pressure, cortisol and heart rate. Interaction with dogs is often associated with a feeling of social support and well-being, and dogs also seem to facilitate social interaction between people. Dogs? ability to buffer and reduce stress is also well documented. A strong indication was found regarding a relationship between physical contact and benefits associated with human-dog interaction.

Orust Kretsloppsakademi is a nonprofit organisation, with a goal of annually generate the same amount of electrical energy that is consumed. Orust is an island on the west coast of Sweden, north of Gothenburg. The population of 15 000 reaches 40 000 during summer, due to the large amount of vacationer. The total electricity demand is 174 GWh a year with a maximum power need of 32 MW. This report presents an analysis for the plausibility of their plan and from a power system stability perspective, the effects on the electrical grid.The conclusion is that the restraints for development of power generation from wind, solar and wave generation, are the power systems capability to transfer power, primarily in the transformers of the grid.

The structural rationalization of rural firms in Sweden has led to many new creative ways of developing companies. The agriculture sector is characterized by the need of capital in form of buildings, labor and inventory. The rationalization process has led to free capacity in rural firms when new technology make buildings and inventory not longer necessary for the production process. To get a better cost coverage this free capacity can be used to start-up new business areas that help the rural firm to growth.The study aims to identify factors that motives entrepreneurs in rural firms to develop new business areas. The purpose is also to analyze driving forces that lies behind development of rural firms and the forces that support or not support development in rural firms.The study is built upon five cases that all can be categorized as firms with different size and orientation.

Purpose.The purpose of this essay was formulated as to examine the relationship between the development of deaths caused by unintentional injury and fast economic development in a country. The purpose is to create a picture of the development in the chosen countries.Background.Injuries and the deaths that sometimes follow are a problem for all communities, if nothing else just because of costs and the absence of incomes for the state. Countries ability to restrain these deaths should be of interest. Studies show that the number of deaths causedby unintentional injuries correlates inversely with the GDP/c, we can therefore expect that better economic conditions leads to fewer deaths and vice versa. It has been shown that an economic crisis often leads to considerably higher death rates.

AbstractEvidence based research has shown that organized parent support programmes have a goodeffect in strengthening the role of the parent and preventing problems during growth. Thisin turn has a great significance for Public Health.Komet is one of the evidence based programmes used in Sweden, based on Americanprogrammes and adapted to Swedish conditions.This qualitative study consists of interviews with six children between six and nine yearswith behaviour problems, whose parents have taken part in the Komet programme.With Grounded Theory as research approach the children?s experiences of the programmeand relations within the family have been looked into and analysed.The result of this study suggests that a space for growth of their own is a common need ofthe children, and that this can be achieved by giving them the opportunity to function in afamily environment where they are seen and understood.The Komet programme contributed to this by giving the family tools to strengthen relationswithin the family, create calm and make the children more visible.The self image of the children in this study had improved which gave them more room togrow in a strengthened family situation. This in turn improved conditions for good feelings,and sense of well being, of importance for child development and health..

Chinas government has a multifunctional program for a more sustainable forestry since 2000. This six key forest programs goal is to develop a more sustainable forest sector but also take environment consideration. The state forest administration in China has decided to create 5.8 million hectare of fast growing and high yield forest. Eucalyptus has showed to have good properties for pulp and timber production and therefore Eucalyptus plantations are under development in costal areas in southern China. By adding extra nutrients, growth can be enhanced in Eucalyptus plantations.

Bakgrund: Varje år utses, av Dagens Industri, cirka 1000 företag till gasellföretag vilket motsvarar färre än 0,5 % av alla svenska aktiebolag.  Dessa företag uppfyller vissa kriterier där tillväxt är den viktigaste. Gasellföretagens tillväxt är viktig för Sverige då de både bidrar ekonomiskt och står för många nya arbetstillfällen. Dock är det få företag i Sverige som har kunskapen att växa. För att ett företag ska kunna uppnå tillväxt ligger det i grunden en tillväxtstrategi som måste implementeras inom organisationen på bästa sätt. Vilka tillväxtstrategier använder gasellföretag och hur implementerar de dem?Syfte: Beskriva gasellföretagens utformning och implementering av strategier samt förklara deras tillväxt genom att identifiera tillväxtfaktorer.Genomförande: Studien är av kvalitativ art och baserad på intervjuer med fyra fallföretag.Slutsats: Vi har utifrån vår fallstudie identifierat vilka tillväxtstrategier och ekonomiska styrsystem som gasellföretag använder.