ABSTRACT Introduction: This study is based on Aantonovskys SOC-theory; Sense of Coherence. SOC can be described as a theory which describes how a person experience her existence and the theory is based on three key expressions; comprehensibility, manageability and meaningfulness. Aim: The aim of the study is to examine a group of elderly (>80 years) men and women who live alone to investigate how many percent of the group that estimate a high value of SOC. The study aims to investigate which factors contribute to the fact that a person achieve a high value of SOC and increase the understanding about how these factors concretely can appear in a persons life. Methods: Questionnaire (SOC scale) and Interviews.

Measurement of plasma concentrations of natriuretic peptides have been suggested to be of diagnostic and prognostic value in canine cardiac disease. In several previous canine studies, however, a considerable overlap between investigated groups has been identified. A reliable natriuretic peptide test for use in clinical practice requires establishment of reference values for natriuretic peptides in healthy dogs and cut-off values for subclinical disease as well as for clinical signs of congestive heart failure. Numerous physiological, pathological and pharmacological factors, aside heart function, may influence concentration of natriuretic peptides. A potential effect of dog breed on natriuretic peptide concentration has been suggested but has, to our knowledge, not previously been specifically studied.

AimThe purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between self-perceived health and level of physical activity among the staff at The Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences (GIH). We focused on the following questions:How does the amount of physical activity affect the self-perceived health among the staff at GIH?  Are there any gender differences in self-perceived health following the amount of physical activity? Do the self-perceived health and the amount of physical activity differ between the various age groups? Are there any differences between the staff responsible for health education compared with the other staff?MethodWe chose a validated questionnaire for our study. It was a combination of two already previously validated questionnaires together with our own supplementary background questions. The questionnaire was presented to 96 respondents and we received 76 answers.

The purpose of this study was to find possible explanations to why the studied herd had an increased incidence of abomasal displacements. The incidence of abomasal displacement in the herd was three times higher than the incidence of an average Swedish herd. The cows in this study were fed a total mixed ration. The different parameters studied were: energy content in food, nutritional content in food, body condition scoring, concomitant other diseases, and blood parameters of glucose, fructosamine, cholesterol, insulin, betahydroxybutyrat and free fatty acids. The author?s suggestions to decrease the problems are to decrease the energy content in the TMR to lower the cows? body condition scores in the dry period and changing the content in the TMR to increase the amount of NDF and adding structure in the form of chopped straw.

The purpose of this study is to map out and to analyze the spatial variation of female representation at the national level in established democracies. The aim is also to explain the variation in the female representation. The main questions that the paper tries to answer are:1.How does women representation in established democratic parliaments vary?2.Why does women representation in established democratic parliaments vary?This study is a comparative and statistic study, i.e. a study that includes a bigger number of countries and where quantitative analysis methods are used in order to achieve comparative analyses.

In Sweden plans to build high speed railways have been around since the early 1990s and the planshave developed to be more precised since. The future Swedish high-speed rail network is supposedto consist of two lines. Götalandsbanan; from Stockholm to Gothenburg, and Europabanan fromJönköping through the Öresund Region to Hamburg.The description of the aim to build high-speed railways in Sweden has in former reports always beento achieve rapid passenger traffic between big Scandinavian cities and Europe. There are almostnothing mentioned about the possibilities of high-speed transports of cargo on these railways. Thisstudy aims to clarify the freight transport market for Götalandsbanan and Europabanan.Today there is only one transport system with high-speed freight trains.

The energy use in a workshop company has been examined in this work in order to find areas for energy efficiency improvement. The combined oil and electricity heating in the company were compared with other alternative heating systems including cooling of the premises in following combinations:Ground source heat pump for heating and coolingDistrict heating and absorption coolingDistrict heating and low temperate surface water coolingEnergy use, operation costs and carbon dioxide emissions were calculated for the current heating systems and the three alternatives including cooling. The ground source heat pump for heating and cooling decreases bought energy with 34 MWh annually compared to current heating only. The district heating and low temperate surface water cooling has the largest reduction of operation cost and carbon dioxide. The operation cost decreases with 42 kSEK and the carbon dioxide with 43 metric ton CO2 annually.

The municipality of Sandviken is in a state of strong growth. This affects the need for more hotel rooms in Sandviken, in a way that it?s profitable to invest in a new hotel. Sandvikens largest company, the steal industry Sandvik AB, grows just like Sandviken, and have great influence on the need of more hotel rooms. Today there are three hotels placed in Sandviken, and these hotels aren?t enough when the pressure of hotel guests is at its top.The purpose with the project was to analyse the criteria?s that are important for localization of a new hotel in the Sandviken, and to clarify what kind of hotel Sandviken is in need of.

This thesis suggests an explanation for how it is possible for individuals living in an unsafe neighborhood to expressa highlevel of security. Araby is the district in Växjö municipality withthe highest level of insecurity. Within the district, there is acategory of individuals in security-measurements showing a high degree of security. Inhabitants living in house in Araby also seem to show a higher level of security than inhabitants in the same accommodation in other neighborhoods in the municipality.The study's purpose is to understand how individuals belonging to an unsafe neighborhood can experience a high degree of security.Qualitative data were collected from an observation in Araby and from interviews with individuals living in house in the district.Previous research has shown that security in the surrounding area depends on several factors, such as disorders, the degree of social control and personal opinions. Thestudy shows how a distinction to places and people in the district can explain the degree of security.

This document presents calculations of adjusted GDP based on satellite household accounts for the year 2001 with the purpose to compare adjusted and official GDP for Sweden, Germany, Estonia and Finland. Household production in each country is estimated using time use survey data from Eurostat and a monetary value is estimated using average wage (after taxes) for each country. The results indicate that the value of household production using this methodology increases GDP with between 42% (Finland) and 55% (Germany) compared to official GDP statistics. A comparison of GDP/capita between the countries included in the study shows that the GDP/capita in Germany increases more that the other countries due to the relatively high proportion of time used for household production (mainly German women) combined with a high average wage. In fact, the results show that Germany has higher adjusted GDP/capita than both Finland and Sweden (but Germany has lower GDP per capita when official statistics is used for the comparison).

The purpose of this paper is to try to get an understanding of the underlying causes and reasons that students starting in seventh grade junior high school seek out a particular group, and the extent to which they do so.The work is based on the questions: How do students perceive the meeting with their prospective bench-companion in a new composite class? What should a teacher consider when it comes to bench placement in a new composite class? Do the students change, and if so to what extent, friends when they start high school? What are the factors that affect/have affected the students' choice of friends? How large a role does the school play for pupils relationships? What thoughts and feelings do the students have regarding new encounters?I have conducted in-depth interviews with six adolescents in grade seven as the basis for the understanding of how students relate to group selection and group affiliation, and I have then compared this material with previous research on the subject. Furthermore I have availed myself of literature in social- and group psychology.The conclusion which has emerged is that the most important component of a group-process is the sense of solidarity and security, and the results show that students largely retain their old relationships rather than adding new, when they start high school. Hence the teacher plays an important role in ensuring that any imbalance in the group is offset and make sure that nobody is excluded, but also to help make room for new groups and be aware of the sensitive and responsive phase of life that the young people are in..

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is one of the leading causes of acute encephalitis in humans. The virus is spread by mosquitoes, mainly belonging to the Culex species. The main reservoirs are considered to be birds and pigs, with pigs constituting the most important reservoir in regard to human infection. During the last few decades the production of pork has increased significantly in Vietnam. With 90% of pigs being kept in households owning 10 pigs or less, pigs are widely spread across most parts of the country.

High technology companies in Sweden spend a huge amount of money on research and product development in proportion to what they get back in earnings from their inventions. Product development has traditionally been regarded as much more important than business development. This thesis aims to point out the critical factors behind successful business development processes for high technology companies. We have chosen to make a case study of Hexagon, a highly successful and innovative company within the measurement technology business. Internal and external actors that are important for business development have been identified and interviewed in order to understand how ideas are developed and executed.

Title: Go for it! - A study of anxiety in relation to students performing in ensemble class.This study discusses anxiety in relation to students in ensemble performance. The expectations on musicians are extremely high and demanding. They are expected to perform to the maximum of their ability despite both physical and mental pressure. I present in this study the result of the interviews I have performed with three students at Swedish Academies of Music. The study shows that all of the students included are in one way or the other suffering from anxiety in relation to performance.

Illegal logging and its related trade is of great concern around the world. The European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) is a regulatory approach by the EU to prevent illegal timber and timber products to be placed on the European Union inner market. This means the regulation affects both actors in the member countries as well as the actors exporting timber and timber products to the EU from non EU member countries. This study aims to study the implementation process of the EUTR in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B-H), and its preconditions. Institutional theory is used to understand and explain how the EUTR affects B-H organisations? business environment, and how the organisations choose to respond to the EUTR.