The basic ingredient of paper is the individual wood fibers. The property of the fibers depends on a variety of factors e.g., method of pulp production and processing. The final sheet quality depends in part on how the fibers interface between each other and therefore factors that affect the fiber size are of interest.The flexibility of the fibers depends in part on the pore water i.e., the fiber swelling. The sheet becomes less flexible at low water content which gives a loss in strength. Thus it becomes desirable to increase the water uptake.The experimental investigation described in this report consists of exposing the wood fibers to different ions and ionic strength and then measure the pore size by thermoporosimetry where a DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimeter) is used.

AbstractThe urgency to find alternative fabrics to conventionally produced cotton is increasing as vast amounts of agrochemicals are used and a lot of irrigation is required. In this literature survey the potential of organic cultivation practices to produce highly qualitative hemp fibre, suitable for the textile industry, was investigated. The definition of a fibre in the textile context as well as of the qualities that are essential for a textile fibre was necessary as a base for the discussion in this thesis. The quality parameters looked at were fineness, strength, length, friction, and colour. The impact of external growth factors and plant development on these quality properties are discussed.

Today, we use BKR and BBK 04 when designing concrete structures inSweden, which will, in the near future, be replaced by Eurocode 2. When you are designing buildings, you will use Eurocode 2 Part 1-1 and with this new standard, some new rules and general rules will be necessary to adopt. To examine how BKR and BBK 04 tells apart from Eurocode 2 when designing concrete structures, one beam and one column with often common dimensions, is studied. The beam is designed with consideration of (considerate to) durability at bending moments, shear forces and control of cracking. The column is designed with consideration of durability at eccentric axial load and bending moments in cross section on account of (due to) geometric imperfections. BBK 04 has gone one step closer to Eurocode 2 than earlier editions and the things that are different, when calculating reinforcement, is how they use the partial factors.

Gender equality and gender equality work is relevant for today's working life, and previously male-dominated occupations may be increasingly under pressure to become more equal. This paper aims to explore and understand how the firefighters at a station are experiencing gender and gender equality in rescue services.Using theories of how sex is done, how a power perspective and a structural approach can show men's and women's different conditions in an organization, and theories that are more specific to gender and change management the firefighters talk about gender and gender equality are analyzed. Essay results were collected through interviews with seven firefighters and then analyzed and interpreted with the help of theories.The analysis shows that there is a perception among the firefighters that men and women are biologically different and that required physical strength legitimizes the exclusion of women. Inequality is seen as something natural and by pursuing an active gender equality women are given unwarranted benefits. When physical strength becomes a legitimate reason for exclusion, the responsibility for gender inequality is put on women and that women don?t have what it takes.There is also a resistance against gender equality analyzed in the paper, and it's stated opposition seems to be directed against the management's way of recruiting women.

This essay examines pull-out strength of threaded rods fixed into glulam timber. The technology is intended to be used in hidden joints between glulam components. The work began with a study of literature focusing on current research within the topic, mainly to create a base of knowledge before the testing was initiated. Studies of scientific articles reveals a lack of research within this area, which makes it difficult to develop standards and calculation models for these joints. The drill holes in the tests have a diameter of 7 mm.

Self-compacting concrete has soon been around for a decade. Recently the prefabrication industry has started to use this fairly new concrete type in larger scales, mainly because of its distinctive properties.  There are still certain areas that need to be thoroughly examined, such as bond capacity. There have been very few studies regarding shear capacity due to the fact that the procedure is complicated.This report will highlight a method to examine the shear capacity of different surfaces that have been prewetted as well as non-prewetted surfaces. The surface areas follow BBK 04?s and Eurocode 2?s demand for surface roughness.  A smooth surface will be completed in order to confirm if the different shapes influence the bond strength by shear stress or not.                       The purpose of this essay is to measure the bond strength within the shear capacity as well as examine the impact it has on surface roughness and treatment for shear bond.The method used to identify the shear capacity is called L-shaped Push-Off Test.

Many everyday tasks and also many sports require good grip and forearm strength. Everything from carrying boxes and lifting a child to grab the arms and legs in various martial arts, or holding a tennis racket involving the hand and forearm muscles in various ways. It is therefore important to train these muscles to prevent injuries and congestion and to perform well in sport. A well known way to train functional strength in the hand and forearm muscles is weight training with thick handles. The purpose of this study was to investigate the differences in muscle activity in the upper arm and forearm muscles as well as the deltoids between two bars of different diameter (28mm and 57mm) in two different weight training exercises using electromyography (EMG).

This thesis work has been performed on request by SWT (Scandinavia WeldTech AB). SWT manufactures, develop and sell ready to assemble building systems for concrete rafter beam applications. The beams in this system consist of a u-beam that is welded to a flange. To be able to fill the beams with concrete there is holes in the beams top end. The holes are made in a ?punching machine?.  These holes are cut out and the remaining steel piece is bent down in the u-beam.

A large part of the interactions between horse and rider during horseback riding takes place through the reins and the bit and devices for measuring the tension on the reins, rein tension meters, has fairly recently been developed. To safeguard the welfare of the ridden horse riders need to be aware of the rein tension they apply and actively work to decrease it. Furthermore, there is a need to develop the study of rein tension through new techniques and refined analysis procedures. A good-quality rein tension meter should be small in size, sensitive, durable and as accurate for light rein tension as for strong forces. Rein tension meters used in research on horse and rider interaction commonly depend on strain gauge technique for generating rein tension data.

An investigation of the heat impact of laser cutting on the material properties when producing tensile and impact test specimens of different steel types of varying thickness has been performed. The purpose of the thesis project was to provide recommendations regarding how much material that needs to be milled from the laser cut edge before tensile and impact tests. The study has been performed partly by investigating the test specimens by heat camera when the specimens were cut in the laser cutting line and partly by performing hardness tests, investigation by microscopy, and tolerance and roughness measurements and tensile tests of the laser cut material and material produced in the traditional multi operation machine. The results show that the heat affected zone in the thicker materials is greater than previously thought of, and that the currently used recommendation has to be adjusted. The study clearly shows that the thicker the material, the greater the heat affected zone, independently of the steel type, since the thicker material takes longer time to cut.

Concrete is a very common construction material. It´s characteristics are strength, durability and formablility. Superplasticizer is a common admixture, which changes the properties of concrete. Today (spring 2007) there are no certian mathematical methods to calculate the required percentage of this admixture needed to give the necessary set slump flow in the overall concrete recipe. Concrete batching companies must therefor experiment with different amount of superplasticizer in order to meet the specified slump and strength. The purpose og this report is to investigate if any mathematical relation can be established between the amount of superplasticizer used and the slump flow achieved. After carrying out some practical experiments using four different superplasticizers a direct relationship can be establish between the percentage of admixture used and the slump/flowability achieved. Unfortunatly at present due to the numerous variables, the calculation of mathematical formula can not be achieved..

AimThe purpose of this study is to investigate whether there is scientific evidence that exercise and/or manual therapy can improve function, in terms of increased mobility and strength on shoulder impingement-like symptoms among athletes. Another aim is to investigate whether these interventions can reduce shoulder pain.MethodA systematic review was conducted in the databases PubMed, CINAHL, PEDro and Amed. A total of thirteen articles were selected for further review and compilation. They were then graded for level of evidence according to the PEDro scale and the Swedish Council on Technology Assessment (SBU).ResultsThe systematic review shows that there is strong scientific evidence that acupuncture and heat can reduce pain in athletes diagnosed with supraspinatus-tendiopathy. There is limited scientific evidence that exercise increases strength, limited scientific evidence that stretching increases mobility and insufficient scientific evidence that a combination of treatments, with both exercise and stretching, reduces pain and increases function in overhead athletes.ConclusionsExercise and manual therapy can reduce pain and/or improve function in terms of increased mobility and strength in athletes with shoulder impingement-like symptoms.

Det här examensarbetet behandlar viktsoptimering och omkonstruktion av en lastcontainer genom att använda höghållfast stål. Arbetet har utförts i Luleå åt LuCoil Steel AB i samarbete med Vikströms Åkeri AB. Vikströms Åkeri AB är ett rikstäckande företag med huvudkontor på Storheden utanför Luleå där det även finns en tillverkningsverkstad för lastbilscontainrar. Man har under de senaste åren i samarbete med LuCoil Steel AB börjat tillverka containrar i höghållfast stål för att kunna använda sig av tunnare material och göra dessa containrar lättare än tidigare. Vikten på containrar har stor betydelse inom transortnäringen.

Background: Today when leisure time is spent, spontaneous sports activities decrease, due to a more comfortable way of living and physical capacity among non active adolescents decreases. There for it´s interesting to see how the physical capacity level has changed over time among young people participating in organized leisure time sports.Studies around the world show that young people standing outside organized sport activities have tended to decrease their physical activity levels over the last few decades. Less leisure time is spent doing physical activity and sometimes gets put into context with increased time spent behind the computer or inactivity.Design: A retrospective study of the test results on physical capacity between 1982 and 2009 for students applying to Växjö track and field high school. A total of 635 students (15 years old) have done 11 physical tests during the years. Five of these tests, with enough participants (at least 100) and documentation over at least 10 years, were used in this study.Results: This study shows that young track and field athletes have maintained the same physical capacity from 1982 to 2009.

Abstract The core is the center of gravity in our body. Injuries and overload in the joints, is the most common reason for not be able to work in Sweden today. A god strength capacity in the core is important for secure and effective movements, as well for active athletes, as for non athletes. The increased number of employees, who report in sick today, has been correlated with psychological bad health. New methods to deal with mental and physical health problems among people can indicate to the fact that Yoga in the western world has increased its members, due its spiritual and physical recognition in favor of well being.