This essay aims to explore continuity in water centric cult within the period of the Christianization of Scandinavia (ca 800-1100 AD) and to understand the changing of symbolism of water in pre-Christian cult and early Christian religion. It has previously been thought that Christian priests took over the old holy wells and renamed them after saint, all to ease the pagan people into a Christian lifestyle. But archaeological evidence shows that the cult at these wells, and other water centric sites, where almost completely abandoned a few hundred years before the Christians came to Scandinavia. The Christians should not have felt the need to transform this tradition since it was only practiced in a very small and supposedly private scale. On the contrary, religious activities at these wells seems to increase with the new religion and perhaps this is explained by Christianity itself.

This essay is about the religious change that Jing-cult underwent 600-1500 A.D. It is a historical-critical essay based on literature studies, using Ha?kan Rydving?s theory of religious change. In chronological order, it will go through the religious change from ancient Japan to the late Muromachi-period when Shinto was created. It describes the early temple- cult, buddhism's mission to Japan and how the Jingikan was created.

The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine subject positions of masculinity in the fantasy novels by Michael Moorcock, spanning from the sixties to the present. Questions are: Which positions of masculinity dominate in four fantasy works by Michael Moorcock? How do these positions differ from each other or are there similarities? Do they strengthen or undermine the hegemonic masculinity? How do these positions of masculinity relate to historic configurations of masculinity? In order to find feasible answers to these questions I have used a theoretical and methodological approach rooted in the sociology of literature, mens studies and discourse analysis. Different masculinities are defined as subject positions. The hegemonic masculinity is defined as the image of masculinity that dominate and that every man has to relate to, in one way or another.

This thesis presents a method of making repairs in log houses. The purpose of the thesis is to use this method to exemplify crafters practical intellect. The method is based on the use of a template board to transfer the measurements onto the new log. There is a dearth of literature dealing with timber repairs, and the literature regarding using a template board for this is non-existent. The description of this method has therefore been compiled from interviews with active timber crafters.

Datorspelsbranschen är en relativt ung bransch, både jämfört med andra delarav mjukvaruindustrin och nöjesbranschen. En av de stora utmaningarnaspelutvecklare står inför är planeringen av den långsiktiga kompetensförsörjningen.Dock saknas sammanställda historiska data och applicerbararesursestimeringsmetoder, vilket gör detta arbete näst intill omöjligt. Det förstadelmålet med den här studien är att samla in historiska data angående strukturenoch storleken på utvecklingsteam som utvecklat AAA-spel (professionelltutvecklade spel med en hög budget) för pc-datorer. Datan samlas in frånkreditlistor hämtade via webbsidan Mobygames.com. Det andra delmålet beståri att utreda huruvida den insamlade datan kan appliceras på modeller förestimering av framtida personalbehov.

The issue of sick leave and an increase of ill health in the workplace is a social problem inSwedenthat is currently an important topic. Public human service organisations are one of the sectors where this is a major problem. The aim of this study is to examine what significance the leadership in public human service organisations has on the health and sense of well being among the staff within the organisation. We have chosen to look at this issue from a health promoting perspective where we focused on health factors and to what extent the management can influence and promote the possibilities for a healthy workplace with healthy staff. The results of the study are based on interviews with three leaders within the public human service sector.

The aim of this study was to review six professionals supporters work to support adolescents in grief, and if this support is the kind of support adolescents actually need. These professional supporters are two hospital social workers, two hospice social workers and two support group leaders. The questions included in the work are; How does the professional support look like for adolescents aged 12-18, who has lost a parent in cancer? Are the adolescents getting the support they need from these professionals? The study is based on qualitative interviews based on interview guides, which where then analyzed thematically and linked to previous research and grief theory. The result indicate that adolescents may need different forms of support when their parent is dying or has died.

This paper has it?s background in Physical Activity on Prescription, a projectwhich the Swedish sports movement is part of. The study refers to a limiteddivision of sports for adults, namely a phenomenon here by referred to as dropin-activity. This form of physical activity is characterized by an understandingthat the participant often lack experience and that it is possible to pay for eachoccasion. The purpose of the study was thus to take a closer look on organized,non-profit sports clubs which offer this type of exercise for adults.

2005 was the year that all of the 25 member states in the European Union were to ratify the treaty of a constitution for Europe. The year did, however, offer a series of unexpected and slightly shocking events as both France and the Netherlands voted no to the constitution. Because of this the already planned referendums across many of the other member states were either postponed indefinately or the debates simply died down. The fact that two of the most pro-EU countries didn?t ratify the constitution was not only something that certainly raised the question of how future referendums in other, more EU-negative, states would turn out, but it could also be seen as harsh criticism against the EU as a whole.This is a theory consuming study, as it uses different theories of integration to explain the development of the EU, which in turn supports and strengthens the essay's conclusion.

This study examines how gender is at work in four series of teaching material of Swedish in the years 7-9 of the Swedish primary school. Analyzing eight books in total, and also their respective teacher?s manuals, the study focuses on the following aspects in both texts and pictures within the books: heteronormativity, marginalization, stereotypes, equality, and also general gender related issues. Doing so, this study approaches the analyzed material with the eyes of a feminist critic. Moreover, this study applies both a qualitative and a quantitative analysis as its method of approach. Initially, the theoretical background and scientific method for this study is presented.

Sycamore maple (Acer pseudoplatanus L.) is a common broadleaved species throughout Europe, however often of minor interest to the forest sector. There is currently a lack of research on sycamore maple, and some of its characteristics have throughout history contributed to a negative reputation in both literature and the forest society. Since broadleaved species in general are of great importance to the forest sector in Europe and presumably of enhanced significance in the future, deepened research is needed and particularly Swedish. With a desire to hopefully increase the interest for sycamore maple, was the objective of the study to examine the current status of the sycamore stands in southern Sweden. The study was carried out both as a survey with inventory field work and as a literature study. Parts of the latter mentioned is also presented in the introduction. The study shows that the majority of the sycamore stands in Sweden are growing well, producing fairly high qualities and volumes.

The main purpose of this study is to examine and gain increased knowledge concerning the legal security of children taken into protective care. The purpose is also to enable contemporary social workers to reflect around phenomena in today´s social work, among other things how investigations are carried out surrounding children taken into protective care thought this historical study. To find out how social workers dealt with caretakings I have chosen to examine the personel files that the social workers compiled for each child and also interview a man who worked as a social worker at the time of the investigation. The paper is divided into two part studies were the first one studies legal security through Mattsson´s (2002) further development of KjÆnstad?s way to analyse legal security, namely through investigating the clarity of the law, procedural rules and the comtetenay of the social workers.

This paper investigates whether the traditional accrual based trading strategy first documented by Sloan (1996) can be refined using fundamental analysis. Specifically, this is done by implementing the composite signal F_SCORE introduced by Piotroski (2000) to identify financially strong or weak firms. We find that by applying both investment models simultaneously, in a model we call P_KOMB, the mean market-adjusted return earned by an investor exploiting the accrual anomaly can be increased by 14.8% annually. This is achieved by taking a long position in strong firms (as defined by the composite signal) in the lowest accrual portfolio, while an offsetting short position is taken in weak firms in the highest accrual portfolio, repeated annually between 1997 and 2007. Consistent with prior studies, positive market-adjusted returns can be attained through assessment of accruals as well as key value drivers found in historical financial data.

Purpose: The main purpose of this study is to study the 45 funds, divided into three differentdivisions, then the result will provide a greater understanding of how returns change with ahigher risk.Methodology: The study is based on a quantitative approach. The survey was conducted bygathering raw data from databases and secondary data from literature, printed and electronicsources.Theoretical perspectives: The study is based on the theory: the efficient markethypothesis, which argues that future returns can not be calculated as the market is fullyinformed. The study is therefore studying historical yields.Empirical foundation: Empirical data are acquired from www.morningstar.se, andtherefore also treated on this page. The material is then divided into documents and time axes.Conclusions: The study has shown that high-risk funds give a higher percentage returns thanmedium-and low-risk funds. However, does not imply a higher risk automatically earn ahigher return when the low-risk funds have shown a higher yield than medium-risk funds.

The purpose of this thesis is library work in exile, more specifically The Kurdish library in Stockholm (?Kurdiska biblioteket?). The Kurds have a long history of exile, forming a part of their national and cultural identity. I have therefore chosen in the analysis three concepts: nationalism, ethnicity and culture. The Kurdish library is unique and is different from a traditional library in many ways.