This Bachelor Thesis is entitled ?Swedish parental leave and gender equality. Effects on women?s conditions on the labour market?. Through our empirical results in conjunction with economical and sociological theories, this Bachelor Thesis attempts to answer the questions: 1) Why are the claims for Swedish parental leave unevenly distributed between men and women? 2) Does the uneven distribution result in discrimination of women on the labour market? 3) How do different designs of parental leave scheme influence women?s conditions on the labour market and which possibilities are there to change these conditions through changes in the design? We make use of case studies from Denmark, Iceland and Great Britain, which work as basis for policy implications for the Swedish parental leave scheme.

Gunsta is situated about 10 km east of Uppsala. Today there are plans to establish 1000 new Households in Gunsta before year 2030. The required energy for heating houses and water would be distributed via a district heating system, which also includes 200 existing residences. The annual required energy, according to this study, would be 16.2 GWh with a maximal peak effect of 6.9 MW. To meet this need, the study suggests a system with heat pumps to upgrade the 31?C water from a 1.8 kilometre deep borehole.

In Northen Bungoma, Western province ? Kenya, the Vi-Agroforestry Project (VI-AFP) has introduced a new project that covers 7000 Households. To succeed with the project, a water resources protection project, agroforestry methods will be implemented to secure the water quality of the area. In this thesis a foundation is laid for future follow-up studies of land cover and land use of this area. To carry out this study an existing method from a cooperation between VIAFP and Dalarnas University (HDa) has been implemented.

The environmental work in Sweden has developed a lot over the past fifty years. Today, most companies have some kind of environmental work. Environmental activities are regulated by the Environmental Code, which applies in parallel with other laws. This report is an environmental review for Bräcke Diakoni. The report aims to find out how much environmental impact Bräcke Diakoni has.

Kenya is a country of 35 million people and is situated in Eastern Africa. 70% of thepopulation works within the agricultural sector and for many of them food insecurity is amajor problem. Maize and beans are today the staple food for many Households. Goodfarming conditions enable two harvests per year and a potential maize yield of 4-5 tons perhectare.A major problem for many farmers in this area is the increase of the weed striga. The weedcauses severe yield losses, and has a major economic impact on smallholders.

This is a thesis project in the field of information technology which begins by evaluating existing food price comparison systems and subsequently aims to design an improved, web based system for said purpose. The system features interfaces for price reporting, price comparisons as well as various search and review functions. The objective is to create a system able to compete with existing price comparison systems, which requires careful selection of products that can be found in all foodstores that also represent different Households; a user-friendly price reporting and price comparison interface and an efficient tool for ensuring the validity of reported prices.The designed system features a more accurate formula for calculating average prices in events where the real price is missing; a more reliable security mechanism forv alidation of reported prices and a more comprehensible interface for viewing price reports, reporting prices, reviewing stores and products in comparison with existing systems. The system does, however, suffer from some optimization issues primarily in the form of inefficient database modeling; SQL queries and JavaScript code although testing has shown that these shortcomings do not hamper overall performance to such a degree that usability is compromised. Further usability testing performed on the system with five test subjects shows that a high level of overall user-friendliness has been achieved even though some special features, such as the detailed report containing price information per product for each store need to be improved.It is not possible to say at this time whether or not the designed system will be able to compete with existing ones or if the very concept of food price comparisons per se is viable in terms of profitability and marketability.

The demand for food, feed, fibre and fuel has increased in Uganda over the past 50 years due to population growth. Recurring extreme climate events such as drought and flooding, in combination with large-scale land degradation, have led to declining crop yields. Lack of equipment, money and socio-economic issues has contributed to low yields. However, the soils in Uganda have the potential to produce much higher yields than they do today. This study, which was carried out in April-June 2013 in Kkingo District, south-east Uganda, examined the effects of agroforestry on yield of cooking bananas in small-holder farming systems. Six farms practising agroforestry and six farms with no agroforestry, which were chosen in cooperation with the NGO Vi Agroforestry, were compared.

Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a root crop that plays an important role in many Households in Africa. It is sometimes called ?Africa´s food insurance?. The advantages with the crop are that cassava is drought-resistant and it can grow in a semi-dry land. It is a perennial crop and does not require much labor.

Exotic small animals that are commonly kept as pets include aquarium fish, cage and aviary birds, rodents, rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), reptiles and amphibians. These different kinds of animals, even species within the same class, may differ markedly from each other regarding physiology and requirements. Although these species are common in both Swedish Households and in pet trade, many animal keepers have a lack of knowledge about the origin and requirements of their pets. This is a cause of several health problems seen in animals which are held in captivity. In Sweden, the county administrative boards perform all animal welfare controls.

Conjunctival swabs from 12 cats in a Swedish animal shelter were analyzed by real-time PCR for FHV-1, Mycoplasma felis and chlamydiae. The purpose of this study was to see whether and to what extent these agents can be detected and if they were detected from cats housed in quarantine or in the adoption department. Samples were first taken upon arrival at the quarantine and then a second sample was taken two weeks after moving to the adoption department, or upon presentation of signs of disease. The cats spent the quarantine period in two separate quarantines: five in a new quarantine (quarantine A) and seven in a room in the old shelter (quarantine B). The difference between these quarantines was that in B the cats were often mixed together ant the hygiene routines were not as good as in quarantine A.

The task was to design and manufacture a submersible displacement pump working with the wobble plate principle. The main task for the Wobble plate pump is to be used as a sewage pump for smaller Households or dewatering pump in environments where small flows and high pressures are acquired. For these purposes ITT Flygt sell a screw pump, PC-Grinder 3068. The hydraulic part of the PC-Grinder is manufactured by a subcontractor. Therefore ITT Flygt wants to evaluate an alternative to their screwpump PC-Grinder, which can be entirely manufactured by them self.

A large part of the Namibian low income population lack access to grid distributed electricity. This mean they are effectively shut out from basic functions such as lighting, information technologies and hygienic food handling. Hence, finding ways of providing affordable off-grid electricity is an important, not to say critical, task.This master thesis is an innovation and concept development project that has been carried out in cooperation with organisations in Sweden and Namibia. The purpose of the project has been to (1) develop a concept for off-grid electricity supply in Namibia and (2) to gain a deeper knowledge within the area of innovation and product development for the Base of the Pyramid population, i.e. the poorest, but largest, socio-economic part of the global population.Essential in this project has been to acquire user understanding and to identify user needs to create a foundation for developing the concept.

In this thesis, a case study of Kungens Kurva in Stockholm is made. The municipality of Huddinge has designated the area, which is an external shopping-center, as one of its key development areas in the future. The municipality has established a future vision for the area, which extends until 2030. The vision claims, inter alia, that Kungens Kurva along with Skärholmen will become a vibrant suburb. How well the values and aims of the vision are met in the current area situation is discussed in the case study by a number of analysis that carries out the existing structures and characters of the area.

Tumble dryers and drying cabinets have to a large extent replaced the traditional way of drying clothes outdoors. They are faster, more convenient, require less space and can be operated regardless of weather conditions. This replacement has significantly increased residential energy consumption, due to the fact that tumbles dryers consume large amounts of electrical energy. In the USA 9 % of the Households electric energy is consumed when drying clothes. Over 4 million tumble dryers are sold in Europe each year and 20 % of the residential electricity consumption in Sweden is used drying and washing clothes.

Landlocked Tajikistan is situated in Central Asia and is not only the smallest republic of Central Asia, but it is also one of the most mountainous with some of Central Asia?s highest peaks. Tajikistan is currently and historically the most financially disadvantaged country within Soviet Union/Russian territories. Agriculture is the main occupation for more than half of the country?s population. Unfortunately, however, only 7% of Tajikistan is arable land and the agriculture productivity is low.