Due to soft grounds in combination with seasonal variation in soil humidity, there is a lack of stands that are possible to cut during spring and autumn in some geographical regions. For Holmen Skog this sometimes means that a large proportion of the contracted private forest is cut during the winter when the ground is frozen. One consequence of this is that the proportion of winter stands in the stand bank of own forest increases while spring and autumn stands becomes a scarcity. This in combination with milder winters, especially when there is a long period of reduced bearing capacity in spring or autumn, means that the situation rapidly can become critical. The overall goal with this study was to generate basic data for decision support in the work to achieve a sustainable distribution between own forest and contracted private forest in the stand bank. The study took place at Holmen Skog, district of Umeå, during autumn 2007 and was based on interviews and an analysis of harvest planning and delivery data. The study showed that there is a problem with how the cutting is distributed between own and contracted private forest during the year and that it foremost is the proportion of winter thinning of own forest that has increased in the stand bank.

Creating a database to manage medical data is not the easiest. We create a database to be used for a presentation tool that presents medical data about patients that is stored in the database. We examine which of the three databases, MySQL with relational design, MySQL with EAV design and MongoDB that are best suited for storing medical data. The analysis i performed in two steps. The first step handles the database that is most effective to retriev data. The second step examines how easy it is to change the structure of the various databases. The results show that depending on whether efficiency or maintenance is most important, different databases are the best choise. MySQL with relational design proves to be most effective while MongoDB is the easiest to maintain..

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine the function of the budget as a means of control within an organisation in the public sector. To accomplish this, a case study has been conducted on a certain business unit within Luftfartsverket responsible for providing Air Traffic Control services. The thesis is built on a framework of contemporary theories of budgeting and includes a brief discussion of the weaknesses usually associated with the traditional budget. The conclusion of the study is that the use of budget as a means of financial control within Luftfartsverket is not efficient enough at the moment.

Pharmaceuticals are environmental pollutants that are a major threat to aquatic ecosystems and very little is known about their ecological consequences. In this study growth, survival and behaviour (sociability, activity and boldness) of perch fry (Perca fluviatilis) were examined in order to study the possible effects of exposure to a benzodiazepine anxiolytic drug, Oxazepam, during embryonic development. The study tested following hypotheses: (1) perch growth is affected positively by exposure during embryonic development; (2) early perch survival is affected positively by exposure during embryonic development; and (3) boldness and activity increases while sociability decreases in perch fry exposed during embryonic development. Embryos of naturally spawned perch were exposed to water with two different concentrations of Oxazepam. The embryos were exposed during different parts (24-hour periods) of the embryonic development, because embryos may be more vulnerable at certain times during embryonic development and/or because the exposure at different times can produce different effects.

A future expansion of wind power in the Nordic power system makes the balancing for the transmission system operator Svenska Kraftnät (SvK) more complicated. Up to the hour of delivery the balance responsible parties? (BRP) makes prognoses and plans, for consumption and production, to help maintain the balance in the electrical grid. How well this is accomplished is affected by the setup of the market design. Therefore SvK has proposed the following possible changes in market design: Increase the imbalance costsIntensify the regulation of imbalancesIncrease the temporal resolution on the different marketsPresent the prices for balancing power in real-timeModify the balancing market to simplify auction of consumption bidsA mapping over the BRPs? processes within planning and trading on the day-ahead, intra-day, and the balancing market has been performed in this thesis.

Introduction: For the adolescent to be diagnosed with cancer could be turbulent and life may end up in tatters. A cancer diagnose affects the adolescents' relationships with parents, friends and new acquaintances. For teens that are affected by cancer, losing peer relations are a great fear and to maintain friendship can be one of several challenges during this period.Purpose: The purpose of the study is to describe adolescents' experiences of peer relations after being diagnosed with cancer.Method: Qualitative interviews with four adolescents were conducted and collected data were analyzed using a qualitative content analysis.Findings: The result shows that peer relations got affected in both positive and negative ways. This is reported in three categories; ?Losing friends?, ?Friends matter? and ?Changed friendship?.

The purpose of this study has been to examine how customers, by interacting with each other, can communicate and create the image of a brand. We find this topic to be relevant since there are no previous studies conducted concerning the customers influence on the brand image. Our ambition has been to describe in what ways and to what extent the customer can affect and influence the brand image by communicating with other customers. To fulfill our purposed we have targeted three important questions which are:? In which ways can the customer affect the communicated image of a brand?? To what extent can the customer influence the brand image and the perceived value?? Who has control over the brand, the customer or the company?For this study we have used a qualitative approach in which we have conducted eight personal interviews with brand consultants and the editor of the magazine Dagens Media which has given us the foundation for our analysis.

The construction industry is currently receiving much criticism for inefficiency and slow development while demands for reduced built in moisture and efficiency increases. This report examines whether the use of field factories can meet these requirements and what factors that will be critical for future use of field factories. Industrialized construction with field factory is compared with traditional loose timber construction and industrial construction in the fields of execution, logistics and working environment. The aim of this report is to provide a basis for field factories current and future use and development. To achieve the aim of the report, people with experience in the use of the various methods was interviewed and literature studies in the various fields done.

Large volumes of excavated soil and rock are generated in building- and construction projects. These materials need to be transported longer and longer distances due to the densifications of cities. The transportation affects the environment in terms of noise and emissions, but also makes high demands on road infrastructure. To reduce the transport distances an increased responsibility for the excavated rock generated needs to be taken. Responsibility can be increased through an introduction of means of control.

Modern sawmills are using the raw-material and the production-capacity more efficiently today, due to rising raw-material prices and higher production costs. Log sweepness has a negative effect on the sawn yield, for sawmills with straight-sawing. It is desirable that these logs could be sorted based on more criteria, if it increases value-yield and consequently the utilization of raw-material. Bow-heights over 1 cm have a negative effect on sawn yield, since the surface of the mantle cuts down in the sawn pattern. Some of these small bow-heights reduce the logs yield of value which affects the production planning negatively. Nearly half of all the Swedish logs have a bow-height over 1 cm.

When it comes to political representation, all over the world women almost always make up a minority of representatives in the legislative bodies. The Scandinavian countries in general and Sweden in particular have though been exceptions to this rule with, when compared to other countries, a rather high percentage of women in elected positions. This development took off in the seventies: during that decade the unit percentage of women in the Swedish Riksdag rose by double!The aim for this thesis is to analyse what underlying ideas influenced this advance. The focus is on three different female party federations, who are believed to have had a great impact on this increase of women politicians through their influence in their own mother parties. The federations analysed are the ones connected to the Social Democratic Party, the Centre Party and the Liberal party.

Background: Pet therapy has existed as a concept since 1964 when the American child psychologist Boris Levinson coined the term. Nowadays Animal Assisted Activity (AAA) and Animal Assisted Therapy (AAT) are both recognized concepts, and with progressed research the science of pet therapy increases.Purpose: To summate the most recent science in pet therapy (therapy dog) research with focus on physical, psychical, and social effects.Methods: Literature study/review with descriptive design, research on 21 articles published from year 2003 and onward. Articles used in the study were chosen through beforehand decided criteria, subject to quality rating, and summated in an overview. The main results were summated and presented in similarities and differences.Results: The main result of the summation was that important results could be measured in each of the three fields of research. Physical/physiological effects: pain relief, differentiated results on vital signs, and increased activity.

Den här studien undersöker hur vinstvarningar påverkar stora och små företag. För att förklara dess påverkan på företagen har den effektiva marknadshypotesen och behavioral finance använts som grund. Avgränsningen har gjorts till Stockholmsbörsen då inga tidigare studier haft fokus på den. Empirin visar att företag i Large Cap påverkas med i snitt -4,63% och företagen i Small Cap med -8,42%. Large Cap visade signifikanta abnorma avkastningar under eventdatumet och dagen efter medan Small Cap endast visade signifikans under eventdatumet.

The energy consumption continues to increase as the use of electronics and energy consuming equipment increases. The use of fossil fuels has to be phased out for this to be sustainable in the long run while the use of renewable energy continues to increase. A renewable energy source is solar energy but the production of heat and electricity are today very expensive compared to other energy sources and an important task for the solar energy market to grow is therefore to minimize the production cost of the solar collectors while increasing its efficiency to produce heat and/or electricity. One way to convert solar energy into heat is by using solar collectors and electricity can be produced by utilizing the produced heat, or by applying solar cells.This thesis aims to recommend a reflective material for the next generation solar collectors from Absolicon and to recommend a commercially available coating for the receiver tube of the solar collector. A market study has been carried out to investigate the cost-related aspects along with the optical and durable aspects for the optical material of the solar collector.

The scarcity of qualified forest machine operators as well as the increased competition for competent machine operators among others from the mining industry in Norrland, were the reasons to investigate what attracts and what deters active and potential forest machine operators to the occupation. An interview study was conducted among four groups with four persons in each group. The groups were students in year 1 and 3 respectively at a forestry school at upper secondary school level as well as employees of a forest company and employees of contractors. The majority of all respondents were of the opinion that their interests in machines had been important for the choice of occupation. But for the active machine operators both the interest in the forest and their interest for machines have had importance for choosing this occupation.