Since the wild boars (Sus scrofa) escaped from their enclosures in the 1970s, their numbers has increased dramatically. It is an animal that is currently involved in many traffic accidents. The wild boar is a popular animal to hunt. As the population has grown so has the hunting. But, unfortunately, there have also been an increased numbers of attacks on hunters.

In studies of serum, in the early 1930s, from patients with pneumonia, a factor was found. It could agglutinate certain pneumococcal species. This factor, which later became known as C-reactive protein (CRP), increased sharply during the early and middle stages of the disease. CRP was identified as an acute phase protein and found especially in bacterial infections. CRP is synthesized in the liver by stimulation of interleukin 6 (IL-6), which is produced by the monocytes, and consists of five non-covalently bound subunits.The aim of this study was to compare two different analytical instruments (Vitros 5.1 FS Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics and QuikRead CRP Orion Diagnostica) for CRP analysis.

The last couple of years the use of mobile devices such as mobile phones and PDAs has increased tremendously. Most of the these devices have their own protocols for synchronising data and this has given rise to a need for a standard synchronisation protocol, SyncML. This thesis compares this protocol against the existing ones. The comparison shows that the preferred choice is SyncML. Also an application using SyncML has been developed.

Overdue cleanings have for a long time been an important topic of discussion within the forestry sector. When stands that have not been pre-commercially thinned are reaching the level of commercial thinning, many problems occur in terms of decision-making and economical outcomes. These types of stands are commonly known as conflict-stands. The work was carried out partly as an interview survey towards representatives from the forest sector and the energy sector, partly as a case study of conflict-stands situated in Böksholm, north of Växjö and in Tönnersjö east of Halmstad. The criteria for the studied stands were that they had to be dominated by Norway spruce and be in a severe status of ?conflict?. The aim of the interview was to get an overview of the situation today, and also analyse trends in terms of conflict stands.

AIM: To investigate  newly graduated nurses opinions on their introduction and preceptorship at Akademiska Sjukhuset in Uppsala. METHOD: A descriptive cross-sectional study using qualitative and quantitative evaluations. Data was collected by a questionnaire containing open and closed questions. Totally 42 participants took part in the study. Data analysis was obtained using descriptive statistics, thematic analysis and content analysis.

In recent years the construction industry has been exposed to increased time pressure which has resulted in a higher amount of wastage. Today 35 % of all construction projects in Sweden is "wasted". Time pressure has risen due to increased competition on the market, with more actors entering the construction business, therefore profit margins decreased which has led to a more pressing need for decreasing the amount of wastage.Bravida is Scandinavia's largest supplier of installations and provides specialist services in electrical installations (heating and sanitation), and ventilation. Mahdi Bawaqneh's task was to investigate where, how and why wastage occurs in the company's projects and how to prevent such wastage. The thesis covers the subjects of lean production, communication in projects and planning of projects.

Manual signs are an augmentative and alternative communication mode which enables and facilitates communication for persons with impairments in speech, language and hearing. There are different ways of teaching signs to persons with intellectual disabilities. One of them is milieu teaching, which is a method where the teaching takes place in natural settings. This method has proven to give good results in generalization and maintenance. Teaching signs to staff in groups has been shown to be effective.

In the light of ever increasing international trade around the globe, affecting men and women in all countries, it is surprising that so little attention is given its gender effects. The effects of trade are said to be gender neutral, but could potentially act reinforcing on the existing gender patterns in a society. The aim of this thesis is to examine whether the implications for men and women in relation to trade liberalization can be found to differ. By stylizing some differences between men and women, this is done by examining the theoretical implications mainly via the Heckscher-Ohlin model and through a Beckerian approach. The implications found are then compared with the findings in existing empirical work.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the results obtained from scientific articles concerning research into group rehabilitation for people over 65 years with hearing problems. The interest arose then group rehabilitation was unusual in the audiologists work, even though previous research showed these positive effects. With a group rehabilitation, the participants can easier accept theire hearing loss and hearing aid, compaired with an individual rehabilitation. The method used was a literature study. PubMed and PsycINFO databases were used in the search for literature.

In a time when economic crises relieving one another, it is especially interesting to study how companies choose to finance their operations. Since there is a lack of studies that include banks, and their capital structures, with the rest of the finance market, it is uncertain whether the theories of capital structure are applicable. Therefore, this essay aims to study whether there is any correlation between the two variables debt-equity ratio and return on equity (ROE) for Swedish corporations on the finance market.In accordance with the theorems that the professors Modigliani and Miller filed, in 1958 and 1961, which describes a clear link between debts, increase corporate value through the tax shield and indirectly increased yields. Although these theorems are the foundation of the modern research they focus on perfect markets. Therefore, this paper has also chosen to place great emphasis on theories such as Trade-off and Pecking-order.

The level of cadmium (Cd) in Swedish arable land has increased during the last century and the average concentration of Cd in the plough layer is today 0.23 mg/kg. The increase is mainly due to anthropogenic activities such as phosphorus fertilizing, liming, import of feed, and atmospheric deposition from industrial emissions. Cadmium in the soil will be taken up by crops and is thereby transferred to humans via food. Carrot is one of the crops of concern, both because it may contain quite high Cd concentrations and due to the large consumption in Sweden. In the body, Cd is stored mainly in the liver and the kidneys and may cause several diseases already at low concentrations.

The digital era has led to technical advances that have transformed the role of the public library from being a place that is used only through physical visits and material, into also being a virtual space that can be accessed by users from outside the library through Internet-based access to e-media such as e-books and streamed or downloadable audiobooks.The aim of this study is to examine how the role of public libraries in Stockholm County has changed in the process of developing into digital libraries: how this has affected their organisation, work methods and strate- gies, as well as their accessibility. The theoretical framework of the study draws on Michael K. Bucklands theory of information accessibility, which is based on six factors of access that are determined by different types of barriers. The methodology is based on a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Primary data was gathered through an empirical survey, which consisted of a structured questionnaire distributed to most of the public libraries in Stockholm County and semi-structured interviews with selected librarians and experts for further in-depth understanding.

The aim of the study has been to explore what participation and hope means for persons with disabilities living in an institution called Horizon House, in Stellenbosch South Africa. The aim has also been to discover the South African approach to disability and how Horizon House fits into this approach. Horizon House is an institution and a protective workplace in Stellenbosch for adults whose main impairment is of an intellectual nature but there are also physical and emotional disabilities. Another aim has been to explore the perspectives of the residents. The research questions of the study are: ? What does participation imply for the residents of Horizon House?? What does Hope represent for the residents of Horizon House?? What importance can hope have for people with disabilities, in their approach towards increased participation? We travelled to South Africa during a two week period in March 2009, where we participated at the protective workplace of Horizon House.

In this essay, the phenomenon and the concept "meditation" are treated. Meditation is a mental training technique where one develops the ability to choose where to put attention and ability to focus. Techniques for meditation is used individually of people who wants to develop themselves as persons and in therapeutic aims of professional within the field of psychology in order to help people to find solutions of problems within themselves. The aim with this essay were to do a qualitative study in order to see how possible effects of meditation influences daily life of contributory practisian's. Issue has been as follows; which effects have one regularly conducting of meditation on people and their lives? Interviews with four experienced meditators were done in India and the material were analyzed afterwards with the aid of thematic analysis, furthermore in order to link the results with clinical research and established theories about meditation.

Lichens are adapted to bright and sparse forests on oligotrophic ground. Due to a slow growth rate and high light demand lichens will suffer from competition in eutrophic environments. Therefore, lichens have disappeared from managed forests where the forest industry has increased the productivity. A reduced abundance of lichens will affect both biodiversity of the forest and the reindeer winter graze lands. It is important to understand how and for how long fertilization affects the abundance and diversity of lichens in order to protect lichen rich ecosystems. We have registered the biomass and number of lichen species in eight plots (four nitrogen rich and four nitrogen deficient) and compared fertilized Sami settlements with their oligotrophic surroundings in the nature reserves of Tjeggelvas.