This study is essentially based on my own questions concerning contemporary playgrounds. Why are they so unimaginative? What do the children say about them? Is it possible to create playgrounds less constructed, and with more natural elements? This report starts with references to literature studies, personal references and my personal view, and ends with a suggestion for a physical solution for an actual day care centre. The aim is to learn more about how the natural environment affects children, the importance of playing, and try to use this knowledge in a design of a day care centre. My main theme can be summarized in the following question: Why is natural elements in playgrounds considered to be healthy for children? I wanted to create a playground with natural characteristics which I myself would have appreciated as a child.

The purpose of this study was to explore the state of female prostitution in the city of Tehran, and besides, analyze the elements that can lead women to harlotry in Iran. This research is based on three sources of information: firstly, interviews with three harlots in Tehran and I got help of a semi-structured interview guide. Secondly, I discussed prostitution with conscious resources that worked within the public services in Tehran and had experienced of working with female prostitutes. Thirdly I analyzed texts and reports about prostitution in Iran. The data from interviews are tied to two theories: symbolic interactionism and feminism.

AbstractThis is a study of present day dogs with the purpose to establish a method to investigate archaeological dogs and determine their use in the past. The study has focused on measurements of five bone elements, scapula, humerus, radius, ulna and femur. A principal component analysis has been applied in order to decide which measurements to be further used in the analysis. Different proportions have been calculated on these measurements.A test to try the method has also been done on bones of a wolf and a dog without known background. The results from the different elements are positive, and they narrow the field down to two dog types of which one is more likely to be true than the other.The final results show that, although over lapses between the four different dog groups; hunting dogs, guard/work dogs, sled dogs and shepherd's dogs exists, it is possible to distinguish different dog usage from the proportions of the bones..

The purpose of this paper is to study the subject Islam and Democracy and see whatcommonalities exist between the two ideas and traditions of thoughts. The subject is topicaland often highlighted by the media in the West. The Islamic voices that we hear today iscertainly not democratic, given the violence and hatred carried out by Islamic extremistsagainst the West. The investigation of this paper have shown a different direction when thereare other voices such as those investigated reformist thinkers who argue that Islam has manydemocratic elements, and even that Islam is more suitable than democracy. According to thereformists ismodel of an Islamic state is democratic and legitimate.

The project deals with the evaluation and testing of speaker and microphone elements as well as microphone cavity.The first part of the report comprises a comprehensive theoretical part about drivers, microphone elements, and to some extent microphone cavity.The goal was to , on the behalf of the company Limes Audio AB, develop proposals on microphone element and cavity as well as drivers for a speakerphone application, based on specific factors. The main factors were performance, price and form factor.The aim was to create the best possible conditions for Limes Audio's software developers to implement the company's audio-enhancing software, mainly adaptive echo cancellation.The testing was carried out using Adobe Audition and MatLab. The test methods were developed in conjunction with Limes Audio and are described below.The project will result in suggestions for a speaker, a microphone and a cavity. The cavity were removed from the product because the results indicated that the cavity matter little for the end result.The report concludes with a discussion on how the measurements could have been enhanced to simplify the interpretation of the results and making the testing more efficient..

The aim of this study is to investigate methods of collection development, the users? influence on selection and quality aspects, focusing on non-fiction literature in Swedish public libraries. To find out opinions of collection development, I use the method comparative literature study. Antonio Gramsci?s concept hegemony forms the theoretical background, and hegemony as concept is related to a library context by using Maj Klasson?s text on the librarians? different positions of authorities.

Today endless choices exist for a customer in the grocery store in terms of information, products, brands and prices. Consequently, it is important for retailers and brand owners to gain insights in how they can manage to break through the clutter to reach the customer. Displays that include some kind of motion element are assumed to possess an attention grabbing ability, which is a necessary first step in influencing the customer?s decision making. Therefore we have explored whether so called dynamic displays are efficient in grabbing attention and influencing customer behaviour.

The purpose of this paper is to examine different attitudes regarding freedom of information and how libraries should fulfil their information-task represented by four organisations. The organisations are important in shaping the Swedish public libraries in different ways. The purpose is to examine in what ways their definition of information freedom may differ from one another and what that means in defining the public library. For the survey the qualitative textual analysis has been used for examining the documents and websites that are part of the debate about the public library and information freedom. We chose to interview representatives of four organisations that in different ways influence the shaping of the public library.

Aluminium sulphate (Al2(SO4)3) is usually added during the drinking water treatment processin order to precipitate organic and inorganic material, resulting in aluminium-based drinkingwater treatment residual sludge (WTR). Since 2003 Swedish law no longer permits WTR tobe deposited in lakes, and there is an interest to explore the possibility to utilize WTR as soilamendment. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of WTR application on cropgrowth and concentrations of macronutrients and trace elements (including micronutrients andpotential toxic elements). A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted with three soils; a clayloam rich in phosphorous (P), a loamy sand rich in P, and a silty loam with a low soil Pconcentration, and two crop species Italian ryegrass (Lolium multiflorum Lam. cv.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att ta reda på hur en organisationsförändring kan mätas med avseende på formella och informella element samt att presentera hur mätprocessen kan genomföras. Studien bygger på intervjuer och dokumenterade utvärderingar. Studien visar att de formella elementen mäts genom att kontrollera att målen som satts upp inför förändringen är uppfyllda. De informella elementen mäts genom medarbetarundersökningar dock utan någon koppling till förändringen som har genomförts. När de informella elementen mäts i en förändringsprocess görs detta genom så kallade attitydmätningar.

Managers operating within the dynamic society of today are said to rely on intuition when effective and quick decisions are to be made. This skill or phenomenon has aroused an interest within the academic world of management whom has explored intuition, its relation to decision making and its influencing factors, especially in the private sector. Intuitive decision making is however not isolated solely to this sector but also involved in decision making associated to the public sector. Therefore, the aim of the thesis is to investigate whether managers at the hospital Akademiska in Uppsala involve intuition in decision making and to what extent the factors time, amount of information, individual experience and decision complexity influence the intuition.The theoretical framework includes academic research regarding how intuition and rationality affect decisions, the concept of intuition and factors influencing the intuitiveness of decision making. Furthermore the theoretical discussion explores intuition connected to leadership, negative aspects of intuitive decisions and a comparison between different factors that separates public and private sector in terms of decision making.

Graphic profiles are a part of companies? brand expressions. The graphical values reflect the brand values the business wants to convey. They consist of different graphic elements such as logo, company sign, colour schemes, templates, rules, fonts, pictograms, formats and references to how different graphic elements should look, for example, business cards, signs and materials for websites. This thesis aims to examine why firms choose to replace their graphic profiles by studying their underlying motivations.

A common way to stabilize high rise buildings is to use an elevator core built of concrete. Today, we use to build these elevator cores of in-situ concrete. Precast concrete twin wall (double wall) is a semi-finished product that has become more common in recent years. This diploma work studies how the twin wall works out as structural elements in an elevator core. The work also shows some possible ways of designing twin walls and highlights some important parts of the design that will be vital to the stability of the building.    The result shows that it is important to think through where the element joints should be placed.

The aim of this thesis is to study a job-searching process and elements that affects it. The elements I have focused on are gender, class and social network. The study is based on interviews and a survey study with students from the educational program of Social work (Socialomsorgsutbildningen), that graduated 3 years ago. Through the survey I have examined their social-background and their job-searching process. The interviews are the main focus in the study.

This report is written on commission by WSP Acoustics. The report studies the outdoor sound levels on school yards in Stockholm. The questions given by the company to be answered was what are the actual sound levels at diffrent school yards with low traffic noise and how can you construct a facade element that reduces the sound level from the outside and meet the indoor requirements. Mesurements for four hours was done at eight schools set north and south of the city centre. The measurement period included one school break and one lunch break.