The purpose of this study has been to examine reading habits and the use of the library by pre­school teachers in a mainly multicultural community, and also explore to what extent activities in the local library are aimed at preschoolers.The study used a sociocultural approach based on Vygotsky?s theories of learning and development and Söderbergh?s theory of early childhood language development, and was carried out during the summer 2009. The methodology used was both quantitative and qualitative, with a combination of questionnaires and interviews. Questionnaires were sent out to each section of the municipal pre­schools within the catchments area of the local public library in a multicultural suburb of Uppsala. Three short interviews were carried out with staff at the local and main library branches, as well as library staff at the County Council.The results show that, although preschool teachers find reading important in their work, many teachers read spontaneously and/or sporadically.

Bergvik Skog is one of the leading forest companies in Sweden who use airborne laser scanning for forestry information. They utilize laser data retrieved by the Swedish National Land Survey to describe the forest holdings and facilitate planning for thinning and final felling operations. However, the possibility to identify stands with clearing needs by using laser scanning data has not been tested in a large scale. The data used in the current study are field data from The Swedish National Forest Inventory in combination with laser data from the Swedish National Land Survey acquired in 2009. The collected data is used to find one or several laser variables that best describe the relationship of the field measured samples with clearing needs.

Vocal technique and interpretation are the key elements of voice training. Thepurpose of this article is to investigate what vocal technique and interpretation meanto teachers and students and how they would describe the relationship between thetwo. The questions at issue, intended to be answered in this article, are the following:What is the relationship between vocal technique and interpretation? How should theteaching be structured for the students to experience progress on the musical plane?What role does the teacher have in the musical development of the student?This is a qualitative survey and the methods of investigation are semi-structuredinterviews and classroom observations. Presented in the article are a number ofresearchers and writers whose thoughts on the subjects have gained great importanceto vocal teachers and students, as well as leading the research on the voice and itsfunctions forward to higher grounds.

Over the past twenty years, the cooperation within the European Union (EU) has strengthened and expanded with both more number of Member States and stronger influence on international politics. The unique character of the Union and its ability to enforce peace and humanitarian intervention has attracted attention in political science. This prominent position of the Union is perceived by many scholars who often hold this derived from the Union's influence in international relations. Various terms have been used to define the powers of the Union. The British researcher Ian Manners states that the unique identity of the Union in the international arena is formed by its normative power.  An important policy area within the Union is the environmental cooperation.

SCA is the largest private owned forest owner in Sweden, with an ownership of 2 million hectares of productive forestland. To manage the planning of such large areas and to fit the traditional organization structure of a Swedish forest company, the planning approach is subdivided into three stages; strategic, tactical and operational. The strategic part, based on a statistic sample of stands, returns a harvest level estimate which should then be implemented at actual sites in the tactical part. This procedure can lead to incompatible solutions as the strategic solution is not necessarily possible to translate into actual sites in the tactical plan. The geographic aspect is important in tactical planning due to the large costs for moving equipment and maintenance of a large number of forest roads.

This is a literature study in which I investigate if there are scientific studies that form the basis of the Swedish dog world views concerning the spaying of bitches. The positive impacts are said to be reduced problems with pseudopregnancy, reduced risk of pyometra, reduced risk of mammary and uterine tumors, an earlier cease of bone growth, a more active and happier dog and a bitch who is more tolerant of other dogs. The negative consequences are said to be urinary incontinence, increased aggressiveness, lower metabolism and the increased risk of obesity, a more lethargic individual and altered coat.There are studies indicating that spaying reduces behavioral problems associated with heat and pseudopregnancy. Assuming no ovary tissue persists after the procedure, and there is no progesterone production, the risk of pyometra decreases. Early spaying, before the first heat, reduces the risk of mammary tumors.

Discharge of inadequately treated waste water containing nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen as well as organic matter and bacteria is associated with a risk of eutrophication and contamination. The Swedish government has decided upon several Environmental Quality Objectives aiming to reduce the emissions of nutrients to water bodies.In Sweden, there are between 675 000 to 1 000 000 on-site sewage systems. Recent studies have shown that the function of small sewage treatment plants is in many cases insufficient. To prevent this regular service and supervision by a professional is needed. The focus of this study are small sewage treatment plants which use a technique where mechanical, chemical and/or biological reduction of pollutants is being used in the same facility to reduce nutrients in household wastewater.The aim of the study is to investigate how different municipalities ensure that small sewage treatment plants fulfill the requirements and reduce pollutants as efficient as the manufacturers claim.

This Masters Thesis is about the Swedish National Council for Cultural Affairs and the arms length principle. The principle is used to explain the separation of power between two parts with a common interest. The main purpose is to elucidate if, and if so in what way, the arms length principle can be used to explain the relation between the National Council for Cultural Affairs and the Ministry of Education and Culture, i.e. the Swedish government, but also to examine the structures of power and relations within the Council. In the thesis we show that in the field of cultural policy the content of the arm lengths principle varies due to the many interpretations of the meaning.

The Master Thesis has been carried out in cooperation with Silva Sweden AB and the objective was to develop a new product concept within the product category for everyday exercise. The purpose of the thesis was to use and analyze methods and tools which aid creativity and concept creation in order to make method recommendations for future projects.During the thesis a number of customer needs were identified, which in turn were translated into 20 concepts. On a concept decision meeting a pedometer-based concept was chosen for development. The new pedometer is in addition to counting steps also able to measure and calculate the user?s total climbed height during a day and present this graphically in comparison to famous monuments or distances.

We have completed our investigation on a LSS organization located in Västra Götalandsregionen. This organization has four leaders who has responsibility for multiple devices but do not have any physical contact daily. We have seen that organizations constantly living in some kind of change, which means that organizations are becoming more decentralized. This decentralization affects leaders' way of working in the organization, because the employees are geographically dispersed in the municipality. Our survey shows that the physical meetings between managers and employees are an important factor in creating a motivated team.

The new accounting standards IFRS and IAS was implemented in January 2005, the purpose was to harmonize accounting standards world wide. As a result of these new rules the real estate companies are allowed to appraise real estates assets at market value. It has long been debated whether this appraisal fulfils the requirements for relevance, reliability and comparability.The paper attends to how banks control the information given by the real estate companies in the process of credit granting. As an introduction we describe the purpose of accounting and the problematic´s about appraisals with market values. Further on there is a discussion on which factors are taken into consideration when banks grant credits.The study is built on interviews at three different commercial banks.

A storm in January 2005 felled 75 millions cubic metres of forest in South Sweden. Previous studies of wind damage in thinned stands indicated the importance of early thinnings. The risks of wind throw increased by increasing age and height of the stands. Previous studies also indicated increasing risk of wind throw along the strip roads. The aim of the present study was to investigate wind damage in Norway spruce stands in South Sweden in relation to time of the first thinning and different pattern of strip roads (width, length and direction).

The empirical material of this study consisted of tweets by four leading politicians in Sweden: Carl Bildt of Nya Moderaterna, Annie Lo?o?f of Centerpartiet, A?sa Romson of Miljo?partiet and Jonas Sjo?stedt of Va?nsterpartiet. The aim of the study was to examine how they use Twitter as a political tool and what that says of the mediatization of politics. What content did they publish, how did the content differentiate between them and what political messages and other subjects occurred in their tweets? Does the political debate become fragmented because they?re only allowed to use 140 characters on Twitter? The theoretical framework and method applied for the research was based upon critical discourse analysis (CDA), with special interest in ideology and mediatized discourse.The result of the study showed that the content they published consisted mostly of criticism towards political opponents, rather than of independent political opinions.

Aim: To examine how midwives describe good and safe postpartum care of mothers with infants in neonatal care, and which prerequisites and obstacles they see to giving good and safe care while minimizing time of separation. Method: Semi structured qualitative interviews with ten midwives at two maternity wards in Uppsala. The interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and processed by manifest analysis. Results: Three categories were identified, Good and safe care, Organization as an obstacle and The midwife role. Good and safe postpartum care of mothers with infants in neonatal care required knowledge, appropriate equipment, good guidelines, possibility to see the mother, contact between mother and infant and good collaboration between the maternity and neonatal wards.

Uppsatsen undersökte en alternativ metod att kreditbetygsätta företagsobligationer. Metoden är baserad på en modell ursprungligen skapad av Merton (1974) och har modifierats av Byström (2003). Undersökningen utformades som en jämförelsestudie mellan kreditbetyg från kreditvärderingsföretaget Moody?s och mått på konkursavstånd beräknade ur Byströms modell. Modellen gör antagandet om effektiva kapitalmarknader och använder aktiekursinformation och mått på skuldsättningsgrad som enda informationskälla.