The purpose of this study is to investigate the determinants of capital structure in Swedish small and medium sized firms. The study includes 24.859 Swedish firms which are further analyzed with regards to their financial characteristics. These characteristics consist of short term debt, long term debt and total leverage. The study compares the relationship between these characteristics and six independent variables.The result shows that profitability is the greatest determinant for capital structure in Swedish small and medium sized firms with regards to total leverage. When profitability increases the total leverage of the firm decreases.

This thesis analyzes the effects of different fertilization strategies on forest management at Holmen Skog in Umeå district. Harvesting volumes, net present values and fertilization intensity are presented for each fertilization scenario. The planning reserve (percentage area older than minimum final felling age) was also analyzed in this study.The thesis covers the analysis of five different fertilization scenarios, varying in fertilization intensity, from no fertilization at all, to fertilization at every harvesting operation (thinning or final felling). A sub-study was also carried out so the reader in detail can see how the different fertilization scenarios affect individual forest stands of different nature. The analysis has been done with the planning tool PlanWise, which is an application of the Heureka analysis and planning system.

Forestry in Sweden is currently conducted in a manner aiming at equating the production objectives and the biodiversity. To ensure that biodiversity is maintained, patches that are considered to be valuable now or in the future is saved in final fellings. How the tree retention areas will grow into the future forest stands is yet unknown.The purpose of this study was to visualize how different scenarios of natural consideration taken at final felling will evolve in a long term perspective, for two rotation periods. Projections of the forest conditions were executed with the decision support system Heureka and its applications PlanStart and PlanWise. The information about the projected forests was then used for the visualizations which were created in the software Visual Nature Studio.

The work related illness has increased and instead of focusing on what?s causing it more and more efforts are put on trying to find the health factors within and outside the work environment. During the past years the term ?long-term health? has arisen; instead of focusing on the number of employees on the sick-list, the focus should be put on the number of employees that has a record of long-term health within an organization, i.e. health-presence.

This thesis constitutes a long term (100 year) ecological landscape management plan for the estate Götebo 1:5. The estate is situated close to Gothenburg and is owned by Skogssällskapet. The planning has been made by dividing the estate into different areas (zones). In each zone one of the goals nature conservation, recreation or economical yield has been prioritized. Nature conservation is one of the main goals for the forest management plan.

A substantial part of the Swedish outdoor education is being practiced in so called ?school forests?. The concept school forest was first introduced in the 1980?s by the organization Skogen i Skolan. The definition of a school forest is an area that is being used for educational purposes, over which the school and the land owner has reached an agreement of how the school may utilize it.

Booth for operational planning of harvesting and for long term planning, data is today collected manually. Intensive objective field inventories are usually too expensive. To enhance optimisation of timber flow from forest to industry Moore efficient methods for measuring tree stems of standing trees are needed. The performance of terrestrial laser scanners have improved and these could possibly be used within forestry in the future. The objective of this study was to validate how a terrestrial laser scanner could be used to measure stem diameter, and to test how the errors depend on distance from the scanner and tree species. Two plots (one pine and one spruce) were used for this study.

The white-backed woodpecker is a forest bird being critically endangered in Sweden. The species is dependent on older forests rich in deciduous trees and dead wood. The main problem for the survival of this species is present shortage of habitat. Conservation work on this umbrella species is at present focused on finding remaining or emerging habitat networks. Large areas are scrutinized in search for suitable habitats to be protected or managed for the species sake.

Forest ebeaver is, equipped as a bio-energy harvester, approximately four and a half meter long and weigh just over two tons. The main purpose of this report is to find out whether a small machine like Forest ebeaver can be profitable used in early thinning. To find this out a study has been made using the machine to thin in a young pine stand..

Soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks and fluxes in forest ecosystems are influenced by natural and human disturbances. In the tropical regions the highest impacts on disturbance in forest C cycles are related to human activities such as conversion of natural lands to cropland and pasture areas and to forest plantations. The disturbances in the forest C cycles will release CO2 emissions to the atmosphere triggering global warming. In this study the focus was set in subtropical soils in Brazil, south extreme region of Bahia. The aim of the study was to investigate whether reforestation of Eucalyptus plantations under former pasture areas will help mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration.

We have performed a study much similar to Ritter?s (1991) about long-term aftermarket performance of IPOs on the Swedish market during the years 1990 to 2002. The study resulted in evidence for that Swedish IPO do underperforms their benchmark-portfolios during a 36-months period. Though, the grade of underperformance depends of the chosen benchmark. The study is mainly focused on a particular benchmark, a portfolio of non-issuing firms matched by size and sector.

Benzodiazepines are drugs used to treat insomnia and anxiety. This group of drugs should be prescribed with the duty of care to the elderly because of it´s negative effects. Life expectancy is increasing because of the progress of drug development. Aging brings physical and psychological changes leading to changes in pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic features. Drug treatment is becoming increasingly widespread and contributes to the increasing number of interactions and complications for the elderly.

The term Temporary places could be used to describe a wide range of shapes, functions and not least different time sets . In this thesis, however, the intention of temporality should be seen as the main definition regarding this subject. This thesis is based on a literature study and the aim is to explore temporary places, their values and their functions. Furthermore, the purpose is also to highlight temporary places as a method to be used by urban planners, in order to create more flexibility in the city planning of today. The thesis describes the underlying factors and conditions creating an increased interest in flexible planning. Furthermore, a number of tactics and applications are presented, all drawn from current research on the topic.

This study was an assignment for the company Holmen which is located in the region of Örnsköldsvik, Sweden. The study was focusing on the responsibilities of a forestry planner during the planning season. The study was investigating about how much time the planner spent in the office, in the car and out in the forest. Any other issues that would cause delays were also identified. To be more effective and to increase the number of objects to a district bank, a better preparation in the planning stage (for thinning?s or clear cuts) is needed as well as faster transition on to the next area.

During thousands of years, reindeer have adapted to living under harsh conditions with large seasonal variations in climate and forage availability. This adaptation implies that body functions and nourishment needs are strongly bound to the season. In the summer the reindeer has to maximize food intake to build up fat and protein reserves for the winter. More than 200 different plant species are included in the reindeer diet, but since reindeer have an unique ability to use the nourishment in lichen, different lichen species make up a large portion of their winter diet in many areas. Fundamental for reindeer husbandry is access to natural grazing during most of the year.