The purpose of this master thesis has been to find different solutions to the design of a headlamp with a cluster of three or possibly four high power LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes). During the work, two different problems have been considered; how to design a lens in order to shape the light beam in a desirable way, and how to design a cooling system which will lower the temperature of the LEDs as efficiently as possible, still taking into account the geometry set by the optical solution as well as other given geometries. The results presented in this thesis are partly the outcome of a literature study, but derive mainly from a number of tests and measurements made on two test rigs and one concept prototype..

Concrete floors have traditionally had no problems with annoying vibrations. However with the demand for larger spans the floors need to be made more slender with a higher degree of utilization and lower mass. Therefore new floors may have problems with vibration serviceability. This thesis studies the vibration characteristics of hollow core slabs. The analysis was made in the finite element program Ansys. The hollow core slab was subjected to a varying force simulating one person walking across the slab.

This thesis work has been performed on request by SWT (Scandinavia WeldTech AB). SWT manufactures, develop and sell ready to assemble building systems for concrete rafter beam applications. The beams in this system consist of a u-beam that is welded to a flange. To be able to fill the beams with concrete there is holes in the beams top end. The holes are made in a ?punching machine?.  These holes are cut out and the remaining steel piece is bent down in the u-beam.

The aim of the project was to investigate if Swedish rodents, brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), house mouse (Mus musculus), wood mouse (Apodemus spp) and water vole (Arvicola terrestris) captured in pig herds and in urban areas, constitute a reservoir for pathogenic Leptospira spp. Under Swedish conditions leptospirosis gives rise to reproductive disorders in pigs and symptoms of flu in humans. It has long been established that rodents are chronic carriers of pathogenic leptospires in their kidneys, and can spread the bacteria with urine. The old nomenclature of serovoars is still in use, but a new system of genetic classification has developed and today the genus Leptospira contains 17 species. There are several diagnostic test developed for leptospirosis.

Caran has a strong belief that women leaders affect the financial profitability positive. Since women leaders are intangible resources it is very difficult to calculate its exact value. The authors found that one of their measurement methods can’t be used to calculate the value of women leaders. The other measurement method can calculate significance between women and men leaders and provides an index to be compared to other groups. But there is no prove that women are better creating value than their men colleagues, the figures indicate that women add more value due to their lower wages.

Fast pyrolysis is a method for converting biomass into three energy rich products: char, gas and bio-oil, where the latter is most interesting.  Pyrolysis is an endothermic process where biomass is heated in an anaerobic environment and, with the right operating conditions, up to 80 %wt bio-oil can be extracted. Key parameters for fast pyrolysis are: stable reactor temperature (~500°C), short residue time for gas in the reactor (<2 s) and a very high heating rate for the biomass. Today there are several different process solutions for fast pyrolysis, where fluidized beds and rotating cones are most developed. Bio-oil has compared to fossil oil: lower heating value, low pH and also polymerizes with time. Because of this upgrading is desirable for increasing competitiveness.

Södra Cell Mörrum is one of the five paper pulp plants that are included in Södra Cell, and the paper pulp that is produced here is not only sold to Swedish paper mills. Most of the paper pulp is exported to different countries in Europe. In the manufacturing process the plant needs different kind of process water and there are guideline values for how much copper, iron and sodium this water is allowed to contain. Analyzes of this water is in the current situation done with an atomic absorption spectrometric instrument (AAS-instrument) with a flame. Measurements done with flame-AAS of samples that have concentrations near the guideline values for copper, iron and sodium, are not reliable. The reason for not being reliable is that the quantitation limits of these metals are higher than the limit values.

The aim of the project was to investigate if Swedish rodents, brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), house mouse (Mus musculus), wood mouse (Apodemus spp) and water vole (Arvicola terrestris) captured in pig herds and in urban areas, constitute a reservoir for pathogenic Leptospira spp. Under Swedish conditions leptospirosis gives rise to reproductive disorders in pigs and symptoms of flu in humans. It has long been established that rodents are chronic carriers of pathogenic leptospires in their kidneys, and can spread the bacteria with urine. The old nomenclature of serovoars is still in use, but a new system of genetic classification has developed and today the genus Leptospira contains 17 species. There are several diagnostic test developed for leptospirosis.

Det är svårt att bedöma hur lång tid en människa har kvar i livet och brytpunkten för när en patients döende fas inleds kan vara otydlig (Ellershaw & Ward, 2003). Det är viktigt att den sista tiden blir så bra som möjligt och här spelar sjuksköterskan en viktig roll. Syftet med studien var att belysa sjuksköterskors upplevelser av att vårda döende patienter på en akutvårdsavdelning. Metoden som användes var kvalitativa fokusgruppintervjuer och data analyserades med induktiv innehållsanalys. Ett övergripande tema för studien kan benämnas vårdens vågskålar, dilemman och tillfredställelse, vilket speglar den dubbelbottnade natur vården har.

Severe floods caused by heavy autumn rains in year 2000 raised the question whether measures to reduce the damage from high water levels, in the area surrounding lake Glafsfjorden and along the river Byälven down to lake Vänern, are possible. One option is to reduce flow resistance along the river and thereby lower the maximum water level a given inflow would cause. Good knowledge of hydraulic and hydrological conditions is necessary in order to estimate the effect of such flow-reducing measures. In order to quantify such effect a 1-dimensional hydraulic flow model has been set up for the river Byälven using the software package MIKE 11. The model is more detailed, especially concerning topography and bathymetry, than earlier models used for studies of the river.

Previous research and patient complaints to the Swedish Patient Support Committee shows that there is a lack of substance in the patient-nurse relationship. This may suggest that it can be difficult for health care to live up to health-care law which requires it to be of good quality, based on dignity and respect and designed so that the patient is an active participant and can make their own decisions when it comes to their health care. For a better understanding of what a dignified patient-nurse relationship is, this study aims to clarify what the patient values as good patient-nurse relationship and describe how they have experienced the patient-nurse relationship during their stay at an emergency care department. The study is a descriptive cross-sectional study with a quantitative approach, where the population consisted of patients who were cared for at an emergency care department in the County of Västmanland, Sweden during 2007. The sample consisted of 93 patients which were asked to answer a questionnaire.

Background: Intimate relationship violence is physical, psychological or sexual violence that a person is exposed to in a relationship. There is a strong correlation between intimate relationship violence and mental health problems. A psychiatric ward at a hospital in Sweden, is working with a new routine. According to this routine every new patient should be asked about intmate relationship violence as a part of the admission interview.Objective: The objective of this study was to study how the healthcare personnel is working with the routine, and also to study response rate, interventions and how the work has developed over time.Method: A quantitative study with a retrospective and descriptive studydesign. One hundred and two medical records were reviewed.

This study investigated potato growing in beds as an alternative to conventional ridges.It was based on results from field trials on bed-grown potatoes carried out by Halland Rural Economy and Agricultural Society in 2007, studies of literature and interviews with farmers with experience of bed growing of potatoes. Due to their shallow root system, potatoes are one of the most drought-sensitive crops. Potatoes are often grown on sandy soils with poor water-holding capacity. Factors such as total yield, tuber size distribution and quality defects are negatively affected when water becomes insufficient. Wide beds have a more flat top which leads to more uniform water infiltration. Further on, beds have lower soil surface area due to its shape, and therefore, retain water more efficient. In the field trials, which were carried out at the Stjärnarp Estate near Halmstad, potatoes were grown in beds alongside a conventional ridge-grown crop.

Powder Metal (PM) gears are machine element components which operate under the same principle as conventional gears, but, due to their intrinsic material characteristic need to be designed slightly different, and its manufacturing process offers advantages previously unobtainable by conventional steel gear manufacturing methods. The use of PM in similar applications, such as synchronous hubs, makes them a suitable candidate for production in such material. The current master thesis work focuses on gear design using PM by utilizing finite element method (FEM) to reduce weight and inertia taking into account root bending strength and tooth deflection.First a topological optimization is used to determine feasible candidates for different web designs which have as objective to reduce volume, similar topologies were shown during different loading conditions; and hence, this topology was chosen as a suitable candidate. A shape optimization of the topological candidate was performed having as state variables root bending strength, independent for compressive and tensile side of the tooth loading; and tooth deflection, which in concept can be correlated to static transmission error (TE).Another aspect in this thesis analysed is the possibility to incorporate non-trochoid root geometry, a trochoid root is always present when machining with a hob, into the gear root and hence reduce the stress concentration here. Due to the use of PM, a non-symmetric optimized root can be achieved and hence be optimizing compression and tension.Results showed significantly lower inertia, for example certain results showed 40% reduced when compared to solid gear, with adverse effects as increase in tooth deformation and increase in maximum principal stress.

Today the human being see energy as a matter of course but the resources that is used for extract energy is today not enough for the world demand. Of all the energy that is used in Sweden today approximately 40 % goes to the building stock. This number will most likely increase if not necessary actions will be made on the already existing building stock since new houses constantly are built which will be added up on the already existing energy supply. This takes cause of action on the already existing building stocks, to fulfill the demands of the future use of energy that has been set by the authority. At the same time the thermal conditions cannot be influenced by the necessary changes that must be made.