The purpose of this study was to evaluate if verbal encouragement had any influence on handstrength measurements. Twenty subjects participated in the study, all women between the age of 20 and 62 years. A standardisation of testing conditions and verbal encouragement were designed. Three measurements were conducted during two days using T.K.K 5401 Grip D. First there was a trial set, and then Test 1 (without verbal encouragement) and Test 2 (with verbal encouragement) were conducted.

The municipality of Enköping is presently working out a new layout plan for the town of Enköping and new residences are planned in the harbour area. Because of these plans, the municipal energy company ENA Energi may have to move its location from the harbour to another part of the city.The aim of this degree project is to investigate the possibility of building a new CHP plant in another area of Enköping. The future demand on district heating and infrastructure at the new location have been projected. A new CHP plant has been dimensioned and economic analyses concerning the project have been made.Results show that the future demand of district heating in Enköping will differ a little from the present needs. In 2030, the district heating production is expected to be c.

With rising energy prices and the threat of climate change, energy costs and energy savings havebecome a central and important part in building. Therefore it is interesting to explore different andnon-conventional methods of energy conservation. Building Earth sheltered houses is such a method.Earth provides good insulation and provides the ability to both reduce the total heating needs and toreduce the maximum power demand. The aim of this study was to construct a house in Malmö and seeif Earth sheltered houses can be a cost effective alternative for the construction of sustainable andenergy-efficient houses.Previous studies have shown that Earth sheltered houses have reduced their power requirement with upto 25% and their use of energy with 10%. Numerical calculations in Comsol Multiphysic 4.2, wasperformed on a house with different degrees of earth covering.

High-performance equine athletes have an energy requirement that often reaches twice the maintenance requirement. Horses are grazers and adapted to a grass diet, and diets high in grains and concentrates are associated with digestive upsets and behavioural disorders. It could therefore be of interest if the energy requirement of a high-performing horse could be met by forage. It is important that the forage have a high concentration of energy so that the horse is able to consume the whole amount of energy needed from the forage without exceeding the maximum voluntary intake. The purpose of this literature study was to investigate if the energy demand of a high-performance horse can be covered by forage produced under Northern Swedish climate conditions.

The purpose of this study is to compare the economic differences between withdraw of forest fuel and withdraw of pulpwood in first thinning, to see which method gives the maximum profitability (income - cost). Another purpose is to investigate the economic impact of the thicket cleaning. The study compares four different methods: i) pulpwood output with thicket cleaning, ii) pulpwood output without thicket cleaning, iii) forest fuel output with thicket cleaning and iv) forest fuel output without thicket cleaning. The study was conducted in a 30-years old stand, dominated by spruce, outside Harg in Uppland. The method that generated the best economic net income was pulpwood without thicket cleaning. It generated a positive net of 1,383 SEK per hectare. Forest fuel output without thicket cleaning also generated a positive net in 720 kronor per hectare.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of large amounts of straw in the farrowing pen on thermal regulation of the newborn piglet in different weight classes. 20 sows were given 15 kg of straw in the farrowing pen 2 days prior to until 7 days after parturition. A control group of 18 sows had no straw in the pen. 6 litters from each treatment were observed. Measurements of piglet body temperature were made at 0h, 2h, 4h, 8h and 24h after parturition. At ?8h? the body temperature of the piglets in the Straw group were significantly higher (P=0,0149) than the piglets in the Control group.

The company LightLift Esystems AB manufactures patented motorized lift systems for the illumination of halls with high ceilings. The company wants a new design for singular heavy lights in order to be more competitive.This project consists of the development of the new design under the requirements and specifications imposed by the company. The new design must support lights up to 300kg and keep the overall dimensions as low as possible without modifying the driving unit.This document contains all the designing steps followed to reach the final solution as well as the material selection, manufacturing process and assembly of all the parts that form it.The solution obtained shows to be very competitive with other alternative products, since this new design triples their maximum load capacity while the dimensions are very similar.In this context, the optical appearance was also very important to the company and so it was another main objective of this project. From an aesthetical point of view, the final solution proves to be very compact and versatile since it can either be hidden behind a false ceiling or covered by a plastic case that gives the design a very nice look.Finally, the solution achieved fulfils all the requirements and specification previously imposed. It is reliable, compact, cheap to manufacture, easy to assembly and it has a good optical appearance. .

The aim of this study was to explore how six men who run a micro-enterprisewith a maximum of 10 employees handle the balance between work and otherlife. Qualitative approach with semi-structured interviews was conducted and thesample consisted of six men with micro-enterprises of varying ages. The themesused in the interviews were boundless work, roles, boundaries strategies anddemand / control - social support. The results showed that micro- entrepreneursdo not experience any major imbalance between work and other life. The studyrevealed that the division of roles in the home of the elderly respondents was ofthe classical gender character that woman took great responsibility in the home.Among the younger respondents the unpaid work at home was equal divided.Social support was perceived highly by all respondents, and they alsoexperienced a high level of control over the requirements of the job.

In today?s horse keeping, there is an increasing awareness of the importance of movement and activity for the horses comfort and tenability, while tradition has it that horses should be kept in boxes and small paddocks. In order to develop housing systems that fulfils and optimizes the horses needs regarding movement and activity, we need to know more about factors that influence the activity patterns of horses. A first step is to be able to record and analyze the gaits in horses with an automated system. This could be done by use of accelerometer data.In this pilot study, existing accelerometer technique was used to characterize the different gaits in horses (walk, trot and canter) by studying how their respective signal patterns differ and how this is influenced by the size of the horse.The accelerometers being used in this study measures the movement in three different spaces; horizontal, lateral and vertical.

This candidate thesis contains the possibility of expand the Swedish photovoltaic market through photovoltaic cooperatives and a photovoltaic exchange. In the current situation there is a lot of problems with production of electricity from photovoltaic, that?s why we show some possibilities how to avoid these. To understand the problem with photovoltaic produced electricity we first give you a background.We show how to expand the Swedish photovoltaic market by describing how a photovoltaic cooperative and photovoltaic exchange could work in Sweden. It have been confirmed from our market research that the interest of photovoltaic cooperative and exchange is high.To find out how profitable photovoltaic is in Sweden, have three projections been made.

The effects from a planned wind farm on the grid utility Gävle Energis electrical grid have been studied. The wind farm is planned to be built in the forest 15 km north of Gävle and will have 23 turbines with rated power from 2 to 2.5 MW, resulting in a total installed power between 46 MW and 57.5 MW. The grid connection will be made at 70 kV. The aim of the analysis was to determine what effects the wind farm would have on the power grid in the form of electrical disturbances (flicker etc.), need for new investment and raised operational cost. To allow the connection of the wind farm technical solutions (new lines, power stations and grid reinforcements) have been constructed.

This master's thesis analyses the concept of equality between men and women in parts ofRegion Västra Götaland's area of operation. With critical policy analysis I analyse how theproblem of inequality is represented in the European charter for equality of women and men inlocal life (CEMR) and the Region Västra Götaland's plan of action for the charter. Throughinterviews with people responsible for gender equality in different areas I analyse, withdiscourse theory, the ways in which the concept of gender equality is articulated in differentareas of Region Västra Götaland, and what kind of politics these articulations enables.In the analysis I show that a discursive struggle of how equality is to be defined canbetter be understood as a discursive negotiation. Equality between men and women isunderstood in several ways at the same time, as antidiscrimination and basic human rights, asbalance between the sexes, and as an approach critical of norms and stereotypes. Within thesenegotiations certain understandings of gender are made possible or impossible.

The essay initially intends to find adequate models to describe and forecast monthly data for the Swedish Consumer Price Index sub group Clothes and Shoes 1986-2005. The time series observations during 2006 are considered ?out of sample period? which is used to evaluate the forecasts. The purpose is to perform time series decomposition and to investigate and analyzethe seasonal pattern. The Box-Jenkins approach is used to find adequate ARIMA models.

Calculated and measured energy in residential buildings is going to differ. The reason to this may be due to many factors. In this study there is a study on how these factors affect the energy use in a building. To get an insight in what defines energy, there is first a description of energy supply both worldwide and used in Sweden, followed by a description of the energy balance. In this study energy will be studied in residential buildings only.

This bachelor thesis explores the conditions for a harmonized EU gender equality policy. Recently the maternity leave directive has been introduced by the European commission and seeks to improve the conditions for pregnant workers. The controversial subject of this maternity leave has illustrated many of the problems connected to the development of a social dimension in EU. First of all, the debate concerning the maternity leave directive in the European Parliament has shown that both sides in the parliament seem positive towards creating legislation in this matter on EU level. However, parties at the right tend to disagree to many of the amendments in the proposal, such as the maximum entitlement.