Making accurate predictions of private consumption expenditures is a difficult task. This thesis examines if consumer confidence can be used to forecast consumption. Using regression analysis, the link between consumer confidence and private consumption expenditures is analyzed for Sweden between the years 1994 and 2005. Two different models are estimated. In the first model consumption is regressed only on consumer confidence, while model two is extended to contain more variables.

Since the disintegration of the Soviet Union a lot of hope has been put on civil society to help develop Russia into a more democratic society. This study explores the constructive elements in the relationship between civil society and the state in Russia, and how this enables the work toward political development. By using Julie Fishers theory about political development and organisational autonomy I discuss the varying and often complex ways in which civil society and the state interacts. These are often not mentioned in the liberal tradition, which believes that civil society's most important democratic function is to act as a watchdog for the state.There is very limited political space for NGO's in authoritative Russia. The existing oppositional NGO's are important for the political development, but they are few and their impacts on society are limited.

The purpose of the project was to exam steams ability to sterilize carrots infected withLactobacillus plantarum. The project was a cowork with Brämhults Juice AB. They hadobserved an increase of Lactobacillus in the production of carrot juice during the summer. Tokeep the flavour of fresh fruits, the juice is treated carefully with heat. This Means that thejuice only stays fresh for a few days, around two weeks for an unopened package and threedays for an opened package.In an attempt to remove the remaining Lactobacillus of the carrots, steam is tested as an extrastep in the production of juice.

When the emissions from the diesel trucks today accounts for a large part of the total emissions from the road traffic, the trend with a more extensive use of diesel trucks for transportation will therefore lead to increasing carbondioxide emissions to the atmosphere. Because of the fact that technical progress in the form of optimized engines and shifts in the Means of transport sometimes result in even greater emission levels, other solutions to this problem must be studied to decrease the emissions of carbondioxide from the diesel trucks. The purpose of the thesis is to show how a decrease of the carbondioxide emissions from diesel trucks in Sweden can be achieved in a costeffective way by the use of a carbondioxide tax and a differentiated vehicle tax. The method used in order to fullfill the purpose of the thesis is studies of literature, mainly of public government reports. Literature of enviromental economics will be used to show the need of a tax and how to determine the dynamic effective carbondioxide tax in steady-state.

Social networks have become an important factor in today?s society. Companies as well as individuals are using these platforms to interact with one another on a daily basis. This phenomenon has mostly been acknowledged by companies on B2C markets where these social network sites are being used to communicate their brand. On B2B markets however, the usage of these platforms have not been as optimistically implemented.

Background: Heart failure is a complex condition which Means that the hearts capacity topump blood is reduced. The aim of this study was to investigate how patients with heartfailure considered their knowledge and the information they received about their disease andself-care.Method: Patients suffering from heart failure, hospitalized at section 30 E (n=13), andpatients visiting the nurse led heart failure clinic (n=4) at Akademiska sjukhuset in Uppsala,were requested to participate in the study. The patients answered questions about knowledgeand information concerning self-care and their disease. Data were analyzed using SPSS 15.0.Results: The patients valued their knowledge about the disease as lower than their knowledgeabout self-care. The study showed that all the patients found the information they hadreceived about their self-care better than the information they had received about theirdisease.

This master thesis deals with classifications schemes in multicultural societies. The aim is to investigate how well the Swedish classification scheme SAB has been adapted to the multicultural society of today. I have done a comparative analysis between the SAB and the UDC to see if an international classification scheme would have better possibilities to represent a multicultural society. I have asked some institutions that have a large collection of documents dealing with minority cultures how they experienced the SAB. I have also read literature about classification theories and compared universal enumerative, facetted and special classification schemes to see if the possibilities to classify documents on, or related to minorities differed from each other.

The stakeholders for requirements elicitation need to be identified at an early stage and their knowledge is the basis for what is to become a requirements specification. Just because a stakeholder holds a lot of expertise and knowledge it does not mean that the stakeholder can communicate the knowledge in a clear way. Validation of knowledge Means that knowledge is valued and recognized in a structured way. People and organizations can evolve by exchanging knowledge, experience and skills.  The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of knowledge management between requirement elicitation and external stakeholders.

This paper discusses some concerns about Japanese gender identity as a construct and the subversive Means to overthrow it. In my paper I claim that the eastern influences on Japan has created a gap between old and new gender- traditions and norms. This interspace is what the philosopher Judith Butler claims as the site for a possible gender transformation. As Butler claims gender identity to be a construct, I use her methods of understanding and subsequently queertheory, to investigate the construct of Japanese gender identity and also the norms that constitute a national identity. As I elaborate on this theory I use specific artworks from Morimura Yasumasa, Yoshiko Shimada and Bubu de la Madeleine and also the all-male theatre kabuki vs.

Thee purpose of this study was to examine what helps in counseling against women victims of domestic violence, and how to identify empowerment in their experiences? It is a qualitative study using semi-structured interviews where the collected material is based on five interviews. The group we studied is victims of domestic violence who had taken part of counseling. The interviews were based on an interview guide that sought answers to women´s experience of counseling. The interviews were analyzed with the help of theories of support, domestic violence and empowerment.

The aim of this study is to examine what preschool teachers within Reggio Emilia inspired early childhood education express as important regarding the physical indoor environment in preschools. The study is implemented with a qualitative method and is based on four interviews with preschool teachers that have been involved in a course on Reggio Emilia. The interviews were complemented with four observations on the departments where the preschool teachers work. A second aim of this study is to examine how the relationship between the teachers statements correlate with the environment they have created at their preschool. The collected material was gathered and then categorized.

Purpose: To describe the gender impact on the situation of women at the onset of myocardial infarction and describe why women wait to contact medical caregivers when showing symptoms of myocardial infarction. Method: Literature review with a descriptive design. Articles was retrieved from PudMed and Cinahl. Findings: Women are affected more than men of the so-called atypical symptoms of a heart attack. This Means that they can not always relate the symptoms to a heart attack.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to describe how Swedish public libraries use Web 2.0-tools and their experiences of using the tools. Focus of the study lies in the contact between public libraries and their patrons on the Web 2.0-tools. For the purposes of the study, the use of weblogs and MySpace were chosen for examination. The methodology used for this study was qualitative interviews.

The aim of this essay is to study the religious education which the Jewish Community of Göteborg offers to members between six and fourteen years of age. The main question of the essay is ?what function does the religious afternoon education serve for the Jewish Community of Göteborg??To answer this question I have interviewed four people who in various ways are engaged in the religious education. To analyse the result I have used Danièle Herviue-Léger?s theory ?religion as a chain of memory?.

AbstractEssay in political science, C-level, by Samanta Pudic´, spring semester 2008. Tutor: Susan Marton. ?The relationship between national government and local municipality when a refugee centre shall be located.?The purpose of this essay is to examine the relationship between government and municipality with the help from the interdependens theory when a refugee centre is located. To be able to say something about the relationship between those two actors I have been using two municipalities as examples.