This degree project is an inquiry in how plan layouts and functions should be designed to suit families with children. The project aim to, if possible, find good solutions and designed houses that satisfy the requirements a family have.Last spring we contacted Willa Nordic AB, a company that produce houses, and they had a suggestion to investigate living for families with children. Their motif were that they lacked in information and knowledge in how to design houses that correspond to a family's needs. We thought the idea was exiting and motivating.The autumn 2008 studies were made on earlier published reports, in the subject "living environment", to get a solid background. The earlier inquiries shows a clear development through the whole 1900's, from being without standards to have well defined norms.

By studying recent literature and following current research we know that language awareness and a rich language is important to all children when learning reading and writing and that decoding and understanding of the words are the fundamental processes in reading. How do pupils with visual impairment learn how to read and write? What strategies do they use in their contacts with reading and writing? What are the advantages do pupils with visual impairment have when learning to read and write? These questions have been the starting points in a study we have done by following two pupils with visual impairment. By meeting and discussing with the children, their parents, teachers, and lowvisiontherapists we have got a deeper knowledge in how these children meet the language in reading and writing. We have also come to an understanding regarding people surrounding the children have to make reading and writing comprehensive, enjoying, and meaningful.The problem for a child with visual impairment is the decoding, to catch letters and pictures of words good enough with the sight.

Scania InfoMate develops web applications that support truck distributors and workshops with the necessary tools for an effective maintenance process. However, the end-users of these applications are faced with as many different graphical interfaces as there are applications. As a consequence, important effects of recognition are lost, developers spend unnecessary time designing new solutions for each application and Scania InfoMate does not present a homogeneous brand image towards its customers.Therefore the aim of this study is to give a suggestion of how a standardized graphical interface for web applications at Scania InfoMate should be designed. The given suggestion should come from thorough investigation of both end-user needs and recent research within the area of usability. In addition to a standardized interface this study also aims to deliver guidelines that support future web application development at Scania InfoMate.Through a combination of methods, mainly heuristic evaluation and user interviews, an elaborate description of usability and consistency problems in a defined web application portfolio is produced.

Unga är inte lika väletablerade på bostadsmarknaden som de var förr. Detta på grund av den långsamma byggtakten i storstadsregionerna, vilket också har lett till att en renoveringsvåg sköljt genom Sverige och således gjort även det äldre bostadsbeståndet dyrt och svåråtkomligt. Syftet med arbete är att undersöka de kvaliteter som finns i att bygga yteffektivt. Detta som en del till att öka möjligheterna för ungas etablering på bostadsmarknaden. För att besvara arbetets syfte delas det in i tre delsyften.

Ocean Modules Sweden AB is a small business active in the field of underwater technology. Thecompany was contacted by the Swedish Defense Materiel Administration (FMV) in order todevelop a new system that would conform to their specific requirements. Two students at theRoyal Institute of Technology (KTH) were consulted in conjunction of this project in order to aidthe development and conceptual design of the system.The primary users of the system are the divers of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal division (EOD)- a branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. The purpose of the product was to incorporate allnecessary functions required by the EOD divers into one single system. The main functions arecommunication between the surface operator and diver, video recording, still imaging, positioning,navigation and ocean floor mapping with sonar.

This essay is about the principles and rules that control persuasive computer games. The term persuasive games mean computer games, video games and other similar artifacts that are produced to shape opinion. The rhetorical scholar Ian Bogost at Georgia Tech claims that this kind of games mainly get their persuasive power by using procedural rhetoric and that games as a medium gives special conditions for procedurality.  By procedural rhetoric Bogost means an argumentation that is based on rules and choices, as opposed to texts, movies and images. (Bogost 2007). Bogost describes these procedures as quite specific for games and claims that they differ qualitatively from ?ordinary? rhetorical arguments even if they just as other arguments work by establishing enthymems.

The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether parents that obtain long-term maintenance support in Enköping, consider the support as adequate when trying to meet their children's basic needs. The thesis also intends to investigate whether parents experience that their children, because they receive income support, have been socially excluded or stigmatized in their daily lives because of the family?s maintenance support. Further, the thesis aims to examine if there are any discrepancies in the above mentioned issue in relation to how long the parents have received maintenance support. Theoretical starting points used in this thesis mainly consist of the child perspective, social exclusion and the stigmatization theory.

Summary:Teenage girls? choice of dropping out or complete a treatment.The purpose of this study is to investigate, from a client?s perspective, why teenage girls (age 13 to 17) drop-out or complete a treatment at Familjehuset in Karlstad, Sweden. We also want to investigate if the teenage girls? experiences coordinate with the social workers opinion of why the teenage girls choose to drop-out or complete the treatment. Earlier research shows that many factors influence the client?s choice.

This essay is about gender equality in a Swedish upper secondary school. The aim is twofold: to obtain knowledge about feminism, gender equality, boys´ and girls´ situations in schools and gender equality work there; and to find out if government management documents for schools work effectively when it comes to promoting gender equality in schools. There are four research questions: How do teachers interpret what´s said in management documents for schools? What strategies do teachers use to promote gender equality? What opportunities and obstacles do teachers see for promoting gender equality at the specific school? And, finally, do the management documents for the school work effectively when it comes to promoting gender equality?The study has a socialist feminist perspective, which sees gender differences as a result of a mix of biological, historical and social factors. Important theoretical standpoints include gender socialization as an explanation for how girls and boys become women and men.The results of the study points out that teachers interpret management documents differently, and that they find the documents hard to understand.

Common species of freshwater mussels may, like the freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) have a drastic decline in number and there is several reasons, like sedimentation, a decline of host fishes, introduction of alien species, nutrition leakages from agriculture and pollutants of medic drugs and poison. Ann Gustavsson made in the year of 2007 a study over rejuventation of freshwater great mussels in nine watersystems and considered that the rejuventation within the populations were all along the line poor. This study orients from her work and points to determine if there is a connection between the poor juventation and pollution of nitrogen and phosphorous from industries and private sanitations. The study was performed with the software program ArcGIS9.2 to take out drainage areas for the concerned habitats and contact was made with the concerned authoritys. When it comes to supervision of private sanitations is it the countys and for industries is it the county administrative board.

Manzai (??) is a Japanese comedy style similar to stand-up comedy but done by two people in the form of a dialogue. One is the Boke ?Funny man? and the other the Tsukkomi ?Straight man?. This work examines how manzai discourse is structured to create comedy by using the framework postulated by Abe (2006).

Water constructions - as a design element in public spaces is the title of this Master thesis, with a focus on waters function and meaning in the urban environment. By way of introduction, mans relationship to places is described and the factors that contribute to the reality that we prefer some places more than others. A good place to stay is open but well defined, gives protection, offers a good view and is varying in topography and vegetation, together with contents of single landscape elements like visible water. This study then continues to discuss mans relationship to water and its means for our wellbeing. Despite the fact that people have a different relations to water due to personality, background and age, it?s an element that raises positive feelings, interest and aesthetic pleasure for most people.

This thesis work has been performed at Volvo Aero Corporation in Trollhättan, at the department of ?hot structures? involving aircraft engine GP7000. The purpose with the study was to investigate the possibility to reduce size of the forging of flanges on the rear turbine frame when purchasing. Thereto examine the parameters that affect the flanges motion during the manufacturing process. The goal was to provide Volvo Aero with foundation to later bring in slimmed forgings.

The group of elderly people in Sweden will increase significantly in the future and science point out that the future elderly people will not accept today?s standards and offers of assistance in today?s public elderly care. Therefore public elderly care stands before a significant challenge in terms of development that has to be sustainable. New research also points out that middle managers can be a great strategic resource, and a founder of success, in the challenge of sustainable development. The aim of the report was to increase the knowledge about what middle managers in public elderly care think sustainable development has to embrace, when it comes to quality and personnel administration, in order to meet the needs of the future elderly people.

The forest industry is anonymous among the young people of today. Many youngsters do not know what the forest industry has to offer. As a result of this, many schools and forest have a weak recruitment. This is not a problem for Sweden and the forest industry only, many other businesses companies suffer from in Sweden and other countries in Europe share the same image problem. The interest and values of young people drives them to look for opportunities in other betterknown sectors with better image and reputation. Many companies report having problems with recruiting the best and right employees and fear that the recruiting-problems will increase when the older generation born in the 1940?s will retire.