Background: A majority of strategic alliances do not create value for the participants. One of the main reasons for the high failure rate is an inadequate process for partner selection. If the correct partner is not selected, it can have serious effects on the management of the partnership. This is a serious problem since failed alliances usually are very expensive for the involved companies. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate which theoretical factors are important when selecting a partner for a strategic alliance.

This thesis work is intended to analyze whether the municipalities has a need for the new technology of mobile mapping.Mobile mapping consists of the technologies of laser scanning, photographing and positioning of streets and roads in city environment and in the countryside. When these technologies are operating together a georeferenced three-dimensional image model is created, which has specific coordinates that states its position on the surface of the earth. Thanks to the laser scanning process even measuring can be performed in this model.The municipal sector consists of many different departments which use visual spatial information. These departments are an interesting target group for this system. Specific departments within the municipal sector, which we considered were the most suitable, have been selected.

The aim of this study was to investigate which situations haemodialysis patients consider as the hardest for avoiding fluid intake. The data collection was performed with a questionnaire which was distributed to haemodialysis patients who fulfilled the inclusioncriteria. Of 158 haemodialysis patients 103 haemodialysis patients chose to participate in the study. The participants were chosen from different dialysis centres (n=12) in north and south of sweden, excluding the middle of Sweden. The questionnaire that was given out consisted of 32 situations, the response format included nine alternatives, that included different kind of difficultes.

Sweden and the surrounding countries have reorganised their armies towards a manoeuvre warfare concept. In Sweden new regulations were produced in the middle of the 90s using manoeuvre warfare as a basic idea. The purpose of this paper is to produce a clearer picture of the Swedish manoeuvre warfare concept and how it can be implemented. An inductive method of working has been used, qualitative data has been gathered and studied.The Swedish manoeuvre warfare concept has been difficult to define because of indistinct actions. It is only after complementing interviews that the picture has cleared up.

Practice of mathematical proof increase the understanding of mathematics anddevelop creativity skills, problem solving, communication, logical thinking andreasoning which are all important tools not only within the subject of mathematicsbut also important tools for the society in which we are living. The aim of this projectwas to investigate whether it is accurate that proof and proving has a subordinate rolein mathematic education in the upper secondary school in Sweden. This was done byconstructing of a digital survey that was sent to approximately 100 practicingmathematics teachers in a normal size city located in the middle of Sweden. Theresults of the survey show that the teachers consider themselves comfortable withtheir own skills in teaching proof. Paradoxically, the results also show that there is alack of teaching of proof and proving in the upper secondary school, although the newcurriculum puts more focus on proof and proving..

Osteological examinations were executed on nine mediaeval individuals from Västergarn, Gotland, with the main aim to increase the knowledge about the people who lived there during the Middle Ages. A further aim was to compare the results from this study with other populations from the same time period, which in this case was the "Bonegathering" from Västergarn as well as previous osteological results from Sigtuna and Västerhus. Archaeological excavations have been occurring in Västergarn since 1971 and are still occurring in an educational purpose, for students of Gotland University. The age distribution of the individuals showed ages from 2 years old up to 44 years, with five adults and four children. The gender distribution show approximately five women and one man.

GIS on the Internet is a rather new phenomenon, which has evolved from the need ofdistributed geographical data. It is also a powerful tool for presenting information on theInternet. This master thesis aim to create a web based GIS application with information onlime spreading and the situation concerning acidification in the county of Kronoberg, Sweden.The web based GIS application will be used by the county administrations in Kronoberg toinform the public and the municipal authorities of current counteracting acidification activity.This report includes documentation on acidifying processes and liming activities, which arepublicised together with the web based GIS application. The web based GIS application wascreated with ArcIMS, a new program in the ESRI family of GIS programs. The programincludes a guided structure, to development of everything from a map to a complete GISapplication, including mapservice and websites.

Syftet med denna studie är att få en inblick i hur lärare på mellanstadiet arbetar med teknikämnet i skolan. Detta görs genom en enkät, vars frågor är upplagda efter tre frågeställningar: Vilka tankar har lärarna om teknik? Hur ser pedagogernas teknikundervisning ut? Vilket undervisningsmaterial använder lärarna sig av i teknikämnet? Totalt är det 65 lärare som arbetar eller har arbetat med teknik på mellanstadiet som deltagit i studien. Enkäten har visat på att de flesta lärarna som deltagit tycker att teknikämnet är ett roligt, spännande och intressant ämne som dock är svår bedömt, tids- och materialkrävande. Undersökningen visar även att de flesta lärarna tycker det är bäst att arbeta med teori och praktik varvat, då båda delarna behövs för att eleverna skall förstå teknikens innebörd i samhället.

Museums are a part of the cultural sector that over the last couple of years had to compete with the steadily growing consumption of spectacles. New techniques to attract and amaze the visitors have evolved. Living History Museums has developed a method to simulate past times by building up an environment with reconstructions. History is a non-definite science, there will never be an exact answer to how it really was, for example during the Middle Ages.This essay deals with the difference between reconstructions and authentic artefacts and how they build up an illusion of the past. In what sense does it matter if the artefacts are genuine or not? How do these museums deal with anachronistic phenomena from today's modern world in the historic environment? Additionally I discuss whether or not these reconstructions - of environment, buildings and personal characters - have any influence on the historic narrative given by the museum.

AbstractThe aim of this present study was to investigate whether there is a relationship between birth order and the personality trait narcissism using 181 individuals from Finnveden High School in Värnamo (115 females, 60 males, mean age 17, sd=0,94), in the context of the proposal of Sulloway (1996) that personality is influenced by the specialized nich-es siblings adopt in the quest for access to parental resources. A questionnaire which in-cludes Narcissistic Personality Inventory test, Birth order test and also Rosenberg?s self-esteem test in order to investigate if it might has an impact on narcissistic personality trait, was used. Results showed that there was no significant relationship between birth order and narcissism, however, a significant relationship between narcissism and self-esteem was found. Furthermore, there was a significant relationship between narcissism and the individual?s relationship with the mother.

The world?s consumption is increasing at an accelerating rate and it´s produced and consumed more goods and services than ever before. A large part of people's consumption consists of clothing that is bought and discarded increasingly leading to a number of environmental problems such as global warming, pollution, loss of biodiversity and the depletion of natural assets. One way to save the earth's resources is to buy used clothing, so called second hand, instead of new ones. The store chain ?The Ants? (in Swedish ?Myrorna?) has specializing in second-hand goods and sells, among other things, clothes.

The study is based on three Swedish novels published in 1945,1956 and 1964, and three Swedish novels published in 1998, 2008and 2009. The aim has been to investigate how librarians are portrayed in Swedish literature, as well as a comparison between the older and the newer literature. What librarian images are portrayed in the analyzed literature? Is the portrayal mostly positive, negative or neutral? Are there any clear differences in how librarians portrayed in newer and older Swedish fiction? If so, what are they? The method used has been qualitative content analysis where relevant paragraphs have been coded and divided them into categories of appearance, personality, and professional identity. The conclusion is that the librarian is often portrayed as an intellectual and somewhat high-strung bibliophile.

Can you ensure that your smoke detector will sense fire and sound the alarm in the middle of the night?In 80 percent of the cases where emergency pulls out, smoke detectors are missing where the fire occurred. In the year of 2009, 118 people in Sweden died in fires ? most of them would have survived if there had been a functioning smoke detector.Earlier development of smoke detectors has mainly been focusing on components that sense smoke and alert in case of fire. But in most cases the problem has not been whether the smoke detector was working or not as fully assembled, but rather that it was missing.

The purpose of this Master Thesis is to compare two American novel suites for young women, Louisa May Alcott?s Little Women and Good Wives to Ann Brashares series of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. The social status of women and children in the US during the 19th century is analyzed and compared historically and literary with the situation 130 years later.The main question is, what differences exist in the books and is there a connection between the changes in society and literature?The method of this Master Thesis is to make a comparative narratological analysis placed in a historical context.The result shows that the multiple character remains and enhances the identification process. Motherhood in the works of Alcott is prominent, whereas in the works of Brashares, sisterhood replaces motherhood.In Alcott?s US during the 19th century, Christian faith was in the foreground.

The parasite Neospora caninum is an intracellular protozoa discovered in the late 1980s. N. caninum has an indirect lifecycle which means it needs a definitive host and an intermediate host. The confirmed definitive host for N. caninum is dog and the intermediate hosts are among others dog and cattle.