The purpose of this study is to examine how outdoor education (friluftsliv) in upper secondary school is perceived by both students and teachers, and to identify the conditions that influence their motivation and commitment to participate in outdoor education activities. The study also aims to analyze the significance of students previous experiences on their perceptions of outdoor education in school. The following research questions were investigated: ? ? ? ?Which factors do students and teachers believe promote or hinder students engagement in outdoor education in upper secondary school? ? ? ? ?How do students and teachers explain the ways in which previous experiences of outdoor activities affect students engagement and motivation in outdoor education? ? ? ? ?How do students and teachers perceive that organizational conditions and teaching design influence the possibilities of creating meaningful outdoor education? The study is theoretically based on Self-Determination Theory (SDT) (Deci & Ryan, 2000) and Sense of Coherence (SOC) (Antonovsky, 1991). SDT was used to understand how autonomy, competence, and solidarity influence student?s motivation, while SOC highlights how comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness shape student?s experiences of outdoor education.

The aim of the thesis was to better understand how second language learners becomes lingual participants in a Swedish preschool. Using the following research questions: In what situations are SLLs lingual participants at the preschool? What does their emerging language look like? Are the participation any different considering children's time in the new L2 context? What kind of support does SLLs receive at the preschool?Two focal children at the same preschool was studied with ethnography of communication as method. The focal children chosen were one girl (Mandarin L1, 4.0 yrs) who arrived to Sweden and started the preschool two months ago at the time of the study, the other a boy (Serbian L1, 3.9 yrs) who started preschool and learning the L2 one year and two months before the study. Situations where the focal children interacted with other children or adults were analyzed. Results showed that the focal children in interaction with each other understands some of the others intentions before being able to speak about them in the L2.

To have a forest area close to the city is of great importance for the city population?s well being. Children develop their motor skills, concentration and imagina-tion and the adults have a place to shake of the stress from work. Forest areas are used to exercise at, play in and to find a moment of peace and silence. The urban forest and the old farming pastures at Markussonvallen and Per-Isakssonvallen already has natural assets worth to preserve and a great potential to create more. The goal is to develop a forest with a variation of tree species and ground vegetation that will appeal to the human senses and different animal species such as birds, insects etc.

This study aimed to evaluate the levels of formaldehyde and organic acids that can build up within enclosed spaces. Another goal was to compare two types of paints that can be used as coating barriers within showcases and in turn compare them to the modern, and by many highly recommended, material of Marveseal®. A low volatile waterborne alkyd/acrylate paint and a two component polyurethane paint was compared to Marveseal® in two series of experiments. One series measured the level of formaldehyde, and thus the effectiveness of the three chosen barriers, and the other series measured the level of volatile organic acids, both the acids emitted from the paint itself, and that of the wood. One box in each series were not treated at all and was used as a reference.The fact that different types of materials emit volatile organic compounds have long been known.

Minskad efterfrågan på traditionella produkter från skogsindustrin kombinerat med ökad efterfrågan på icke-fossila material medför att företag inom skogsbranschen alltmer intresserar sig för nya produktsegment. Holmen New Business Development, en forsknings- och utvecklingsavdelning inom företaget Holmen arbetar med att utveckla produkter där trä kan ersätta traditionella alternativ. En möjlig produkt för avdelningen är Wood Plastic Composite (WPC), ett material som består av en kombination av en plastmatris och ett träbaserat fyllnadsmaterial som kan ges olika egenskaper vilka skiljer sig från rena trä- och plastmaterial. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur designers och produktutvecklare inom olika svenska branscher ser på användandet och utvecklingen av WPC inom sina produktområden, både idag och i framtiden. För att undersöka detta har 18 kvalitativa intervjuer genomförts med företag inom möbel-, köks-, fönster-, dörr-, staket- och trallindustrin. Studien visar att ett lågt pris, hög beständighet mot till exempel röta, fukt och mögel samt att materialet går att bearbeta på samma sätt som trä är de mest önskvärda attributen hos framtida WPC-material. Miljövänlighet hos produkten är ett attribut som respondenterna tror kommer få större betydelse i framtiden men som kunderna inte är beredda att betala för idag.

Bioenergi är en stor industri i Sverige och står för en betydande del av energiomsättningen. Bioenergi i form av flis förvaras runt om i landet på hög i väntan på förbränning. Då högarna läggs upp startar olika processer som värmer upp stacken, ofta till temperaturer på 50°C under det första dygnet. En vanlig ansats i litteraturen är att denna temperaturstegring beror på aerob nedbrytning. Arbetet ämnar undersöka om denna uppvärmning endast beror av mikrobiella aktiviteter.

This thesis has two purposes: (1) to analyze the emptiness in Blodbok by Christine Falkenland, and (2) to analyze my own reading of the same book. I have chosen to focus on how emptiness is expressed through the body, the language and the place in Blodbok, because of the deep impact these seem to have on the emptiness. The thesis discusses what kind of emptiness that is described, what it does to me as a reader, and how it is connected to other works by Falkenland. Cultural politics of emotions by Sara Ahmed, Uses of literature by Rita Felski and Pouvoirs de l?horreur by Julia Kristeva together form the theoretical framework.Blodbok is a poetry collection, about the loss of a mother.

During the 1970?s the interest for quality management and the concept of quality costs increased considerably. Business leaders noticed that there was a great potential for reducing costs of poor quality. Since up to 10-30% of a company?s total turnover may consist of poor quality costs some consider them as an unexploited goldmine.

All since Thomas Kuhn?s strongly influential The Structure of Scientific Revolutions the Philosophy of Science and ?even more so ?the Social Sciences have contained a greater amount of theories that could be described as more or less relativistic, meaning that the standards of justification or truth thereafter more often were said to be relative to language, culture, or biological makeup. One of the more elaborate ways of developing Thomas Kuhn?s theories in a more relativistic direction ismade by the philosopher Richard Rorty. Rorty, mainly a supporter of Thomas Kuhn, is also a philosopher who has been seen as a main exponent of a so called Postmodern philosophy.My intention in this thesis is to evaluate whether Kuhn's and Rorty's theories of science and knowledge could be regarded as relativism, in respects of their view of incommensurability, rational argumentation, and of their position vis-á-vis the more conventional picture of scientific knowledge and truth.

To manage the industry?s need of wood assortments in a optimal and cost effective way the forest companies need to have knowledge of the actual standing volume and the yield of the planned clear cuts. The mean volume of the trunk is also important since it is important for the contractors prices. Today the total volume are estimated either with Näslund (1940) or Brandels (1990) functions of volumes, and the yield is estimated with Rune Ollas (1980) function for trunks and stands. The purpose of this study has been to answer the following questions: How good is the yield forecast with data collected with currently used methods? How well can the yield forecasts became with data collected according to the instructions? How well can the yield forecast be with data collected according to the instruction and calculated with the program Aptan for theoretical bucking? The study has been initiated and financed by SCA Skog AB.The material consisted of a number of randomly selected objects ready for clear cut.

Today most dosages used in horse medicine are based on studies in adult horses. Since there are differences between adult and neonatal horses with respect to different pharmacological parameters this can cause problems when administring drugs to neonatal foals. Neonatal sepsis is a common cause of morbidity and mortality in foals and aggressive antibiotic treatment is needed immediately when sepsis is suspected. In Sweden the combination of trimethoprim/sulphadiazine and bensylpenicillin is often used as the initial treatment. When administering drugs, interactions can occur between the drugs and endogenous substances.

I Norrbotten produceras tall, gran och björk, vilka den senaste tiden har stått inför en hård konkurrens, eftersom träslagen är ljusa till färgen och därför blivit omoderna. I Finland finns en teknik som genom att värmebehandla virke i upphettad ånga, förändrar egenskaperna hos virket, som t.ex. dess färg, dimensionsstabilitet och beständighet. Då infinner sig frågan om våra träslag, med förändrade egenskaper, kan konkurrera med importerat ädelträ, impregnerat trä och de svenska mörka träslagen som ek och valnöt? Uppdraget är att ta reda på hur man producerar värmebehandlat trä (VBT).

The use of the robust and durable woody ground covers is increasing, not in the least in public places. The group includes low shrubs of different height that effectively build low, tight vegetation that covers the ground. Despite all the good qualities the knowledge about them is quite low and there are ideas about them of being dull. The woody ground covers manage to struggle against weeds effectively by competing for nourishment and water, but above all, by the canopy of the ground covers that prevent the weeds from getting enough light. In that way the woody groundcovers can effectively compete with the annual weeds.

The work presented in this report is written at IEIs department on Linköping Institute of Technology. The report aims to increase the assembly efficiency at Wigells AB. The report shall be used as a guide for the implementation of changes at other workstations in the company. Together with Träcentrum in Nässjö, Wigells AB has identified the needs of this study and contacted IEI at Linköping Institute of Technology.In order to implement an efficient assembly line at the company, studies on lean production have been made. This theory has been studied and together with our own views and findings at the company we have analyzed the assembly area.Wigells is a small company that manufactures wood furniture.

Many companies have historically forced their interests through without any thoughts about the future needs of the humans and the society. In the last few years voices have been raised for a change, companies need to take their responsibility regarding sustainable development.The purpose of the report is to describe and explain possible relations between sustainabil-ity performance of companies and profitability, valuation, industry and size respectively.To be able to judge the sustainability performance of the companies Folksam (2006a) have been used. This is a solid investigation of the companies listed on the A- and O-lists of the Stockholm Stock Exchange by the end of 2005. The sustainability marks have been com-pared with the chosen key values for each hypothesis respectively. With this quantitative data as foundation, a quantitative approach and a deductive method have been used.In the first area of the investigation, profitability, the authors found correlation for the main hypothesis between sustainability performance and ?Return on Total Assets? through a statistical test.