Abstract: This study is focused on blogging from the perspective of the individual. Weinvestigate why one uses the weblog format, functions on the blog that are seen to work asdriving forces, attitudes towards self-disclosure and anonymity on the weblog and how therelation between an online- and offline-identity is interpreted by the bloggers themselves, forexample to what extent it is possible to get to know the blogger by reading the weblog.Finally, we investigate the weblog-readers meaning to the blogger, as well as their possibleimpact on both his or her personal blog-content and the everyday-life.The empirical material consists of half-structured interviews via MSN Messengerwith nine informants, being bloggers found on the Swedish website bloggportalen.se. Thetheoretical framework behind the interview guide focuses on the identity concept, containingidentity theories in psychological and sociological perspectives, symbolic interactionismconcerning the concept of roles, as well as Bauman?s liquid theory on postmodern societytendencies. This material is further included in related previous research articles, derived fromboth international and Swedish databases.

In Örebro, the car traffic share does not tend to decrease. The crowdedness on some of the bus routes is high at times. Investigations show that the residents of Örebro want a city centre whose street environment is more restrictive of car traffic and better for pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. To decrease the car traffic share a rapid, convenient, clear, effective and environmental friendly public transport with high frequency and strong capacity in a short, direct and logical network is needed. A modern tramway fulfils these criteria.At first, this report describes factors that are important to take into consideration when planning a tramway.

Organic cotton has been in the medias field of vision for quite some time. This interestalso reflects in a growing awareness in the textile industry where more and morecompanies today offer organic cotton in their product range. With this in mind wequestion whether organic cotton has become a viable commercial product. We alsoacknowledge there is a lacking of understanding the complex problems that organiccotton manufacture involves, for example the huge effort and cost required for a transitionfrom conventional to organic cotton farming.The purpose of this paper was to study how textile, ecology and competition today arebeing combined by companies. We wanted with our investigation to find out whethercompanies in the textile industry use ecology as a competitive advantage.

Garden center and market gardens are a growing trade, undergoing great changes with new actors and purchasing habits. The interest in gardens and plants is steadily increasing, official statistics show an increase of garden plants and flower consumption, of an annual 3 per cent. Garden centers and market gardens are in great need of development to be able to tackle the prevailing competition, and maintain a steady growth. Many companies are heading for a generation shift and are founding it difficult to find and employ younger managers. The aim of this report is to examine different strategies of garden centers and market gardens through the manager/ owner?s views and opinions about competition, growth and success.

The aim of this master thesis is to study how the development of a public library by means of ideas and methods from the private sector can be related to traditional core values. We base our study on institutional theory, which focuses on norms and values in an organisation, and new institutional theory, which focuses on how organisations are influenced by changes in the environment. We also use New Public Management with a market focus to analyze the implications of a development towards a more market oriented view.The method used is that of a case study of a new library concept, Idea Stores in London. Idea Stores are a number of new public libraries in Tower Hamlets developed from the results of a major opinion survey about libraries. The Idea Stores combine traditional library services with elements of adult education and lifelong learning in a partnership with local learning centres.

Equal treatment in school is an on-going debate in the Swedish society. At the same time teachers around the country struggles to make ends meet because of a heavy workload. Voices have been raised that teachers no longer have the time to actually be teachers since they get piled up with paper work and other administrative tasks. However, schools are bound by law to take action against harassments and discrimination of any kind. There is also an overall policy in the Swedish national curriculum that every school must embrace diversity and actively teach students about solidarity and respect.

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a complex, often lifelong allergic disease affecting around 10 % of both dogs and humans. The hallmark symptom is severe pruritus, causing a lowered quality of life. Mast cells (MCs) are known to play an important part of the immunopathogenesis, promoting a faulty T helper cell type 2 (Th-2) response which follows by a production of specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) antibodies towards environmental allergens (Ag). To further investigate the role of MCs and its mediators in the progression of AD, a low-calcemic vitamin D3 analog (MC903) was used to induce AD-like symptoms locally on the ears of two different knock-out (KO) mouse strains. The first strain was Wsh-/- mice deficient in MCs.

 AbstractThis Master?s thesis analyses the dynamics of the medieval counterweight lever engine, ortrebuchet, a type of mechanical artillery. The purpose is to study the differences between different types of these machines, and see if computer simulations can be used to validate preserved advice on construction. Simulations include machines with a fixed counterweight, a hinged counterweight and a combination of both counterweights.Due to the almost complete lack of archaeological finds and insufficient historical source material there are still, after more than a century of research, many unanswered questions concerning the design and performance of these machines.The present study is based on an analysis by Jahsman (2004). A more detailed mathematical model employing Coulomb-friction is used.

The enterprises of today are beginning to realize that environmental issues are a important part of their activity. Companies and organizations are expected to a greater extent communicate their environmental work to the world surrounding them in a trustworthy and structured way. Lack of information or information that is incorrect may bring farreaching consequences. Communication is mentioned in several of the ISO 14001-standards. But what is missing is a guideline how companies should act to create and be sure of the quality of the data that can be used in the environmental communication.

SAMMANFATTNINGAmbulanssjuksköterskan har en komplex arbetssituation, hon ska självständigt bedöma och behandla akuta tillstånd hos patienten. Arbetet försvåras av flera faktorer, tiden med patienten är i regel kort, möjligheten till rådfrågning är liten, utrymmet och tillgången till hjälpmedel är begränsade. Trots det ställs höga krav på vården i ambulansen, många gånger samma krav som på vården på en akutmottagning. Ett av dessa krav är en god dokumentation, kraven på patientjournalen är desamma i ambulansen som i övriga vården. I journalen dokumenteras uppgifter om iakttagelser, omvårdnadsåtgärder, medicinska åtgärder och information rörande transporten.

The current demanding business environment requires corporations to act fast in finding effective solutions to problems given the myriad of challenges they face (Dyllick & Hockerts, 2001). The challenges include the impact of climate change on business practices, natural resource consumption, chemical pollution, technological change etc. Moreover, the forces of globalization, heightened concerns about the deteriorating quality of the physical environment and increased stakeholder power are also increasingly having a real influence on business practices (Rainey, 2008). Since 1992, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) has encouraged the adoption of the concept of ecological efficiency (eco-efficiency) to support business efforts aimed at addressing some of these challenges. The aim of eco-efficiency is to reduce the amount of energy and materials used in production processes to achieve economic and environmental benefits (WBCSD, 2000).

Syftet med studien är att genom en forskningsanalys identifiera orsaker bakom och konsekvenser av den snabba befolkningstillväxten i Latinamerikanska storstäders socioekonomiska periferi. Arbetet utgör en geografisk studie och fokus i analysen ligger därför på rumsliga aspekter. Studien tar avstamp i en orsaksanalys för att förklara den kraftiga urbanisering som tog fart i Latinamerika under 1900-talets andra hälft. Sedan analyseras de socioekonomiska och rumsliga konsekvenserna av denna urbanisering. I studien identifieras fyra huvudsakliga orsaker och sex huvudsaliga konsekvenser.

A recommendation for stand treatment of lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) is, in a scientific point of view, lacking when it comes to harvesting for biomass energy. Within the next decades it is expected that 280 000 hectares of lodgepole pine will have reached thinning age on the domains of Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget (SCA). Due to this the interest has grown rapidly for studying the possibilities of harvesting biofuel assortments already in the first thinning. In this study the distribution of the biomass within lodgepole pine trees has been studied and taken into account for estimating the proportions of harvested assortments when using different methods of thinning. The methods studied were conventional biofuel-harvesting (with delimbed branches gathered separately from the round wood) and thinning with cutting of round wood and long tops (incl.

AbstractTitle: Corporate Social Responsibility within the banking-sector ? A case study of the CSR-strategies of Nordea.Seminar date: 130108State University: Mälardalen University ? Västerås Institution: School of Sustainable Development of Society and TechnologyLevel: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration ? FÖA300Authors: Samir Ghaddab, Josefine Jonsson, Sam LindforsExaminor: Cecilia Lindh Thillenius Supervisor: Magnus LinderströmPages: 35 Attachments: 1 Key words: CSR, bank, sustainability, communication, awarenessResearch questions:- What is the nature of CSR-related work in Nordea, and how do they practice CSR? - How can Nordea raise awareness about CSR among employees and other stakeholders?Purpose: The purpose with this thesis was to get an increased understanding about how Nordea interprets CSR and how they work with CSR. Finally with relevant theories in mind, this thesis presents suggestions on possible changes and opportunities within Nordea?s CSR-activities and how they can co-operate with NGO?s like CSR Sweden.Methodology: A qualitative study with deductive methods. A case study has been done with semi-structured interviews at a company and a nonprofit organization.Conclusion: The reality in which Nordea operates conforms to the theories presented in the thesis when we look at the driving forces behind working with CSR and the demands on the company that stakeholders have.

This report is the result of a master thesis at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Division of Industrial and Economical Development, at Linköping University of Technology. The project was carried out on behalf of Fanerami AB, Mjölby and includes 20 weeks of full time schedule work.Cabinets with vertical mounted roller shutters all share the same problem, namely weight balancing. A roller shutter has an equilibrium area where the sum of the different forces acting on the shutter equals zero. As the shutter leaves that area it will pick up speed as it falls towards the bottom. When the shutter hits the bottom of the cabinet there is a potential risk of getting fingers caught and in this project a solution to prevent this from happening was to be presented.In this project, three concepts have been generated with the following different purposes:?In concept 1 the risk of getting any fingers caught when the shutter closes was to be eliminated in an efficient and inexpensive way.?In concept 2 the roller shutter had to be balanced at all time providing the possibility to keep the cabinet open in any position.?The last and most challenging task was to create a remote controlled TV cabinet.