Phytoestrogens are secondary metabolites produced by plants. Among the plants that make phytoestrogens are soya, red clover and some types of grass. The name phytoestrogen is a collective term for compounds such as genistein, daidzein, biochanin A and formononetin. These compounds are similar to oestradiol-17? in their chemical structure.

In part this paper is a contribution to the ongoing Swedish discussion about our public structures. The discussion has picked up speed in the last years thanks to a government backed committee trying to come up with a suggestion to make our public sector more efficient. A big part of the debate is about the independence and work of our municipalities, what they should do, what they shouldn?t do and when the state should step in and take over. I make a theoretical investigation into one of these issues, the one about job creation.

The purpose of the essay is to discuss from the theory about the established and the Outsiders if the Culture Centre Blå Stället can serve as a meeting point between the majority of the people and the minority of the people in Gothenburg. The idea of Blå Stället is that it shall work as a house available for everyone and as a cultural meeting point between people in and outside Angered. I argue if Blå Stället really is a place where people from Gothenburg as a whole go or if there are some hindrances for their visions. My study is comprised of interviews with three of the staff at Blå Stället. With the theory about the established and the outsiders I want to show that the division in the city between ?them? and ?us? has to do with differences of power.

This bachelor?s thesis examines the ideas behind the phenomenon art exhibitions in public libraries. My interest is to see if and how the art exhibitions can support the libraries in being a public sphere in Jürgen Habermas? sense, open for all citizens and their opinions. My study therefore has two purposes.

Most scientists believe that in the good times the peasant had the opportunity to follow fashion. Virestad parish does not follow fashion. My purpose is to try to understand something of the mechanism that made Virestad do so: that I will do by analyzing the results in relation to the concept of status. My main source is estate inventories. Here I examine the status markers and differences in what they invested in clothes and jewelry in relation to the estate's proceeds.The lower the balance, the more percentage they need to put on clothes.

Background: To maintain or increase the trust in the market, companies can disclose more voluntary information in the annual reports. According to prior research the annual report is the primary source of information for small shareholders and investors. Thus, it is of interest to investigate why companies chose to report the voluntary information inquired by this group. Purpose: We investigate some company-specific factors to decide whether these determine the extent of voluntary information, particularly inquired by small shareholders and investors, in the annual reports of listed Swedish companies. We also aim to discuss underlying causes for our result.

The business potential of software defined radio (SDR) technology is studied by evaluating whether or not its characteristics correspond to those particular to a disruptive technology. The maturity of the SDR technology concept is illuminated by analyzing the opinions and perspectives of a selection of representatives for different stakeholders in the wireless communications market. Characteristics as, for example, the degree of consensus about the utility of SDR technology and the awareness of features and limitations are studied by application of the theory of technological frames. This theory helps us understand how and when technology evolution takes place. Finally we describe the value network structures of some potentially viable application areas for SDR and suggest some possible business opportunities based on SDR technology.This thesis is carried out as a case study and the research data is obtained from secondary sources, such as literature and Internet publications as well as interviews with people well experienced in the field of wireless communications.

After World War II a rapid expansion of the Swedish health care took place. Theexpansion was realised chiefly as a development of the hospitals and was bothproduced and financed mainly within the public sector. The financing consisted to ahigh degree of government grants from the state to the county councils.During the period for this examination (1945-1955) the public responsibility for thehealth care was expanded. This was expressed in the publicly financed system forhealth insurance and the cut down in the charges that the patients had to pay for thehospital care. These changes led to some discussions on the national level but reformscould on the whole, with exception for the suggested reform of the open health care,be implemented.This case-study performed on the county council in Värmland shows that the degreeof consensus was enhanced on the regional level.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze and propose improvements to the current procedure for cost estimations of purchased maintenance work at Banverket, the Swedish rail administration. This governmental institution is responsible for the procurement of maintenance services for the country?s railroad network through open tenders. Due to the generally low number of contractors, it is particularly necessary to establish accurate cost estimates in order to assess the offers and ensure that a fair price is being paid to the suppliers. Several flaws associated with the current practice are identified and analyzed according to cost accounting theories.

Since several lifestyle diseases are associated with obesity much research is carried out within the area. Researchers have found that oxidation of fatty acids within the body?s cells may give rise to peripheral signals which regulate food intake, but it is still unclear where such a mechanism takes place. Although much evidence suggests that it is the hepatocytes in the liver that send signals regulating food intake, some researchers have begun to question this theory. Instead they argue that the mechanism takes place within the enterocytes since they are well localised in the gut for such assignment.

The aim of this Master's thesis is to examine the information use among Swedish backpackers, both prior to departure and while travelling. The questions posed in this study are; which artefacts did the backpackers use, in what way were those used as tools of mediation within their social practice and how does a presumptive interaction between backpackers and information sources appear? The empirical material consists of interviews, held with eight backpackers, concerning their information use. The interviews reveal that a number of information sources are being consulted. The most commonly used sources identified in the empirical material are guide books, advice from other backpackers, fiction, TV programmes and periodicals.

The aim of this paper is to take a critical look at retouching of medieval mural paintings inSweden. This is done by firstly examining the different methods of retouching, including thematerials used. Secondary it tries to answer the question of which intentions have guided theconservator?s decisions dealing with the retouching. The medieval mural paintings in Swedishchurches have three major functions today.

This essay examines what some of the Swedish authorities? argument are for vegetation, what their grounds are for the arguments and why vegetation is important for the human health and experience. I have examined publications and reports from 6 different authorities on state- , regional and communal level. The authorities which publications I have studied are Boverket, Naturvårdsverket, Folkhälsoinstitutet, Miljödepartementet, Länsstyrelsen Skåne och Malmö Kommun. The publications has been analyzed by different themes; Children and young peoples influence of vegetation, Elderly and sick?s influence of vegetation, Human health, wellbeing and experience of vegetation, Vegetation at work, The influence of vegetation on stress and The effect of vegetation in the city.

Background:Due to a more open climate in society for homosexual people several lesbian couples have given birth to children in their relations. Research has shown no differences between children in lesbian families and children in heterosexual families considering mental and social health. International research has also shown that lesbian parents often have bad experiences from meetings with healthcare providers.Theaim of this study was to describe lesbian child families/familyplannings and the lesbian parents experiences and expectations of the healthcare.Themethod for the study was qualitative interview with 9 lesbian parents. The data was analysed by the queer theory heteronormative concept.Theresults of the research was that lesbian families considered themselves as a nuclear family and at the same time distanced themselves from the nuclear family concept. The findings showed that lesbian couples are involved in a very long process when they try to become parents.

This thesis rewievs present day research on the settlement of Östra Aros in central Sweden. The thesis deals with the period from late Iron age to about 1270 AD, when the Swedish archdiocese moved to the already existing early-medieval settlement of Östra Aros, thus becoming the medieval town of Uppsala. The basis of the thesis is the study of a variety of source materials, such as artefact studies, runestones, topography and the prehistoric and early medieval hinterland. The thesis centers on archaeological excavation data and dating of settlement structures, particularly focusing on the settlements establishment. Through a critical review of primarily the written record and the archaeological data, the settlements characteristics and functions are discussed, emphasising when and if the settlement could be described as a town, central- or trading place..