The focus of this thesis is a specific part of Swedish library policy called library plans. A library plan is a political document created with the purpose of constituting a platform for co-operation between different library systems within a municipality, e.g. through determining and analysing the needs for library activities within municipalities in Sweden.This thesis´ aim is to investigate whether library plans are, or can be used as, a tool for change and thereby increase legitimacy for public libraries in Sweden.We have examined aspects of library plans using theories from change management to determine whether these plans include tools focusing on conditions in organisations that could result in an improved and stronger position in the society for public library. Through the use of theories from new institutionalism we opted for an understanding of the interaction between the libraries and the context in which they are part of.Upon examining 23 library plans, we discovered similarities as well as diversities among them. From our study we have drawn the conclusion that it is important to analyse the specific needs of each different municipality and to consider these individual conditions and needs when developing and composing the library plan.

Background: Running economy is one of the key factors to achieve top performance in endurance events. Little evidence exists for improving running economy using high-intensity interval training while running. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how HIIT affects running economy and VO2max. Method: 14 well-trained athletes (age 35 ± 8,9 years, height 175 ± 11,7 cm and weight 69 ± 12,2 kg) were divided into two separate groups (HIIT and Control). HIIT group performed 3 HIIT exercises every week for 4 weeks and Control group continued with their separate training programs consisting of mostly traditional endurance training. Results: Running economy showed no improvement in HIIT (pre 38,62 and post 38,62 ml/kg/min, p=1.00) but Control improved (pre 45,41 and post 43,37 ml/kg/min, p=0,03). VO2max decreased in HIIT (mean 61,32 to 60,84 ml/kg/min) and in Control (mean 61,99 to 58,47 ml/kg/min)..

Feminist initiative ? an idea analysis.On the fourth of April in the year 2005 Feministic initiative (Fi) was created, it was an main response to the slow changes in the Swedish society, which claimed to establish an equal society. Equality has become one of the major indicators of a contemporary democratic society. The Swedish government has long proclaimed to reach this goal, but even though Sweden currently lies in the front among the democratic societies, while you consider equality issues, especially between the sexes, there is still a lot that need to be done in the Swedish society. Feministic initiative began as an organization and established a political party and participated in the election during the year 2006, but failed to reach a place in the parliament.

In this Master thesis, microwave connections between circuit boards are constructed. The primary frequency band is the X-band (8-12 GHz). The purpose of the connections is to enable a more simple and cheaper way of mounting the circuit boards inside a container. The connections have been designed and evaluated, using different computer programs. A few prototypes have been built and measured.

Transboundary protected areas are a fairly recent concept that have been increasing in popularity and are increasingly being integrated into large international organizations? environmental policy making. This essay examines the phenomena through the cooperation between two national parks, Parc National des Pyrénées in France and Parque Nacional Ordesa Monte Perdido in Spain. The theoretical framework used in this essay is based upon border theory, focusing on the different factors that influence the behavior of the border dweller and how the different social conceptions of nature influence the way it is managed. The results in this study result from researching published and private documents from the national parks and interviews carried out with staff from the park administrations from both countries.

Background: Running economy is one of the key factors to achieve top performance in endurance events. Little evidence exists for improving running economy using high-intensity interval training while running. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how HIIT affects running economy and VO2max. Method: 14 well-trained athletes (age 35 ± 8,9 years, height 175 ± 11,7 cm and weight 69 ± 12,2 kg) were divided into two separate groups (HIIT and Control). HIIT group performed 3 HIIT exercises every week for 4 weeks and Control group continued with their separate training programs consisting of mostly traditional endurance training. Results: Running economy showed no improvement in HIIT (pre 38,62 and post 38,62 ml/kg/min, p=1.00) but Control improved (pre 45,41 and post 43,37 ml/kg/min, p=0,03). VO2max decreased in HIIT (mean 61,32 to 60,84 ml/kg/min) and in Control (mean 61,99 to 58,47 ml/kg/min)..

The following study is a discourse analysis of the concept of critical thinking within pre-school teacher education. It considers the following questions: how does the concept of critical thinking appear in policy documents, central to the pre-school teacher education, and which possible conceptions of critical thinking are conveyed by students and teachers active within the education. Additionally, the study seeks to discuss, as well as suggest a possible relation, between the findings of those two questions. In reviewing the material (consisting of five semi-structured interviews with students and teachers, and of a selection of policy documents central to the education), I argue the existence of a sort of project within the education, which presents critical thinking as a higher value. At the same time, I argue that the concept is not defined or concretized. This project, however, as I suggest while drawing upon Foucault?s ideas of discourse and government, involves a rather high degree of control.

Kvinnors underrepresentation är ett problem på flera sätt. För det första är det ett demokratiskt problem att hälften av ett lands befolkning är underrepresenterad då de politiska besluten inte speglar hela befolkningens erfarenheter och värderingar. För det andra handlar det om en resursfråga då kvinnliga erfarenheter och värderingar inte tas tillvara vid beslutsfattandet och viktig kunskap går till spillo. För det tredje handlar det om intressen då kvinnliga intressen prioriteras bort eftersom det inte finns någon som kan föra kvinnors talan. Enligt jämställdhetslagens §13 måste alla arbetsgivare upprätta en jämställdhetsplan som ska innehålla en översikt över de åtgärder som behövs på arbetsplatsen för att förbättra jämställdheten.

The Swedish Institute is a public agency promoting Swedish interest, national image and confidence around the world. This work attempts to investigate how communication and a process over time influences and effects public diplomacy. The analytic discussion is based on a single case study research of this Institute representing ideas in the international science field of public diplomacy. The theoretical ideas of public diplomacy are placed in a theoretical perspective of social constructivism. The method is qualitative, with excerpts taken from interviews, literature, newspapers, articles, state public reports and social media.

With higher prices for oil and increased focus on fossil fuels impact on the environment the heating sector are searching for alternative fuels. Pellets are a quite new product whose production has risen exponential in recent years. Today there are small-, medium-and large-scale users, where the large-scale consumers are the heating sector. The heating sector is mainly using oil to cover the increased demand during cold periods. The purpose of this study is to analyze the potential of pellets if it would replace thermal power plants oil and coal. The study will also analyze the economic impact a conversion would mean for a heating plant and if the pellet is a reasonable substitute. 2008 statistics from the Swedish district heating association were analyzed and a calculation was performed to determine how many tons of pellets is needed to replace coal and oil.

This report aims at giving you as a reader a basic knowledge in measurement techniques used in the road/land construction and witch instrument and methods that is commonly used. It also tries to shed light on the problem with unfinished or incomplete blueprints, which cause additional work performed by the surveyor. This report is written in collaboration with PEAB Umeå whom has given insight in their work.The goal of this report is to examine what kind of work surveyors has to perform on blueprints delivered by a technical consultant. The reader of this report gets a run-through of the different theoretical measurement techniques used today and a short explanation of different measuring instruments used by surveyors in their day to day work. Computer programs used in the field of construction are briefly explained, and some of the most common file extensions used, for example dwg and Land-xml.The report concludes in a questionnaire that was sent out to surveyors employed by PEAB.

Because society?s demand for quality, efficiency at low cost is constantly increasing, companies are increasingly choosing to invest new methods to achieve these points. Those who manage to find ways to improve their processes are often the companies that have the greatest chance of becoming a winning player in the market. BIM is a new method that can reduce the internal costs while increasing communications between different parties. However there is disagreement about what BIM is and its purpose.

The outset of this study is to contribute to the literature concerning China?s increasing economic interest to engage in the African context, its economies and resource abundandce. The overarching research problem is that the approaches held by the respective African state entities may facilitate increasing development gains for the recipient state of this economic interest in principle. To adress this research problem the study is undertaken by conducting a comparative case study where three cases/states, with presumably diverging economic and political status, are likely to effect their overall state approaches differently.Research questions, which are addressed by the creation of an idealtype analytic matrix, concern whether the states of South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe take on a more ?permissive? or ?restrictive? approach towards China?s economic interst and whether the approaches can be looked upon on both aggratege and case/area-specific levels.The main findings are that a clear tendency of the ?permissive approach? may be noted on a aggregate level for all cases.

The project was carried out together with OC Off Course who manufactureand distribute mainly electric bikes.In today?s society, alternative sources of transportation becomes more andmore present and several bicycle sharing programs arises in major citiesacross the world every year.Something that doesn?t exist too much as of yet is bike sharing programsthat uses electric bikes. An electric bike is a convenient way oftransportation as well as a good way of avoiding traffic. With an electricbike you avoid having to sweat when biking over hills or when you need totravel over longer distances.The goal of this project is to develop a bike sharing station according tothe functions need to be met.This thesis Is based on Fredy Olsson´s methods principkonstruktion aswell as a couple of concept generating methods from Kenneth Österlin.From this, a number of sketches were made that later was evaluated inseveral steps in conjunction to a set of specifications. A 3D model of theselected concept was later made in CatiaV5 for a complete product..

The world today is experiencing an AI summer, urging us to engage with its technologies on a daily basis. Recently, researchers have begun to voice concerns about the potential risks if we do not address the inherent biases in these systems. After all, AI is merely code based on mathematics produced by humans. This essay focuses on Stable Diffusion and Midjourney to examine biases in fashion representation and how fashion is visualized and reproduced concerning race, social class, and culture. A series of prompts were intentionally written in simple terms such as ?rich,? ?poor,? and ?race.? The results revealed troubling biases, as these programs consistently depicted poor individuals as people of color and portrayed wealthy, elegantly dressed individuals as exclusively white..