Haptoglobin is an acute phase protein with important biological role because of its capacity to bind to haemoglobin. Haptoglobin exists in three major genetic polymorphism types: Hp1-1, Hp2-1 and Hp2-2, the distribution of which has been associated with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), an asymptomatic aortic disease common among men older than 65 years.    Five different electrophoretic methods were tested according to their ability to separate the haptoglobin phenotypes. The detection was based on a produced hemolysate of blood in which haemoglobin binds to haptoglobin thereby forming a complex that can be detected by specific haemoglobin staining using TMB-dihydrochloride and hydro peroxide as substrate resulting in an azure-green color of the bands. Samples from 15 patients who had suffered surgery for not broken AAA, that is more than5.0 cmaortic diameter, and 15 samples from matched controls were analyzed.    Among the five tested electrophoretic methods best migration and separation was seen on the pre-cast agarosgel Hydragel HR on the instrument Hydrasys. The other four methods gave less successful results.

The ambition of this study is to examine the discussion surrounding the Swedish participation in the European security- and defence policy. By forming feasible areas of arguments the goal is to gain further comprehension in the case of Sweden. These arguments are formed in close relation to the empirical sources; With less public funding there are economic aspects of cooperation, this could also be related to Swedish the industry of defence systems; A high level of participation in the UN is a tradition in Swedish foreign policy, the European battle groups are the perfect tool to further strengthen the UN ability in conflict management and peace keeping missions; Outside the EMU Sweden could face the political margin, to retain influence a high level of activity ought to occur in the integration process; Finally, the future position of United States and NATO is not clear, Europe needs an capacity apart the US to contribute to lasting peace and stability. The arguments are close related to each other, but the main argument is to through ESDP create a tool that will strengthen UN, there is also a wide range of economic arguments related to the industry..

The market for management consulting services is changing with an increased level of competition and more specialized service providers. At the same time there is a high level of companies that fail in their efforts to establish themselves on the market. This thesis sets out to give the reader an increased understanding of the complex characteristics of the market for these services, focusing more specifically on which factors that have an effect on the strategy development for companies within the industry. The thesis is also aimed at providing the reader with a deeper understanding of how developing consulting companies can tackle the specific challenges facing them. In order to meet the purpose of the thesis, we have applied relevant theories to a generic strategy model in order to develop a model that is applicable for the management consulting industry.

Abstract Title: A conjoint analysis of packaging attributes. How can the attributes of a product?s packaging best look like to attract the consumer? Authors: Linda Granberg & Helena Niklasson Supervisor: Jan Svanberg Department: School of Management, Blekinge Institute of Technology Course: Bachelor?s thesis in Business Administration, 15 credits Purpose: The purpose is to find out how visual and technical attributes on product packaging affects the consumers tendency to want to buy the product. Method: Conjoint analysis and a quantitative survey. Results: When developing a package for a food product we?ve reached the conclusion that it is most important to have clear product information on it.

Many research reports mention the fact that a huge number of all system development projects never reach a successful ending; with other words never fulfil formulated goals. By identifying and forming success factors (and in some aspect risk factors) that the project manager in practice can use, this study may be seen as a step in the direction towards minimising the high number of failed system development projects. The purpose of this research report is to investigate how a system development project, where the development process is based on a specific development or process model (in this case the Waterfall model), can and should be driven. I aim to clarify what is demanded of a project leader for the specific development process and give an account for which eventual leadership qualities that can be well suited for given situation in relation to the need for technical competence. Among other things the project manager should inspire confidence, drive, be a decision maker, engage and own some form of basic knowledge in the field of system development.

The aim of this master thesis is to create an understanding of what it can be like to grow older as a homosexual man in Sweden today. The study has an intersectional and queer theoretical approach and is based on eight in depth interviews with men who are aged between 68 and 82 years old. In the analysis I deal with the problem of how sexuality can be inter- preted with the experience of aging. Central to the analysis is the criticism of norms connected to age, sexuality, social- and family life and gay culture.The results show that the norm-breaking sexual orientation of the men affects their life path in terms of how to organize social life, where friends often replace the traditional family. New ways of forming relationships and living their lives imply other obligations rather than the traditional for significant others, which was shown to influence the expectations and outcome of old age in terms of care and support.

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.

Laminitis is a common but devastating condition, and affected horses are often euthanized or influenced a very long time. Many horses never return to their original capacity. Laminitis is often associated with severe pain and a long time of convalescence. Symthoms includes lameness, hoof hyperthermia, strenghthened digital pulse and pain. The horse often tries to move the body weight away from the forelegs which are often more severly affected than the hindlimbs.

?Mechanical debridment ? A studie in irrigation optimization? is a final thesis which was executed by Fredrick Ekman, in close collaboration with the other group member Mikael Johansson, during the spring 2012. The thesis was carried out through Karlstad University Faculty of Technology and Science in the study program of Innovation and Design Engineering (180 ECTS credits). The client of the project was Medilink AB located in Lindesberg, and the contact person was Nils-Erik Söderström, Chief Executive Officer. The project was supervised by lecturer, Lennart Wihk, and examined by lecturer and professor Fredrik Thuvander at Karlstad University.

Starting at the end of the Cold War, this publication assesses the impact of the upheavals in Eastern Europe and the atrophic Soviet Union on the Swedish doctrine of neutrality with its 200 year old tradition. Since the end of world war two the proximity of the Soviet Union had constituted the major impetus for upholding a position of neutrality and as this vanished a pressure for change was created. This essay works with a theoretical framework delineated by Kjell Goldmann and under this disposition, the Swedish tradition of neutrality, governmental positions, opposition and four major influential newspapers are studied. The standings of each variable are canvassed in an attempt to explain the development of Swedish security policy during the crucial years of 1988-1992..

The purpose of this thesis is library work in exile, more specifically The Kurdish library in Stockholm (?Kurdiska biblioteket?). The Kurds have a long history of exile, forming a part of their national and cultural identity. I have therefore chosen in the analysis three concepts: nationalism, ethnicity and culture. The Kurdish library is unique and is different from a traditional library in many ways.

Music and religion are concepts, which have been continually associated with spirituality throughout the history of Western religion. Since the dawn of mankind, it has been considered that music has had a clear function about how individuals grasp their inner emotions to reach the transcendent and comprehend "Self". The aim of this thesis is to gain greater understanding as to how a group of young catechists in the Swedish Lutheran Church feel, interpret and construct their identities through popular music. An exploration as to how this specific group perceives concepts such as the Bible, church, spirituality, and religion was undertaken. The theory forming the basis of this essay is derived from a sociological perspective of postmodernism.

The report begins with a general inventory of possible technical faults in a hydropower plant and of possible fault indicating measurements. Then an investigation is made concerning a few different faults. Based on this investigation a choice on seal box condition and water leakage is made as problem for a more thorough examination, in which it is concluded that the turbine water leakage is larger when the turbine is put into operation. The examination ultimately results in a computer alarm for faults related to the seal box. Finally a few things are mentioned about flow measurement and pressure measurement in relation to the project as a whole..

The study investigated pensioners? forming of identity during the ageing process and the correlation between norms and identity. Previous research has shown that there are norms and notions about elderly and what growing old well implies. There is missing research on the level of the individual with norms, ageing and the process of identity formation. There is a large population of pensioners in Sweden and the authors behind this study wish that the results of it will help study counsellors to approach pensioners? in a norm critic way.

Few issues have been exposed in media recently as much as the climate change issue. Afterthe documentary film ?An Inconvenient Thruth? presented by Al Gore was released in 2006,most of the world saw a lot of attention directed towards global warming. This was a turningpoint that is refered to in this dissertation an history-graded critical event, which is assumed tohave a significant impact on peoples lives.The purpose of this dissertation is to examine whether or not political parties in Swedenresponded to this critical event in the way that they, in their party programmes, haveformulated policies related to climate change. Alternatively if media produces an image ofpolitical activity which does not comport with the forming of actual political standpoints.