Within agriculture it is important to optimize the use of nitrogen, not only from an economic point of view but also to minimize damage to the environment. This can sometimes be difficult, especially within organic farming. Organic farmers are using increasing amounts of waste products from the food industry to cover their nitrogen needs. These different organic fertilizers release nitrogen at different rates and under specific soil conditions. Because of this, it would be beneficial to have a standardized method to measure the amount and rate of nitrogen mineralization from organic fertilizers. This project contributes to this knowledge by investigating whether relatively simple and repeatable laboratory methods can be used to estimate the nitrogen fertilizer value of organic fertilizers.

The use of transrectal ultrasonography of the uterus is a fairly new method for early pregnancy diagnosis. In the present study 40 cows and 10 heifers were examined 16, 19, 22 and 25 days after artificial insemination to decide on what day an accurate pregnancy diagnosis could be made under field conditions. A 5 and 7,5 MHz transducer were used in all examinations in order to determine wheter one of them was better for the present purpose. The animals were also examined for clinical signs of oestrus. The results shows that an accurate pregnancy diagnosis "not pregnant" was easier to make on day 22 than on day 25 since most of the not pregnant cows then were in heat.

In 2006, Stora Enso Skog implemented an education program in water management for harvester operators, timber purchasers, cut block planners and supervisors. The focus of the program was creating stream crossings with minimal harm to the stream and the surrounding riparian area. This main purpose of this study was to determine the difference in work procedures before and after participating in the program. The methodology consisted of field studies and interviews with harvester operators and their supervisors. The field study looked at how the streams had been crossed concerning the number of crossings, visible damage to the stream and/or the riparian area made by the machines. Biological parameters such as the width and dept of the stream and amount of large woody debris in the stream were also measured. The field result from 30 harvesting sites showed no significant difference between sites that had been harvested before or after the education program. But the harvester operators and their supervisors experienced an increased concern for watersheds after the educational program.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine whether hedge funds generate higher risk-adjusted returns than traditional managed funds in Sweden.Methodology: This study was based on quantitative data about the funds historical returns. The funds historical returns were taken from the database Morningstar and the risk-free rate from the Swedish central bank. Random samples of 36 funds have been divided into three portfolios in the form of a hedge fund portfolio, stock portfolio and mix fund portfolio.Result & Conclusion: The study concluded that the stock portfolio has shown the highest average yield for the study period where all portfolios below market index. Hedge fund portfolio has achieved the highest risk-adjusted return calculated by the portfolios Sharpe Ratio. Of all hedge strategies, arbitrage had the highest average return and risk-adjusted returns..

The aim of this study is to establish an understanding of how the concept educational materials can be interpreted, as well as to investigate how teachers describe their use of educational materials. The focus of this study is the subject ?Sign Language for the hearing?, at the upper secondary level. We, the authors of this essay, both have a great personal interest in this language. Swedish Sign Language is the sign language mainly used in Sweden.

To make it easier for forestry planning the forest owners needs data which describe characteristics of the forest. Such data you usually get from some type of inventory. A relatively new technology which probably is getting more important in the future, is laser scanning because of lower costs. But because the laser technology is relatively new you need to compare it with conventional inventory technologies to get better understanding of the possibilities the laser technology gives. This work intends to estimate field measured characteristics of the forest from laser data with help of regression analysis and then see which of the field measured properties that best could be estimated and which laser variables that gave the best results. This study shows that heights has the best estimates, but biomass, diameter and volume also gives good estimates.

AbstractThis essay aims to problematize and illuminate the connection between special-education and nature-based activities. With a theoretical ground that is based upon a sociocultural perspective I consider the information from the field. Through a qualitative and critical perspective I performed individual interviews with five pupils from the sixth school-year in the Swedish elementary-school. I also performed Focus-group interviews with two educators and three teachers in the same school-form. By a Hermeneutical working-method I have found out that the informants in my survey have a common experience that activities performed in nature has a positive effect on learning.

Since the emergence of social media websites as an established part of our society, the landscape ofcommunication has undergone dramatic changes. Especially in the field of journalism, the impact ofsocial media websites, such as Twitter, has been the subject of discussions about the actual partsocial media play in communication and news reporting. The general opinion has been that socialmedia has revolutionized the way we communicate and that a shift in power is taking place as themasses now engage in, and affect, our societies way of spreading information. This study is acritical discussion about whether Twitter in particular, and social media in general, has affected thejournalistic field in the extent that many claim it has. By comparing theories about traditionalmedia, such as television and newspapers, with recent studies about Twitter, we conclude that it isto early to establish the role of social media.

This paper is about employees' opinion towards libraries. The target group consists of employees at industrial research institutes in Sweden. Libraries offer several more services today than they have done before. I think many people do not recognise all of them and I also think the knowledge and the opinion about libraries have to do with use of them. Since I am curious about if this is true or not the purpose of this essay is to find out, through an attitude research, the employees', at industrial research institutes, opinion about library service.

During the past years fire has been identified as an important factor for nature conservation in the forest landscape. To accurately quantify the size of a burnt area is obviously important, but also to quantify the degree of fire damage to the tree canopy. Such data are important for assessing the conservation value, and to support planning and management of the burned area in the future. I have examined how to estimate the status of tree crowns after fire from interpretation of aerial photographs. This is possible because fire changes the structure of tree crowns and this influences the colours in aerial photographs by spectral reflection. Included in the study are four areas, three of which burned in 2005 and one in 2006.

In this thesis I investigate aesthetic preference for picture books among children aged 3?6 as well as criteria for preference among parents. Through my design project: illustration of a picture book, I aim to put my research on preference in the context of illustration and design. By using the design project as an applied method for research I have sought to answer how one as an illustrator can apply knowledge regarding preferences of the target groups when illustrating for picture books. I have primarily based my research within the field of cognitive developmental psychology, with primary focus on stage theory, and the field of literature.

In Sweden you will find the coot chiefly in the southern parts. The species winters in the southern part of the Baltic Sea and along the coasts of northern Europe. The number of coots is heavily decreased by harsh winters. The population of the coots in Sweden is estimated to 20 000 to 30 000 pairs. The region of Dalarna is the random zone for the breeding of coots in Sweden .

Religiositet och andlighet tycks ha samband med fysisk och psykisk hälsa. I uppsatsen undersöks sambandet mellan andlighet och utbrändhet, två grupper behandlare jämförs och mätegenskaper hos skalorna Spirituality, Religiousness and Personal Beliefs Field-Test Instrument (WHOQOL-SRPB), Spiritual Involvement and Beliefs Scale (SIBS), Maslach Burnout Inventory ? Human Service Survey (MBI-HSS) och Utbrändhet i arbetet (UA) undersöks. Studiedeltagarna var 38 programledare för kriminalvårdens tolvstegsprogram och 39 behandlare i ett psykoterapinätverk inom beroendevården (svarsfrekvens 61,5%). Andlighet korrelerade med personlig prestation (personal accomplishment; r = 0,315, p < 0,05).

The aim of this thesis is to map the intellectual base, and identify the general research interests, of Cultural Policy studies. In addition to this the thesis also aims to trace the uses of theoretical and conceptual approaches within the identified research interests. This is done by analysing citations from 130 articles published in the leading scientific journal International Journal of Cultural Policy between the years 2002-2007 using the bibliometric method author cocitation analysis (ACA). The results of the ACA confirm the overall notion that the research field of cultural policy studies is an ambiguous one, even when it?s studied with a quantitative method specialised in uncovering hidden structures within a given field as ACA.

Religious congregations and social work have long been a neglected field of research. Although the number of studies have increased during the last twenty years. With a starting point in the situation in this field of research and in the current public debate in Sweden the focus of this study will be on how Christian and Muslim congregations view cooperating with the municipalities, organizations, the religious community to whom which the congregation belongs and how the congregations view cooperating with other religious communities. Qualitative method of research was used. Representatives of four religious congregations was interviewed; a deacon in a congregation in the Swedish Lutheran Church, a pastor in a congregation belonging to the Mission Covenent Church of Sweden, the chairman in a the board of a Muslim congregation and volunteerleader in another Muslim congregation.