Today more effective computer programs are in use, regarding design of geotechnicalconstructions. There is a risk that the theoretical background of the computerprograms, its limitations and the signification of the choice of soil parameter isforgotten when the computer programs become more user-friendly.This Master thesis deals with simulation and analysis regarding three computerprograms, FEM-design, with the addition Raft, Plaxis and BE-slab. Comparisons aremade for settlement and maximum moment in a concrete-plate. FEM-design is a threedimensional FEM-program, foremost created for design engineers. Plaxis is a twodimensional FEM-program, intended for geotechnical engineers while BE-Slab is aBoundary elements program in two dimensions that is mainly used by designengineers.

This report describes a comparative study about reading- and writing development in ?A-towns school? in The Gambia and in ?Villaskolan? in Sweden.The purpose of this study is to compare two teachers in Sweden with two teachers and two volunteers from the school in Gambia, with focus on their thoughts and methods on teaching reading and writing at each school and in their social context. The aim is also to observe and describe how classroom environment at both schools can encourage students to read and write.The theoretical base of this study is rooted in a sociocultural perspective but I have also chosen to illuminate behaviorism and cognitivism. The study is qualitative and the main research methods are interviews and observations of the classrooms.My conclusions are, even though considerable differences in approach and conditions, teachers in both schools work hard and show dedication towards their students.Another finding is that teachers use different techniques and working methods to achieve the same goal -to teach their students to read and write based on what is required of them in their cultural and social context. The different ways of teaching have been caused by the existence of different perceived needs based on culture and tradition.One conclusion is also that read and write requirements for students in the Gambia and Sweden are different from each other.

The aim with this study is to explore if and how linguistic learning takes places when four pairs ofstudents in grade one writes on the computer. Observations of eight students took place duringtwelve lessons to investigate what happened during their writing processes. This study isimportant because students? computer writing is a relatively new phenomenon in the Swedishprimary school.It is clear that the peer collaboration creates a complex interaction that becomes the platform, andalso the prerequisite, for successful language training. The method can clearly give students profitsin their linguistic development.

In this study I have examined how narrative techniques can be used to promote the reading value and readability in information. My focus has been on the communication-agency Mandoly?s information-brochure which function is to inform other companies about their own potential for development in collaboration with Mandoly. The purpose with this study is to examine how it is possible to increase the reading value in order to engage the target group. In my study I have used four methods: analysis of Mandoly?s old information-brochure, literature studies, a qualitative interview, and an user test.

This report aims to provide an insight into the particle physics of today, and into the research that goes on within the field. The focus is partly on the recent discovery of the Higgs boson, and partly on how software can be used to simulate processes in particle accelerators. Basic concepts of particle physics and the search for the Higgs boson are discussed, and experimental results, including those from the Large Hadron Collider, are compared with simulations made in MadGraph 5. Furthermore, simple new models of particle physics are created in FeynRules, in order to make simulations based on the models. To support the presentations of these aspects, some of the underlying theory is built from the ground up.

The aim of this thesis is to study librarians attitudes towards fiction and reading. I have examined librarians fiction reading habits and how they handle the expectations that users may have regarding their knowledge in fiction literature. There have been many studies concerning the librarians information literacy. This work explores librarians competence in fiction literature. The primary question posted in this thesis is: What kind of fiction are librarians reading and how do they feel that they can correspond to the users expectations? The data collection is based on literature on the subject and qualitative interviews with eight librarians from different kinds of libraries.

The essay initially intends to find adequate models to describe and forecast monthly data for the Swedish Consumer Price Index sub group Clothes and Shoes 1986-2005. The time series observations during 2006 are considered ?out of sample period? which is used to evaluate the forecasts. The purpose is to perform time series decomposition and to investigate and analyzethe seasonal pattern. The Box-Jenkins approach is used to find adequate ARIMA models.

This Masters thesis is a study of the truck-driver profession and their use of libraries located in gas-stations and restaurants along the highways in Sweden. The reason for this interest is the positive trend that has occurred concerning men without any university education and their reading-habits, that is due to their increased interest in listening to audio books. This challenges the general opinion that this group is not particularly interested in reading literature. Questions posed in this study are: How do the truck-drivers relate to the activity of reading literature, what part does the road-libraries play, and how can the services that the road-libraries offer be improved according to the truck-drivers. The method used in the study is interviews made by telephone.

This master thesis deals with questions concerning facts and fiction in the world of Beatrix Potter's rabbits. The purpose is first and foremost to find the connections between the pet rabbits, that she used as art models, and the rabbits that came to life through her "tales".The method has been to gather facts through biographic reading, and to analyse Beatrix Potter's rabbit tales, using tools developed by Swedish picture book experts. The rabbit characters are thoroughly examined and so are the settings where the tales take place. Matters concerning Beatrix Potter's painting technique and illustration style as well as her literary and pictorial inspirations are dealt with.Conclusions are, that the fictive rabbit characters have indeed a lot to do with the fact that Beatrix Potter was interested in natural history and studied animal behaviour and anatomy in detail. For a long time rabbits, both wild and domesticated, were her favourite study objects which provided conditions for her rabbit fantasies.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the productivity effects of multiple tree handling in thinnings. Other important elements have been to investigate in which extent multi-tree handling is used in stands with different stem volumes and the impact of collecting partially delimbed fuelwood assortments has on harvesting performance. The study is based on data from thinnings in Sydved and contractors' operating activities. Collection and compilation of operating schedules, number of stems and surveyed volumes from several contractors and a large number of executed orders underlying the results. Multiple tree handling is used to a much greater extent at lower average stem volumes. Prediction models for productivity of the multiple-tree handling harvesters in the study differ from the productivity models for single-tree handling. In the model developed in this study productivity is not as dependent of stem volume as reference models.

The purpose of this study is to describe some primary school teachers understanding of language development and approach of first and second language speakers with Arne Tragetons Writing to reading, for pupils in early ages.By using a qualitative method with interviews and participant observations and informal conversations, the basis for the survey was collected. Four teachers in three schools participated. The proportion of second-language pupils at each school was 35%, 17% and 0%. My theoretical starting point in the study was the hermeneutic research tradition, which has been used to interpret and understand the collected material. Theories of behaviorism, constructivism and socio-cultural perspective has been used in the analysis part of this study.

The thesis deals with three document retrieval models based on logic: the Boolean model,the fuzzy model and the Van Rijsbergen model.In Chapter 1, the author presents the purpose of the thesis. This is to give the logical foundationof the models, to describe them and to examine them critically. In Chapter 2, some importantnotions in document retrieval are presented. Chapter 3 is devoted to the Boolean model, Chapter4 to the fuzzy model and Chapter 5 to the Van Rijsbergen model.These three chapters are organized in the same way. First, the logical foundation of the modelis given.

This thesis is an investigation of Iranian immigrants and their use of libraries in Sweden. It isbased on a combination of a qualitative and a·quantitative method.Using a qualitative method, I give an outline of the history of lran from ancient times up to the present, as well as the different ethnological groups in Iran and their cultures. The main objective of this part is to clarify the contrasts between Iranian and Swedish cultural, social, linguistic and family structures, and also the characteristics of the crisis that most immigrants go through on their arrival in the new country. The qualitative method also involves structured telephone interviews with eight highly educated Iranians.This method was supplemented by a quantitative study through questionnaires of the attitudes· of lranian immigrants to libraries and reading. Iranians in Sweden turned out to be frequent Iibrary users.

Reading Recovery (RR) programmet är en kompenserande läs- och skrivutvecklingsmetod från Nya Zeeland som utvecklats av Marie M Clay. Vi har under 5 veckor studerat RR programmet genom observationer och intervjuer av elever, föräldrar och lärare på en skola i Nya Zeeland. Detta med syftet att uppmärksamma om och i så fall vilka för- och nackdelar som finns i programmet och vad vi skulle vilja använda oss av i vår roll som blivande lärare. Vi har valt att avgränsa och fokusera vår studie enbart kring för- och nackdelar eftersom detta är sådant vi ser relevant till vårt gällande syfte. Vår studie visar på såväl fördelar som nackdelar vid användandet av programmet.

Reading Recovery (RR) programmet är en kompenserande läs- och skrivutvecklingsmetod från Nya Zeeland som utvecklats av Marie M Clay. Vi har under 5 veckor studerat RR programmet genom observationer och intervjuer av elever, föräldrar och lärare på en skola i Nya Zeeland. Detta med syftet att uppmärksamma om och i så fall vilka för- och nackdelar som finns i programmet och vad vi skulle vilja använda oss av i vår roll som blivande lärare. Vi har valt att avgränsa och fokusera vår studie enbart kring för- och nackdelar eftersom detta är sådant vi ser relevant till vårt gällande syfte. Vår studie visar på såväl fördelar som nackdelar vid användandet av programmet.