The resting area is the most important place in the barn for the dairy cow, sometimes called the heart of the free stall system. Inadequate design of the lying area, and lack of or poor quality of bedding materials may reduce the hygiene of the stall. Poor management regarding the cleanliness of the resting area may lead to poor animal hygiene and increased bacterial growth. This in turn will lead to increased risk for environmental mastitis as well as impairing milk quality through contamination with spores. In this literature study the most commonly used bedding materials; straw, sawdust, wood shavings, clean sand, recycled sand, peat and recycled manure solids, are compared to one another with regards to their ability to resist bacterial growth. Effects of adding hydrated lime to bedding materials have also been studied. Most bacteria need humidity and prefer a quite high water activity to be able to grow.

Growth models are very useful tools for forestry to predict growth and yield. With growth models and optimising tools you can manage forest stands in a way that maximize benefit and income. There are three major types of growth models. Stand models; stage structured models and single-tree models. The most advanced models give the most accurate forecasts.

The aim of this work is to demonstrate how the net present value (NPV) at the time of the first thinning depends on the spacing after pre-commercial thinning, and show how net value from first thinning in same stand is influenced. This study is performed with models based on non-distant dependent growth models for single trees. Two different growth models have been used, one for cleaning (pre-commercial thinning) and one for thinning. The first one yields stem density distributed over diameter classes. In the second one, (the thinning model), it is possible to choose when thinning should be done, the thinning method, thinning grade and numbers of thinning.

Hybrid aspen is a crossbreed between European and North American aspen. It is a fast growing tree species that has shown strong growth in the South of Sweden. The follow-ups that have been made on hybrid aspen stands, have mainly been done on plant material in the South of Sweden. In the North of Sweden, only occasional studies have been made, and the knowledge of Northern hybrid aspen stands is, thus, unsatisfactory.In the South of Norrland, land owners have planted hybrid aspen, but what kind of plants it is, and how well these stands have established, is not ascertained, since data has not been compiled on the subject.The objective of this study is to evaluate practical plantations of hybrid aspen in the South of Norrland regarding height growth, survival and damages. The ambition is to increase the knowledge about practical plantations regarding height growth, survival and damages, and from the conclusions thereof, give recommendations for future establishments of hybrid aspen in the area.For the study, eight hybrid aspen stands in the South of Norrland were localised.

Denna uppsats undersöker kommungemensam översiktsplanerings funktion som ett verktyg för regional utveckling. Traditionell översiktsplanering sker inom en kommuns gränser för att peka ut önskad samhällsutveckling inom kommunen, men det finns idag exempel på kommuner som i ett försök att greppa komplexa kommunöverskridande frågor genomför delar av sin översiktsplanering tillsammans med närliggande funktionellt sammankopplade kommuner. Först i landet med denna typ av plansamarbete var Linköpings och Norrköpings kommun i Östergötland genom sin plan Gemensam översiktsplan för Linköping och Norrköping som vann laga kraft 2010. Utifrån exemplet Linköping och Norrköping diskuteras i uppsatsen kommungemensam översiktsplanering i förhållande till omkringliggande kommuner, dagens regionala- och kommunala planeringssystem och analyserna ställs mot teorier kring bland annat regionalisering samt storstäders betydelse för samhällsutveckling i en globaliserad värld.Genom textanalys av Linköping och Norrköpings gemensamma översiktsplan, samt intervjuer med nyckelpersoner inom översiktsplanering i de två kommunerna och regionförbundet Östsam har en kärnproblematik belysts i att regionala grepp tas inom kommunal planering för större geografisk yta än vad kommunerna har rådighet över. Den gemensamma planen upplevs få en regional betydelse genom en statusökning gentemot traditionella översiktsplaner och kan tolkas styra den regionala utvecklingen genom att greppa frågor kring samhällsutveckling kopplat till städernas arbetsmarknadsregioner..

Syfte: Vi ämnar med uppsatsen att undersöka om det råder en skillnad i avkastning mellan portföljer indelade efter kriterier som kännetecknar värde samt tillväxtaktier. Studien genomförs specifikt på svenska marknaden och portföljernas avkastning skall utvärderas utifrån en årlig buy and hold strategi. Vi ämnar även utvärdera om något av urvalskriterierna (Price to book, Price to earnings och Dividend yield) i de polära strategierna är mer framgångsrikt än de andra under perioden 1996 till 2007 ochvilken/vilka faktorer som kan vara avgörande för framgången..

Entrepreneurship as playing a important role for economic growth has been discussed by a number of theorists such as Joseph Schumpeter and Israel M. Kirzner. William J. Baumol developed these theories as he considered that all entrepreneurship doesn?t lead to economic growth, some entrepreneurial activities may even lead to stagnation.

Populism has been an integral part of the Finnish political system since the late 1950's. At that time the Agrarian Populist Party, better known as The Rural Party, emerged and thrived for decades until the party financially broke down in the 1990's. Reemerging on the political scene as the True Finns, the party is more radical and more influential than ever, gaining enough support to be the third largest party of the 2011 parliamentary election. Sweden, Finland?s neighbor, in contrast has a history with very little populist presence or radical right populist parties (RRP-parties).

Det här examensarbetet har syftet till att undersöka hur integrerad trafik- och samhällsplanering kan bidra till ett mer hållbart transportsystem. I uppsatsen diskuteras olika hinder och barriärer som uppkommer i en integrerad planering. Examensarbetet är i huvudsak av kvalitativ karaktär. En litteraturstudie har genomförts om hur trafik- och samhällsplaneringen kan integreras. Det empiriska materialet består av en fallstudie genomfördes i Örebro regionen, i kommunerna Örebro, Kumla och Hallsberg.

This thesis aims to investigate if peer-groups based on industry classification perform as well as, or better than, peer-groups based on other measures that represent factors affecting the price-to-earnings multiple. In contrast with previous empirical studies, a solid theoretical approach is used in defining which factors, according to valuation theory, affect the P/E-ratio. The factors identified as explanatory are accounting measures, risk and growth. Furthermore, we have recognized several measures that represent these factors. These measures are tested for accuracy of prediction in terms of the P/E-ratio for peer-groups based on these measures relative to an industry classified peer-group.

The focus on this essay is derived from an international and national dialogue for sustainable development. The recommendation from international level has been to find solutions for governments to implement strategies for sustainable development between local and regional level. This initiative is to improve and stimulate the dialogue between the local inhabitants, officials, entrepreneurs and stakeholders in the communities together with the authorities on the regional level. The purpose is to share knowledge and find ways to learn about the natural systems and how to co-operate in the work of preserving the natural resources and developing different processes for a sustainable development. Many scientists? today stress the importance that ecosystem resilience is promoted by biodiversity conservation and that we need to find solutions for local ecosystem management practices.This essay aims to find theoretical approaches and perspectives that can be used in a wider framework to study co-operative processes between the local (agent) and regional (structure) level.

This study puts emphasis on an international discourse describing how cities frequently compete against each other, and also describing factors that cities should enhance to make themselves more competitive. The discourse in this study has therefore been used to seek understanding how three different municipalities Borlänge, Karlstad and Malmö strive for growth by applying central factors from the discourse on the municipalities strategic documents. What the study shows is that the central factors from the discourse strongly imprints the strategic documents, but the presence of the factors varies between the municipalities and also to what meaning that lies behind the strategic goals..

Kultursatsningar motiveras idag samhällsekonomiskt med kulturens positiva externa effekter i form av kulturturism, multiplikatoreffekter och förbättringar av en regions image. Den här uppsatsen vill infoga ett nytt perspektiv i diskussionen om kulturens samhällsekonomiska nytta genom att lyfta fram den kreativitetshöjande potential som finns i de olika konstnärliga uttrycksformerna som musik, teater, litteratur, bildkonst, dans, o.s.v. En kreativ förmåga att komma på nya idéer har alltid varit viktig för att en ekonomi ska utvecklas. Enligt nya rön ifrån Richard Florida, professor i regional ekonomisk utveckling vid Carnegie Mellon University i Pittsburgh, så står vi dock vid ett nytt ekonomiskt strukturskifte där kreativiteten kommer att spela en alltmer avgörande roll för den ekonomiska tillväxten. Uppsatsens hypotes är att aktiv ?kulturkonsumtion? kan öka kreativitetsnivån hos individer och att kultursatsningar på det sättet bidrar till den regionala ekonomiska tillväxten.

The relationship between free trade and the environment is often considered conflicting and the debates surrounding it are infected. My thesis deal with this conflict and how environmental concerns are integrated in three regional free trade agreements, North American Free Trade Agreement, The common market of the southern cone (MERCOSUR) and Southern African Development Community (SADC). I point out how the organizations differ from each other in this respect and I present a possible explanation to why they differ. The explanation is founded on the theory of the environmental Kuznets curve and that environmental concerns will depend on which level of development the member states in the organizations have. To judge and rank the organizations I have composed a model based on a pre-existing description of the trade and environment conflict.

The aim of this study is to try to explain the process using both an actor driven perspective as well as a structural perspective examining the reasons why the County Council of Värmland wants to merge with Region Västra Götaland. The answers to the following research questions are sought to shed light on the problem: What constrained the discretion of  the political actors in the choice of region to merge with? Which role did  different political actors play? Does the study provide Game Theory, from Rational Choice theory,  and Path Dependency, from Historic Institutionalism, a new perspective and strength especially  when bringing them together? The study is limited to two policy areas, health care and regional development policy. The structural background is drawn upon the Annual Report 2008 of the County Council Värmland, the Regional Development Program and Regional Transport Infrastructure Plan 2010-2021 by Region Värmland. The chronological order of decisions and events is drawn upon protocols from various regional political organs all linked to the municipal of Värmland and the correspondence between the officials of Värmland?s municipal and the Legal, Financial and Administrative Services Agency of the State.