During the last decade a number of studies have been published that investigate how the most fundamental aspect of political organization, the regime type, affects population health. The results unanimously show that citizens of democracies live longer and healthier lives than citizens of non-democracies. Many explanations for this have been suggested, among these are that democracies redistribute more and invest more in salutogenic resources, and that the tendency of dictatorships to control the media negatively affects the ability to spread information crucial to public health. When these mechanisms are controlled for, however, it turns out that democracy has a large residual correlation with for example life expectancy, which suggests that other mechanisms are also involved.In this paper two new mechanisms regarding the possible psychosocially mediated health effects of the regime type are investigated, namely political repression, and the possible negative effects this might have on the levels of chronic stress, and autonomy, which connects to a large previous literature in social epidemiology. In the paper an ecological cross-country design is used and country-level data, provided mainly by the World Bank and Freedom House, is analyzed with a simple multiple OLS-regression model.

Organising knowledge in a corporate environment : a case study at the development departments of Ecophon ABThe purpose of this master's thesis is to investigate how three development departments of a technical firm could organise their collection of documents and information resources to improve their management of information. Three sets of questions have been posed: 1) How does the target group of engineers deal with information, and what problems can be identified in this process? 2) What does their collection of resources consist of, how is it organised, and what problems are apparent? 3) How can principles of knowledge organisation be applied in a corporate environment?The investigation has been carried out as a case study. Three main methods of collecting empirical data have been used: surveys, unstructured interviews and collection observations. The results of the study have highlighted three major problem areas: the collection's lack of structure and searchability, the absence of policy regarding how employers should deal with information, and the inadequate knowledge among staff on how to search for, use and disseminate information.By looking at previous research on knowledge organisation, we have been able to draw conclusions regarding how the target group could organise and manage its information and knowledge in order to achieve greater efficiency in dealing with information and carrying out work tasks.

Families with limited financial resources risk social exclusion in today?s consumption-based society, where status and identity are tied to items like clothing, gifts and activities. Limited financial resources can therefore often lead to social isolation because consumption is central to social participation, something that can rarely be prioritized in poor families. In preschool, unclear policies on extra costs can negatively affect families. The purpose of the study was to investigate how socioeconomically vulnerable families experience and are affected by the preschool and its requirements, as well as how preschool teachers work to reduce the economic gap among families in the preschool context.

Many sources point to the same conclusion; throughout the history the research sphere, mass media, governmental industry policies and public life in common have not paid the same attention to medium-sized companies as to small, new or large companies in Sweden. Yet, there are some researchers claiming the need for the medium-sized companies to grow, becoming tomorrow?s Swedish new large companies. Hence, the need for understanding the specific growth conditions of the medium-sized companies are definitely clear. This study aims firstly to identify whether there are specific requirements and obstacles for growth in connection to being a medium-sized company.

Personalarbetet har sedan det introducerades i organisationer präglats av ett skiftande fokus och en otydlig ansvarsfördelning. Detta har resulterat i att personalchefers arbetsroll saknar tydliga gränser och ofta slits mellan att vara operativ och strategisk. Tidigare forskning visar att organisationsstrukturen skapar olika hinder och möjligheter för arbetsrollen och dess inflytande i organisationen. Samtidigt saknar personalchefer ofta den makt och prestige som traditionellt sätt finns i en chefsroll, vilket ytterligare bidrar till att skapa en komplexitet i arbetsrollen. Syftet med studien är att utifrån intervjuer med fem decentraliserat organiserade personalchefer skapa kunskap om hur personalchefer upplever sin arbetsroll och sitt inflytande i organisationen.

The aim of this bachelor-thesis is to study how the City Library in Norrköping, in collaboration with the outpatient centre, Gränden, has assisted people with substance abuse problems through a bibliotherapeutic reading circle known as, Människor mellan raderna (People between the lines). My theoretical framework is based upon Ruth M. Tews and Berth Danermark?s theories. Tew states that in order to create a well-functioning team consisting of various professional competences, each individual needs to possess certain character traits including the ability to contribute with their unique competence and an openness to receive and absorb the other participants? contributions.

Schyman?s legs in Let?s Dance as a communication strategy- a case study of ?Feministiskt initiativ? in the election campaign 2010.(Schymans ben i Let?s Dance som kommunikationsstrategi, en fallstudie om Feministiskt initiativ i valkampanjen 2010).Author: Joanna Morell, Tutor: Ann-Marie Morhed2009 was the first time where Swedish political parties were entitled to have TV- commercials, another sign of political communication taking one step closer to the strategic marketing communication. A type of communication that also is expensive.The Swedish political party Feministiskt initiativ (Fi) have existed since 2005 and is not yet a part of the Swedish parliament. They have not been entitled to the economic support that is given to Swedish parties with more than 2,5 percent of the votes in the last two elections. As a result Fi is completely dependent on economic contributions.

The fact that Sweden has changed from a homogeneous to a heterogeneous culture with multiculturalism as key word requires an intercultural approach in the community and school. The purpose of this study was to examine how teachers of maternal languages experience their teaching in school and what resources they have available from their employer and the municipality. What methods do the teachers in maternal languages use in their teaching at school and what resources do they have to their disposal? How do teachers in maternal languages use the perspective of intercultural education in their teaching and how do the teachers look on their future role in the Swedish school. To achieve this I have chosen the method to make depth interviews with 6 teachers of maternal languages and compare and relate the result to the theories about interculturality and the circle model, to official curricula and to existing literature in this subject.Teachers of maternal languages are very spread out, they work in several schools and sometimes even in different municipalities, during the same week.

The goal of the society to increase the proportion of renewable energy has led to an increased demand of bioenergy e.g. forest biomass. However, there are concerns that removal of biomass will lead to decreased base cation concentrations in the soils and acidification of streams. In order to find in which types of landscape removal of branches and tops could have such negative effects, this study aims to analyse the relations between pH-sensitivity and landscape variables in the Bothnia Bay water district. GIS and digital geographical data were used to analyse the landscape in subcatchments.

As the Swedish governments long term goals include a reduction of fossil fuel dependency, increasing pressure is placed upon energy companies to create and develop new solutions for renewable energy. The following case study was done in collaboration with the company Sydved Energileveranser AB and one of their contractors, Enarssons Skogsentreprenad AB. The objective of the study is to examine the bioenergy situation in region of Skåne and evaluate the potential solutions in the region for a forest-fuel assortment, based on a bioenergy-cutting-system. As a part of this study I have compared ordinary manual cuttings done with a chain saw and cuttings made using the new ?bio- energy cutting system?. The cuttings made under both systems were tested in areas near agricultural fields or pasture land in order to maintain an open landscape.

When performing a QRA you have to consider a number of accident scenarios. How many scenarios you choose often determines the time and resources needed to perform the QRA. The report investigates the possibility that a QRA can be performed using only a few representative scenarios. Further it presents a discussion on how these scenarios should be constructed..

Since the late 50th century, the automobile has been normative in the Swedish society (Lundin 2008). This has led to an urban environment deeply characterized by the motor vehicle and its necessities, while other means of transportation, such as train and bicycle, have been ignored and put aside. However, over the past decades, a new trend has been seen in urban planning as a consequence of the increasing knowledge of the negative qualities caused by the car. As a result, the bicycle is seen as a conceivable transport mode.This thesis examines cycling on four issues:- Why is there a need of more cyclists? - How can the total number of cyclists as well as the number of satisfied cyclists increase? - Which factors affect the choice of transport mode? - Which factors affect the choice of route?The first two questions are discussed from a literature study that was conducted at the beginning of the thesis.

Iraq has in recent decades been with internal conflicts between ethnic groups. Despite the enormous wealth of natural resources, more than half of the population remains poor. War and corruption has led to lack of resources and worsening quality of the health sector leading to deteriorating health situation among the population. Womens role and experiences of health and health promotion is important in conflict affected countries to create health and well-being within the family. Objective: the objective of this study was to investigate the maternal experiece of promoting the health of children in an Iraqi context.Method:Aqualitative research methodology with semi-structured interviews was chosen.Six mothers from diffrent neighborhods in the city of kirkuk were interviewed.

The author?s common interest for healthy employees, brought reasonto study how line managers can manage and develop this withsupport from HR. Previous research highlights that knowledge ofhow health is promoted is missing. Line managers have a key role inworking with contributors´ health. The aim of the study is toinvestigate how managers are working for the well-being ofemployees and which aid dedicated to line managers from the HRfunction, and how support and the work with employees? health canbe developed.

Title: Locally Integrated Groups ? A special education alternative Author: Jennie Arvidsson Type of essay: Exam essay, second level (15 credits) Supervisor: Barbro Bruce, Examiner: Lisbeth Ohlsson Program: Special Education Program at Malmö Högskola, Sweden Date: 2012-01-12 Present study is an attempt to describe how staff perceive their working operations in seven locally integrated groups, for pupils in special educational needs. By submitting a questionnaire to all professions within the groups I have tried to find similarities and differences in their statements from both structured and unstructured questions. The study is an attempt to contribute knowledge about how these groups can be understood and developed, based on a special education perspective, systems theory and sense of coherence (KASAM). The results shows that there is a consensus among the majority of staff opinions of the systems? opportunities as well as dilemmas.