The aim of the study was to assess the speech outcome in children with cleft palate operated with the Gothenburg Technique at Maria Sklodowska Curie Children?s Hospital. Eighteen participants with unilateral cleft lip palate were recorded and assessed through a single word test. Percent consonants correct and cleft speech characteristics were calculated after phonetic transcription. Intelligibility ratings and velopharyngeal composite scores were reported.

The objective of this work was to compare the environmentally gentle soil scarification technique Huminmix (with possibilities to do track-grinding/HMMspår, long-scraping/HMMlångfläck and mounding/HMMhög) with conventional disc trencher, concerning seedling establishment and growth of direct seeded and planted Scots pine seedlings. Inventories were made during June and July 2005, in 34 seeded and 6 planted stands from 2000 ? 2004 (1- 5 years old) of lichen- and myrtillus/vaccinum-type in Holmen Skog AB´s district Norsjö in Västerbotten. The Huminmix-technique had been used for HMMspår in the seeded stands and for HMMhög in the planted stands (HMMlångfläck has been used from the year 2006 for direct seeding). The studied stands had been seeded with the same amount of seeds according to stand data.

Lawsonia intracellularis is an important pathogen in the intestine, causing diarrhea and retarded (or poor) growth in pigs. Diagnostics is based on sampling of small amounts of faeces. Several publicated scientific papers mention the use of faecal swabs as sampling material for diagnosis in experiments and in prevalence studies. Therefore the need of an evaluation of this sampling technique is urgent since, to our knowledge, this has not previously been done. Here reported work compare the use of rectal swabs for feacal sampling, with sampling and analysis of 0.1-0.2 gram of faeces. The studie included twelve herds with a case history of earlier or ongoing problems with diarrhoea where Lawsonia intracellularis could be suspected as the causative agent. A total of 120 growing pigs where examined.

The use of spread spectrum signals has increased dramatically in military applications. Finding methods for detecting and positioning of these signals have become interesting research areas for signal intelligence purposes. One method is to measure the time difference of arrival (TDOA) that occurs when two receivers are synchronous and spatially separated. Based on the TDOA-technique an audio-demonstrator has been developed and implemented. This report describes the theory for how sound received in microphones can be used to extract information about the transmitter?s position from the measured time difference.

Outages in the electric grid can be costly for society. Because of this, reliability is one of the parameters used to regulate network companies. Reliability in electrical grids can be measured with SAIDI, system average interruption duration index, which for Fortum Distribution has increased in Stockholm?s distribution network (11 kV) in the early 2000?s.By using outage data for Stockholm from 2011-2013, sets of parameters to be used for reliability calculations in the network information program Tekla NIS were derived. Two different options for investment were then analysed: changing old cables with high fault frequencies, and installing automatic switching in distribution substations.

Dimensional stability is an important aspect of fuel mechanical design and licensing of new fuel designs for nuclear power plants. Dimensional changes within the reactor can affect the safety margins against overheating of the cladding and the pellets, therefore it is crucial that the dimensional changes are kept to a minimum.The profits per produced kiloWatt hour continue to decrease for the Swedish nuclear power plants. Some reactors are even operated with a calculated loss. To reduce fuel costs and thereby improve the profit some reactors are operated with higher uranium enrichment, so that the assemblies can reach a higher average burnup. This increases the neutron fluence to the pellets, cladding an spacers.

The purpose of this study is to develop a general understanding of the areas of alliances and service quality as well as their relation to each other, through a consumer perception. Further, to discover more detailed and close up knowledge of customer perceived service quality within airline alliances. This is done by identifying particularly significant dimensions in the service process that have an influence on the perceived service quality.The thesis is based on qualitative study using a critical incident technique to explore the issue of service quality. In the research of the material the iterative approach has been used. The primary information sources are the interviews with customers-members of airline alliance.

Abstract.The levels of dioxin and comparable substances rose to a large extent in our environment during the second half of the 20'Th century. This was the result of the synthesis of, and careless usage of these substances in cooling fluids, hydraulics, pesticides etc. Background levels of dioxins and furans in sealed samples prior to this era suggest that former sources of these substances existed. Salt glazing is a method of adding a smooth acid resistant exterior to stoneware ceramics. The technique has been in use since the 16'Th century, maybe even earlier than that.

This thesis has been carried out in New Zealand in collaboration with the University of Waikato. In association with Dr. Mike Duke the purpose of this work is to investigate whether two different software for modeling of photovoltaic systems are useful in the teaching of solar energy.The next ten years grid-connected photovoltaic systems are assumed to increase and therefore also a rising demand for people with engineering knowledge are to be predicted. For engineer students with a focus on solar energy a more practical teaching with design software´s can be a good method to make the students comprehend more when it comes to large scale photovoltaic systems and be more prepared for working life.The software´s used is called Transient System Simulation (TRNSYS) and Photovoltaic Systems (PVSYST) which are both well used throughout the world. To assess the reliability of the software´s, a reference solar power plant at 16.1 kWp installed capacity are used, which consists of photovoltaic modules from four different manufacturers.

Abstract.The levels of dioxin and comparable substances rose to a large extent in our environment during the second half of the 20'Th century. This was the result of the synthesis of, and careless usage of these substances in cooling fluids, hydraulics, pesticides etc. Background levels of dioxins and furans in sealed samples prior to this era suggest that former sources of these substances existed. Salt glazing is a method of adding a smooth acid resistant exterior to stoneware ceramics. The technique has been in use since the 16'Th century, maybe even earlier than that.

The information technique is developing at a fast pace and almost all new technique is being welcomed with opened arms. The newest on the market is the tablet device, it´s a device used for surfing the web, sending email, watching movies and playing games. It is now also being used in some schools for educational purposes. My research goal has been to find out how the teachers feel about using the tablet device for educational purposes. I have conducted interviews to find the answers to my questions.

Objective: In recent years there has been an increasing interest within the clinical (medical) science in measuring people?s health. When estimating quality of life, present practise is to use the EQ-5D questionnaire and an index which weighs the different questions. The question is what happens if the individuals estimate there own health, would it differ from the public preferences? The aim is to make a new prediction model based on the opinion of patients and compare it to the present model based on public preferences.Method: A sample of 362 patients with unstable coronary artery disease from the Frisc II trial, valued their quality of life in the acute phase and after 3, 6 and 12 months.

The development of the web has become an attractive area, with continuously and rapid development in the area it has led to a big change in the way of learning. Learning is a concept with many definitions, but a definition that is many at hand is that learning means that individuals seeking new knowledge and experiences that shape their goals, behavior and environment.With the development of the web a new way of learning emerged, E-learning. E-learning integrates information technology with the traditional learning to offers a flexible way of learning for students where they won't be dependent on time, place or others issues that would prevent their learning. E-learning takes shape of an application, LMS (Learning Management System). Today LMS are widely used in many universities, but with new technique comes new problems. The constant developments of the LMS have made the decision to use LMS difficult.

Transdermal drug delivery, besides painfulinjections with syringes, has long been associatedwith small size particle pharmaceuticals, which candiffuse through the skin. This method of drugadministration has only been applicable on a smallnumber of drugs, where active molecules are smalland delivery time should or can be long.Other drug delivery options are oral administrationand injection with hypodermic needles (ordinaryhospital syringes). In oral administration thestomach and liver tend to dissolve the drug and theeffect becomes more difficult to anticipate, anddrug delivery rates difficult to control. Hypodermicneedles are used as a mean of drug injectiondirectly into the bloodstream. This method ispainful and risks infection due to tissue damageand skin penetration.One way to get a painless non-damaging techniquewith high delivery rate that still can delivery largemolecules is to manufacture an array of microscopichollow needles and equip them with a pumping unitthat delivers the correct amount of drugs.This thesis shows the technique and possibility ofmanufacture micromachined needles using low costtechniques of Ion Track Technology (radiation ofheavy ions creates porous materials), electrolessdeposition (non-current activated wet chemistrymethod of depositing metal) and electroplating.

The purpose of the project is to determine the impact of solar cells and electrical vehicles on the future electricity grid and distribution network. Future electricity grids will be affected differently than it does today. Therefore, it is important to determine the impacts so that the current electricity distribution system can be developed and redesign to achieve the future demand. In Sweden, government has changed rules and laws in order to make it easier for private sector to invest in renewable energy sources. Our project focused on the impact of the solar cells and electric vehicles on the low voltage electricity distribution.