The chow-chow breed is considered to have a low fertility and this report is an in depth study of the Reproductive functions of this breed in Sweden. Only 53 % of the Chow-chow matings results in litters. Previous studies of other breeds in commercial kennels shows mating results around 85-90 %, but this has not been investigated in hobby kennels and most Chow-chows which are bred from in Sweden, are kept as family pets. Contrary to most other breeds, Chow-chows show a seasonal reproductive pattern and most litters are born in the autumn. The influence of the month of mating on pregnancy rate and litter size was found to be not significant, but can be considered a trend. Thirty-nine females with previous known fertility problems where studied. Some of them had reached puberty extremely early, at an age between 4-5 months, and many of the bitches showed great fluctuations in intervals between oestrus cycles. Some of the females showed abnormalities such as very short oestrus intervals of only 2-3 months, probably without ovulating.

The purpose of this paper has been to study how users experiences and behaviors are influenced by a "like" function, when publication of images in social media with the photo app Instagram as the selected base. In this study respondents has been part of a study regarding their experiences and behavior related to "like" function in Instagram. The results of the question form have then been analyzed to find patterns in their behavior and to exemplify/reinforce different type of user-behavior found in related scientific articles.The study has shown that the behavior of Instagram users is affected by the "like" function, when they believes that the function is a status marker that raises the interest for certain users by the number of likes. Through my results, I have been able to amplify and illustrate several theories of Goffman, Buckingham and Gripsrud which are presented in the report..

The waveform of a radar signal affects the resolution in velocity and distance. The ambiguity function is used as an aid for analysing narrow band radar signals simultaneously in time and frequency. An analysing tool for wide band radar signals is missing.This thesis describes a generalised ambiguity function to be utilised for study of wide band signals. Waveforms are further synthesised with help of the developed analysing tool. The aim is to start with a certain ambiguity function and find a waveform that reproduces the same ambiguity function.Mathematical formulas are presented and implemented in Matlab to produce the wide band ambiguity function.

The pig industry suffers economical loss due to stillbirths, piglet mortality and low birth weight. This is due to breeding programs that have resulted in larger litters. It has been suggested that these problems are due to the metabolic state of the sow during gestation and the fact that she might not be able to supply her foetuses with enough nutrients for survival and a high and even birth weight. A lot of research has been done to investigate whether body weight and back fat thickness of the sow has any impact on her reproductive traits and if there are any special feed components that improve reproduction. Fibers and unsaturated fatty acids have a positive impact on reproductive traits as long as the sow is fed a sufficient amount of energy and protein during gestation and lactation.

Introduction: HR departments have been developed to take care of the organizations most important resource: the human being. HR as a function has however faced criticism claiming that the function does not entail any value to organizations. The rest of the organization often have a hard time understanding what HR?s daily work means and thereof not having a clear image of the function?s purpose or the function?s role in the organization Aim: The purpose of this study is to describe the relationship between the organization's view of the HR department (image) and the HR department's image of themselves (identity) in order to create a greater understanding of how the HR function successfully can be a well-functioning resource in an organization's overall business. Methodology: The study was conducted in the form of a case study. We have approached the issues by taking different perspective into account, which includes HR, managers and employees.

Phytoestrogens are secondary metabolites produced by plants. Among the plants that make phytoestrogens are soya, red clover and some types of grass. The name phytoestrogen is a collective term for compounds such as genistein, daidzein, biochanin A and formononetin. These compounds are similar to oestradiol-17? in their chemical structure.

The aim of this study is to investigate ex-Jehovah's witnesses' experiences with accessibility in relation to sexual and reproductive health. The purpose is to build on the understanding of how closed Christian communities view the power over their own bodies in relation to sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). The results are examined and analyzed through Foucault's ideas about power. The thesis is built upon an exploratory point of view, where the focus is to examine the experiences of former Jehovah's witnesses. The theoretical framework assumes that there are different types of power relations, specifically in the form of biopower, disciplinary power and governmentality. Through semi-structured interviews, six former members have been interviewed. The results indicate the complex relation between Jehovah's witnesses and several forms of power.

Objective: The aim of the study is to describe pupils' understanding of the mathematical concept of function. How do pupils define the concept of function? What images of the concept of function evoke when they solve tasks, which involve identifying and constructing functions?Theory: A student's thinking about a mathematical concept depends on more than just the formal definition of the concept; therefore Tall and Vinner introduce the term concept image to describe the role cognitive structures play when students learn about concepts. The cognitive structure includes all mental images, associated properties and processes that an individual associates with a given concept. According to Sfard, an individual's understanding of mathematical concepts may have different character: an operational conception, where a concept is conceived as a process and a structural conception, where the given concept is conceived as an object, that is, as a whole.Method: 16 pupils at the Science Program at two different upper secondary schools inSweden answered a questionnaire on the mathematical concept of function.

Background: The project controller is a function witch evolved due to the strong gaining ground of project operation. Why the area of the project controller is interesting to study is explained by the fact that increasing knowledge of this function is important in order to make project operation work well. The fact that opinions in this field disagree, further increases the interest of the field. In order to study the function of the project controller three companies have been singled out. They are IFS, Intentia and Saab Bofors Dynamics.

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate if the mobile library has a similar role as the public library. To study this further we intend to examine the value and function of the mobile library. Answers are sought to the following questions: Can the mobile library be seen as a public library in a smaller scale? How do the users experience the value and function of the mobile library? What does the library staff think of the value and function of the mobile library for the users? What would the consequences be if the service of the mobile libraries would not exist? The method used was qualitative interviews. The groups of respondents are mobile library users and library staff.

We have by Statistics Sweden (SCB) been given the task of using different dynamic regression models in order to forecast service price index for sea transport. The aim is to see whether these models provide better forecasts than those previously used. This essay aim to identify, estimate and evaluate the selected prediction models. Through our data material we were given access to 28 sightings of sea transport index during the period of 2004 q1 to 2010 q4. We have chosen to evaluate three different transfer function models, one ARIMA model and one naive forecasting model. The input variables we decided to test in our transfer function models were the price of petroleum products, the port activity in Swedish ports and the lending rate of Swedish Central bank. The results of our study suggest that transfer function models generally provide better models than the ARIMA model and the naive forecast model.

Background: Previously research shows that people treated conservatively can have reduced foot function after Achilles tendon rupture. However, there are few qualitative studies in the subject, so this essay is written to provide a deeper understanding of how these people feel about their foot function one to two years after the injury.Purpose: Investigate how people perceive their foot function after conservative treatment one to two year after Achilles tendon rupture and if they have an avoidance behavior in their everyday lives.Method: Four people who suffered from Achilles tendon rupture participated in this qualitative study. The study was conducted with semi-structured interviews, which in turn were processed using qualitative content analysis.Results: The perceived foot function is today varied in terms of mobility, strength and pain according to the participants. They feel difference in their everyday life in comparison with before the injury. It appears that participants have avoidance behavior when it comes to the situation of injury.

Platelet transfusions can be necessary during treatment of patients with thrombocytopenia or impaired platelet function. Platelet function in platelet concentrates (PC) deteriorate with storage time. Studying swirling is often used to control the quality of PC?s before transfusion but the method has some disadvantages. Therefore other methods can be useful, for example impedance aggregometry (IA, Multiplate® Analyzer) to measure platelet function.     In this study the change in platelet function over time was examined in buffy coat and apheresis platelets with IA where aggregation had been induced with adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and collagen.

AimThe aim of the present study was to study possible evidence for shock wave therapy on pain and function in patients with plantar fasciitis.Questions1. Does shock wave therapy reduce pain in patients with plantar fasciitis?2. Does shock wave therapy improve function in patients with plantar fasciitis?MethodA systematic review of the literature was performed in the databases PubMed, EMBASE, Cochrane and Cinahl.

The objective for this Master?s thesis is to study literary programs for infants at six Swedish public libraries, their relevance and importance for infants and how the infant?s perspective in the program design and implementation is taken into consideration. The questions I pose are: In which way do the programs take the infants need for development and their literary prerequisites into consideration? Which functions can the programs have for infants? I have used a qualitative method, based on deep interviews with six library staff, working with literary programs. A model was developed based upon Daniel Stern?s theories of the interpersonal world of the infant together with Joseph Appleyard?s reading development theory.