Each year, Heterobasidion spp. is a major cause of economic losses to forestry in the northernhemisphere, including Sweden. New results indicate that pre?commercial thinnings could be at riskfor Heterobasidion spp. infections.

This thesis explores the possibilities of avoiding the issues generally associated with compression of noisy imagery, through the usage of vector quantization. By utilizing the learning aspects of vector quantization, image processing operations such as noise reduction could be implemented in a straightforward way. Several techniques are presented and evaluated. A direct comparison shows that for noisy imagery, vector quantization, in spite of it's simplicity, has clear advantages over MPEG-4 encoding..

The purpose of this thesis is to increase the understanding about consumer buying behaviour when purchasing books online. In order to acquire data for the study we used a questionnaire that 75 students where asked to respond. The respondents were students at the University of Technology in Luleå. Our findings suggest that the following factors are the most commonly cited reasons for deciding to complete the purchase: trust, perceived risk, price, convenience, design of the website and experience. The following factors are the most commonly cited rea-sons for deciding not to complete the purchase: trust, perceived risk, price and the design of the website.

AbstractObjective: To investigate the occurrence of and the risk factors for falls and to  investigate level of fall-related self-efficacy and health-related quality of life in people living in community living, 75 years or older within Uppsala and Västmanlands county. A further aim was to identify predictive risk factors for falls. Design: A cross-section study with a descriptive, comparative and correlative design based on a questionnaire was used. Participants: The participants were recruited from Uppsala and Västmanlands county. A random selection on 525 individuals was done, from a population based sample, in the detailed municipalities.

Sjuksköterskans yrke innebär oundvikligen oregelbundna arbetstider. Detta påverkar hälsan och prestationsförmågan. Denna studies syfte är att undersöka hur arbetstider påverkar sjuksköterskans hälsa och arbetsförmåga, samt påverkan på patientsäkerheten. Metoden för detta arbete är en litteraturöversikt som genom systematiska sökningar och en modifierad kvalitetsgranskning resulterade i 10 utvalda artiklar. Efter analys blev resultatet presenterat under två teman och fyra underteman: Risk för sjuksköterskans hälsa; Påverkan av arbetstider, Antal år med nattpass i schemat, Risk för patientens säkerhet; Nattarbete och sjuksköterskans prestationsförmåga, Arbetstidens påverkan.

The ambition of this paper is to study the construction of the categorization between ?us? and ?them? in a religious minority, represented by Jehovah?s Witnesses and a nationalist political party, represented by the Swedish Democrats. This will be done by a discursive psychology analysis of their official publications on each group?s website. By a deductive study using Henri Tajfel?s Social Identity Theory trying to disclose the psychological processes; social categorization, social identity, social comparison and psychological distinctiveness.

The return of large predators to regions where they were previously extirpated has created a need for knowledge about their effect on prey species, not only their lethal but also their behavioural or risk effects. In this study the behavioural risk effects of brown bear (Ursus arctos) were tested on fallow deer (Dama dama), roe deer (Capreolus capreolus), red deer (Cervus elaphus), moose (Alces alces) and wild boar (Sus scrofa). This was done by using patches of fur to simulate the presence of the novel predator (brown bear), a novel nonpredator (reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) and no fur as control. These three treatments were then compared. The response variables measured were increased vigilance, decreased feeding time and change in patch use.

The economic conditions for Swedish dairy farmers are constantly changing. The numbers of producers are declining and the economic conditions for dairy production are weakening debilitating. To improve the economic situation for a farm a hired contractor is a possible solution since previous studies show that machinery cooperation may be beneficial for the farmers. The aim of this study is to examine the possibility for farmers to cut costs by hiring a contractor for harvesting silage. A comparison between using own machinery and hire a contractor is the starting point of this study. Another aim is to discuss the farmer?s decision process when achieving today?s situation and to determinate what factors affect their decisions. The study is based on cases selected from four farms that today have chosen not to or only to some extent, hire a contractor for harvesting silage.

Hyresbostadsfonder är en ny placeringsform i Sverige som erbjuder privatpersoner, företag och institutioner att äga hyresfastigheter och erhålla avkastning från förvaltningsöverskott och värdeökning. I denna studie jämförs aktie- och obligationsfonder med en simulerad hyresbostadsfond ur ett risk kontra avkastningsperspektiv. Fonden baseras på data över den svenska fastighetsmarknaden från Svenskt Fastighetsindex och Investment Property Database, därför att placeringsformen är ny och det råder brist på historisk data från verkliga aktörer.Målet med studien är att besvara om hyresbostadsfonder är ett konkurrenskraftigt alternativ till aktie- och obligationsfonder. Utöver finansiella jämförelser redogör författarna eventuella dolda risker och nackdelar med placeringsformen.Resultatet från studien visar att hyresbostadsfonden har presterat bättre än både aktie- och obligationsfonderna under perioden 1988-2008. Bidragande faktorer till denna utveckling har identifierats och redovisats.

Introduction: Approximately one in eight women suffer from postpartum depression, which can affect them for a period of weeks or even years. Postpartum depression does not only affect the mother, it also has a negative influence on the rest of the family. Postpartum depression can also lead to negative consequences for the development of the infant. It is an illness that is still considered a taboo, a fact that makes it hard to identify among women who are affected. Aim: The aim of the study was to examine cases where there is a connection between social economic status (SES) and the presence of postpartum depression.

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.

I elnätet finns skyddsfunktioner som ska säkerställa säker och effektiv frånkoppling av felbehäftade anläggningsdelar i enlighet med svensk lagstiftning, rådande normer och branschpraxis. Målet med detta examensarbete har varit att utveckla ett rapporteringssystem som hjälper till att utföra provning av elanläggningar enligt fastställda normer och samtidigt visa resultatet på ett lättförståeligt och tydligt sätt som går att använda i E.ONs risk- och sårbarhetsanalysverktyg. En risk- och sårbarhetsanalys av elnätsanläggningar krävs för att uppfylla energimarknadsinspektionens föreskrift. [1]Arbetet har utförts i fyra steg. Först har en undersökning av nuläget gjorts.

The Swedish Aviation Safety Authority has decided to standardise a classification system for reporting deviations found in inspections. The purpose of a classification system is that similar deviations always should be reported in the same way since this will enable better decisions regarding different risk areas. The inspectors are therefore constrained to use a standardised classification system and are not free to use their own words when reporting deviations. A hierarchal classification system with predefined phrases is in aviation referred to as taxonomy. Taxonomy is already in use when reporting accidents and incidents but not when reporting deviations found in inspections.

The idea for this project was initiated together with one of the leaders in the forest, paper and packaging industry. To get through an A/R CDM process the company is exposed to the risk of failing the process or that the overall costs will exceed the benefits of the project. This would delete the incentives to invest in GHG removals compared to purchasing emission allowances on the carbon market. The questions that have been raised and needs clarification in the thesis are the following:? From a company perspective, what are the incentives for implementing Forest Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) projects?? What is a likely financial outcome of a reforestation CDM project on degraded land in the Guangxi province of the Peoples Republic of China?? When does an investment like this break even with the cost of buying market based carbon emission allowances? The objective of this master thesis is to carry out a research about the incentives for forest, paper and packaging companies to invest in reforestation through the clean development mechanism.

International Marine Group, IMG AB, was established in year 2000, and became the parent company of the three sister companies, Momec AB, Isolamin AB and Premec AB. The IMG ? group supplies complete marine/offshore interior accommodation and tailor-made system supplies to the Building/Industrial sector. With a starting point to develop IMG AB?s logistic and distribution the company has decided to survey the present logistic at their subsidiaries, mainly concentrated on the goods for delivery.