Because of among other things the globalization and a focus on core competencies knowledge has become very important for the companies of today, especially for research-intensive companies. The problem is that the companies become more sensitive to how knowledge is created and spread, that is, how organizational knowledge is created. Especially sensitive are companies who are small, young and research-intensive. The purpose with this thesis is to explore how organizational knowledge is created in small, young and research intensive companies.The theory is based on a five-phase model of organizational knowledge creation and four modes of knowledge conversion described by Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995). These concepts constitute the foundation of the analytical model used in the thesis.The study is carried out by qualitative, highly structured interviews with low standardization.

AbstractThe purpose of this essay was to investigate what thoughts children in preschool and preschool class have about friendship. We also want to investigate what characteristics and which strategies they look for in friendship relationships.  To perform this study we used the following questions as a starting point. Which characteristics do children see as attractive in their cultures?How are friendship relationships affected in different contexts?Can one see a difference in the most important characteristics and strategies between the children in preschool and the children in preschool class? To answer our questions and to reach our purpose we have held group interviews with children in preschool and in preschool class.  We have, in our study, used published scientific literature to get an understanding of what has been presented in relation to this topic in the past.The result shows that the children in preschool and preschool class do differ in certain aspects but also have some similarities on ideas about friendship. Both preschool children and the children in the preschool class are highly competent and skilled at integrating with other children. What divides them is their ways to plan their friendship.

The main purpose of this Bachelor´s thesis is to investigate the visions chief librarians have for their public libraries. The world around us and our way of living is changing as the society is changing ever more rapidly. This evolvement also influences the public library, its role for society and individuals, its activities and its design. The question is how the public library can face these changes and what function and role it can get and make for itself in the future. Through qualitative interviews with five chief librarians our aim is to answer the main question of this thesis: What are the visions that chief librarians on public libraries have for the public library´s future? This study also contain the role the chief librarians give the public library of today and what they mean is necessary for their visions to be achieved.

It's an everyday experience shared by many that nature can be of help in relieving pain, reducing stress, support mental recovery etc. In the last three decades or so this experience has also found support in a large number of scientific investigations. Among other things the experience of nature has been shown to reduce stress and pain in patients and to boost concentration and reduce impulsive behavior in children. Most of this research however has mainly been concerned with the visual modality. In this thesis the aim has been to focus on the auditory modality in this context by trying to reveal some effects on people from the exposure of nature sounds played indoors in three different environments: a grammar school class room, a kindergarten play room and a post-surgery wake up room at an intensive care unit.

Over a long time psychology was focusing on human frailties and mental diseases. In 1998, positive psychology was introduced - the scientific study of strengths, well-being and optimal functioning. Theory and research in the area has identified 24 character strengths, in which each individual owns and celebrates a number of top strengths, signature strengths. These strengths have been shown to be important in achieving happiness and well-being. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between character strength and psychological well-being, job satisfaction, harmonious- and obsessive passion and stress.

The purpose of this paper is for the reader to realise how national innovation systems are deeply intertwined with the legal background of a country and to understand the processes that involves national innovation systems specifically regarding the stem cell / genetics research and how the need for specific community law must be considered targeting the stem cell patents. The legal part will try to answer: Why is it important given the actual state of the European stem cell national innovation systems for the European Commission to take a stand and tackle issues regarding the patenting of the human stem cell innovations? This is done from a country industry analysis (business approach) and then linking it with competition law from a community stand point of view (that tackles biotechnology issues). In order to achieve this the paper is divided into three separate analyses beginning with a theoretical background of general biotechnology / genetic terms that will enable the reader to have a general understanding of the importance of this kind or research ( genetics / stem cell research). The chosen countries case studies exemplify very diverse economies and development perspective from the traditionally R&D intensive to the least and from the biggest countries in Europe to one of the smallest, thus giving cultural, legal, economic and scientific variety..

The Swedish legislation regarding tax reduction for gifts to nonprofit organizations was stated year 2011/12. The legislation includes tax reduction for donors if the gift refers to a nonprofit organization whose work consists with ?charity for an economical need? or ?scientific research?. To be included as approved recipient the recipient has to apply for approval. This approval includes both an application fee and an annual fee.

Background: Pressure ulcer is a complication that arises often due to a lowered general condition. Pressure ulcer arise because of long term compressive load application. That?s why it?s of utmost importance as a nurse to work in preventive ways, as the pressure ulcer lead to physical, psychological and social consequences for the patient. Purpose: The purpose was to describe the patients experiences of living with pressure ulcer.

Previous research has established coaches' important role in developing elite athletes (Durand, Bush, Thomson & Salmela 1996). Athlete enhancement and assisting athletes achieve ?peak performance? has been a major objective for elite coaches as well as sports scientists (Williams & Kendall, 2007) Despite this common goal, research also question whether sports scientists and the research they pursue really effects coaches knowledge and constitute a foundation for today and tomorrows athletic performances (Bishop 2008).  This study examined elite coaches? needs and use of sport science research as well as the interaction between elite coaches and sport scientists. Following interviews of ten elite coaches, content analysis revealed that sport science is both a formal and informal resource of knowledge for coaches. Development of athletes is seen as the main objective of research retrieval and personal and/or direct contact with the sport scientist is considered to be the best way to assemble.

AbstractThe aim off this study is to research social workers´ knowledge, use, risks and possibilities of social media in their work with clients. Because today the society is using social media networks in daily life and social media has become a tool in social work as well. How does social media and social work cooperate? And how does social media effect social workers? For example the website Facebook has grown huge and many people use it everyday. Where is the line between work and private life? To reach this knowledge in this study, qualitative interviews have been done with six social workers that work with children, youths and families.

This is a study on individual development plans (IDPs) in pre-school and their relationship with the teaching performed. Skolverket does not mention the IDPs in their steering documents for pre-school, and have in a separate memo discouraged from the use. Yet reports show that many of the pre-schools in Sweden are using IDPs. Teaching in pre-school is expected to be a mixture of care and learning without clear boundaries to the scientific topics pre-school aims to introduce children to. The purpose of this study is to investigate if the use of IDPs affect the teaching in pre-school.

Through millennia, humans have shaped the European landscapes. Agriculture, hunting andforestry have influenced virtually every ecosystem on the continent and formed what we todaythink of as the cultural landscape; a mosaic pattern of cropland, fields, pasture and forests. Thepast two centuries, globalization, industrialization and urbanization have come to pose a threatto the existence of these landscapes. European farmlands are now being abandoned at analarming rate, and the associated loss of landscape preservation, biodiversity and ecosystemservices is a concern to the scientific community and public alike.This thesis studies if the implementation of the relatively new conservation strategy rewilding(recreating self-sustaining ecosystems and reintroducing keystone species) can be a part of thesolution to preserve cultural landscapes and biodiversity in Sweden. Through interviewssupplemented with studies of published works, expertise from different fields has beencompiled to provide an overall picture of the capacity of rewildings as conservation method.

Waste management is a major challenge for several countries around the world. Sweden and the Philippines have similar waste management legalization but different potentials to effectively achieve the goal of sustainable waste management. Education is the key to sustainable development and both countries promote the subject environment in the curriculum. Based on scientific articles, reports and personal meetings, a survey was conducted among 510 students from Gothenburg, Sweden and Iloilo City, Philippines. The survey aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude and behavior regarding waste management and was analyzed to answer questions of possible reasons to differences and also, linkages to sustainable development.

As the western society gradually turns into a knowledge- and risk society, where science and scientific innovations increasingly both promise to save the world and destroy it, a shift in the relation between the scientific community and the rest of society has emerged. A shift from a top-down one-way transfer view regarding communication, to a dialogue-based interactive co-production model, where the public are part of setting the agenda for research and contribute to the knowledge production. Or at least in theory, in EU documents and in many different country's policy documents. In practical application however, one might have a hard time see the implementation of such model.As a more comprehensive and dialogue-based science communication is depending on the possibility for scientist themselves to engage and fell the need to engage, we have focused on their thoughts.In this thesis we have examined six scientists view on, and work with, science communication, as well as their perceived social and structural conditions. We have also examined action plans and strategy documents from three Swedish universities that in different ways mention science communication and interaction with the broader society.

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.