This study deals with some contested issues regarding prehistoric cultural development in Amazonia and the colonial impact on the native inhabitants of the area. It focuses on the relation between groups belonging the language families of Tupí and Gê, on one hand, and the different ecological zones that they inhabit, on the other. GIS mapping is used to visualise the distribution and movements of these groups in relation to ecology and the impact of European colonization. GIS is shown to be a useful methodology for analysing historical data derived from written sources and maps. The results of these analyses are discussed in the light of different theoretical perspectives.

Stump biomass is energy rich and stump harvesting for use as fuel become more and more interesting in Sweden. Swedish Forest Agency (2009) has estimated that stump harvesting in Sweden would respond to an annual energy supply of 57 TWh/year. However, stump has not been recognized as a bioenergy resource in Sweden. Suitable methods for pre-treatment of stump are probably of great importance to make it accepted as fuel. It is therefore rewarding to carry out an investigation in this area for stump. This report represents results from a diploma project, which was aimed to develop a fixed bed reactor for experimental study of biomass torrefaction, followed by TG analysis and kinetic modelling employing Ozawa method and different kinetic models including one-step and three-pseudo-component models.

Denna studie har undersökt hur en grupp elever använder ett virtuellt rum som klassrum. Effekten blev att de lärde sig fakta med hela kroppen. Det virtuella klassrummet kan bli ett nytt pedagogiskt redskap för skolungdomar där de kan vara med och bygga upp eller påverka innehållet. Studien är en etnografisk undersökning där jag har studerat multimodalitetsteorier av bl.a. Gunther Kress i vilken man tar hänsyn till alla teckenvärldar som ljud, bild, gester och kroppens rörelse i rummet.

White-Nose Syndrome, WNS, is an emerging fungal disease in the Northern American bat population causing mass mortality in infected hibernacula. Geomyces destructans is a newly discovered psychrophilic fungus causing WNS but the pathogenesis and epidemiology of the disease is not yet fully clarified. Geomyces destructans has been found in Europe but has not been a cause of mass mortality there. This study is the first investigation done to see if G. destructans is present in Sweden.

The essay focuses on the blacklisted restriction of passive sales in the block exemption to Article 101 TFEU on vertical agreements. It confirms the authors' thesis that the distinction between active and passive sales do not cause any problems in the theory, but that the reality shows the opposite. The analysis further shows that more detailed guidelines probably would not solve the problem but rather it is the objectives behind the rules and practice that causes confusion.The essay questiones whether the changes in the new guidelines for the block exemption also involves a change in the Commission's approach to the restrictions on passive sales when the same purposes as before lies behind the rules, where the goal of an integrated market is the most important. The impact of the so called "economic approach" within practice since the 1990s, when it was first introduced, suggests that changes are slow. The essay requests a greater openness to the fact that the realization of a single market and the desire to move closer to the commercial reality of companies collide.One proposed solution is given, where the rules would be designed so that 'absolute territorial protection' is prohibited, contractually and de facto, and that it is left open for companies to determine if their actions lead to this.

Diabetes mellitus is a rising epidemic throughout the world and there is currently great interest in quantifying the beta-cell mass (BCM) in vivo non-invasively. In the present experiment, the feasibility of in vivo imaging of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) in beta-cells was examined, using the positron emission tomography (PET) tracer [68Ga]Ga-DO3A-VS-Cys40-exendin-4 as a marker, in native pancreatic beta-cells of a porcine diabetic animal model and healthy controls. Eight Swedish high-health domestic pigs were randomly assigned to be either controls or made diabetic using streptozotocin (STZ). The experiment proceeded during eight weeks, starting with an acclimatisation period. Once the pigs had been socialised they underwent surgery for the insertion of a jugular vein catheter, allowing induction of diabetes with STZ, intravenous (i.v.) injections and stress-free blood sampling. Development of diabetes was confirmed by clinical examinations, blood glucose values and insulin-staining of pancreatic sections post mortem. The diabetic pigs were insulin treated and responded well.

In the Swedish school library discussion, the most prominent role of the school library haslong been that of cultural centre in the school, with the main goal being to encourage children'sreading. During the 90ies there were signs of a shift in focus to the role of information centre,giving active support across the whole range of the curriculum, in the independent researchingwork of the students. At the same time severe budget cuts caused great worries for the future.The interest for the school library media centres increased during this time, many differentorganizations said they wanted to fight for better school libraries. The purpose of the presentwork was to find out who they are, what they want and what their ideal school library lookslike. Fourteen organizations were studied, focus was on activities during 1995.

A quantitative and qualitative study of all LIS Master theses applying a gender perspective on children-centred issues previously published at the Swedish School of Library and Information Studies. Two hypotheses were investigated: 1) studies with explicit gender perspective express strongest urgency; 2) study results confirm predeclared assumptions. A content analysis of all theses, and closer thematic analysis of ten, form the main question: Is there a risk that the theses? similarities in terms of urgency and confirmation create predictable conclusions? The theses? motivations behind the choices of research problems are explored in the content analysis. Two categories of motivation can be identified: 1) personal; 2) generally applicable.

The Scanian woodfences has been determined by two mainly elements: Scania's composition of tree species, with a large element of deciduous forest, and the local building tradition which has more in common with the European continent than the Swedish tradition. By examining responses from ethnological question lists deriving from the first half of the 1900s, combined with literature studies, I have been able to deepen and broaden the knowledge behind the various fencing design. In addition I ?ve constructed maps which could illustrate their historical geographic distribution.I have come to the conclusion that there was three main types of woodfences that was most common until the barbed wire was introduced in the early 1900s and later on replaced the elderly woodfences. Common for the three main types is that the base material was made out of Juniperus communis, this largely because of its durability against rot.

The veterans in Sweden is a group that is steadily growing, one of the reasons is the new employment agreement that requires the soldiers and officers to commit to Foreign Service. The Swedish Armed Forces have received critique from the government in their investigations concerning the Swedish veteran politics. Since then the Swedish government has introduced a new law that gives the Swedish Armed Forces an utmost responsibility concerning the veteran?s physical and mental health. The purpose of this study is to qualitatively investigate ?The Peace berets?, a non-government organization which have had, and is still having a cooperation with the Swedish Armed Forces as a result of the investigation conducted by the Swedish government.

The purpose of this essay is to present, from a theoretical framwork about regional democracy, possible methods to handle the regional democratic problems in Östergötland in Sweden and to investigate the opinion of the political parties regarding this issue. Both the national and the local/regional level are investigated. The contents of the essay is based on literature studies and interviews of politicians in Östergötland. Regional democratic problems that is discussed are the political responsibility and the power distribution between the political actors on the regional level. A solution of the problem could be to organize the regional society structure in accordance with one of the following organization models"Statligt regionalt ansvar","Kommuner i samverkan"or"Regionalt folkstyre".

Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of the zoonotic disease tularaemia, is highly contagious and potentially fatal for a wide range of wildlife species of the northern hemisphere, also humans. Although recognized as a pathogen for over 100 years, much still remains to be elucidated concerning the ecology and transmission of the bacterium, hence this literature overview aims at compiling data regarding the aquatic association and the role of mosquitoes in transmission of Francisella tularensis subspecies holartica, the sole subspecies in Sweden. While a linkage between the bacterium and natural waters stands beyond dispute, there is no consensus in the literature concerning its potential as a reservoir. However, two prevailing theories can be distinguished; one proposes the water association being mammaldependent and thus merely the result of contamination from semi-aquatic mammals living in close vicinity to the water source. The other, quite contrary, suggests mammal-independence and hence that water, possibly in association with protozoa, serves as an environmental reservoir for the bacterium.

ABSTRACTSince Robert D. Putnam first wrote about the causes behind the regional differences in economic and political development in Italy, the theory of social capital has truly flourished in the fields of social science. This days you constantly hear politicians and scholars stressing the important role of the quality of the social fabric to a society?s wellbeing. There all looking at ways to construct policies and institutions that help the spread of social capital.

The alpaca is a camelid that originate from the South American highland. During recent years it?s been possible to keep alpacas in other parts of the world. Today there is a world-wide interest in alpacas, but there is still limited knowledge about this fascinating animal. There are approximately 350-400 alpacas in Sweden in 2007.

The number of female officers employed in the Armed Forces is low. Of the total proportion officers, female stand for 4.8 %. The Armed Forces are currently working actively to level out the distribution. This paper is intended to create a better understanding of the slow increase in female officers in the Swedish Armed Forces. The study is qualitative and the results from the data collection have been based partly on a text analysis, partly on a theme-based group interview in which three themes have been discussed.