The reception and the study of the novel Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima has ? as always with the novels of Yukio Mishima ? focused on the writer himself according to his spectacular way of life and death. Opposite to the studies and the reception, this master thesis focuses on the novel itself by following two more or less hidden traces in the novel: the protagonist Kiyoaki and his attitude to responsibility and dreams. This examination deepens the novel, by showing how the mechanisms of its inherent complexity work. It has been made by freely applying Roland Barthes´ method ?rewriting the text?..

It may seem obvious that the urban space in our northern cities should be design to function and inspire throughout the whole year. This is not always the case. The urban space is often designed on a summer basis and the winter is regarded more as a problem then a resource and its potential remain unused. I have in this master thesis studied the impact of the winter on people and spaces and ponder on how to design functional and attractive places for winter. The project ends in a design concept for Broparken in Umeå on the theme "everyday winter day". The work with this thesis has given me, as a landscape architect, valuable experiences and filled a gap of knowledge that I had in this subject. I hope that this thesis can inspire Umeå kommun and others who are interested in how northern cities can benefit by its climate and develop towards a more complete city. The thesis begins with a chapter that present the subject from four different perspectives.

The issue about how Scania shall perform HVAC tests in the climatic wind tunnel CD7, which Scania is about to complete by year 2013, has resulted in four test methods for truck HVAC and also a test method structure. The test methods have been chosen to focus on sun, snow and rain simulations. These are adapted and developed according to what should be tested and to what can be tested in CD7, which has been the object. With CD7 different climates can be simulated in a controlled environment for complete truck level, from desert with high sun load to arctic cold and snow.The test methods represents a basis to start from, for designers and test engineers which make the testing more repetitive as well as time eventually can be saved. Before the test methods can be applied they must be verified as they are based on theoretical and empirical assumptions.

This study focuses on two text books, Magasinet and Ess i svenska, both common teaching material in Swedish schools. Since Swedish school system recently got a new curriculum and grading criteria, the purpose with this essay was to see how well the teaching materials used in school match the new documents.Since the subject has not really been studied before, the chapter containing recent studies focuses on layout, appearance and contents of good teaching material. The survey that I have implemented includes studies of the two text books, with comparison of the new curriculum, grading criteria and previous studies of what makes a good text book.Conclusions were that Magasinet is very comprehensive and match the criteria and curriculum very well, even though it spans over four classes and has to cover a lot of information. However, since it covers so much information, each section sometimes feels not as thorough as it perhaps should have been. Ess i svenska on the other hand, is a good complement to use in ninth grade, if you have studied the previous books for seventh and eight grade in the series.

This study's main aim is to contribute with an insight regarding how employees of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) experience religion as a component of development work in religious contexts. The study focuses on whether or not religion is given enough space within Sida's development work and if the policies of Sida are enough to cover the needs in religious contexts. To answer these questions we have interviewed six employees of Sida which holds experiences of development work in religious contexts. The results show a lack of knowledge and encouragement of these questions within Sida and that the interviewees experience religion as a complex concept. The study also shows that the interviewees find policies, methods and tools within Sida as inadequate to cover the needs of religion in development work.

Wind power is one of the sources of renewable energy which has to be developed further in order to lessen our dependence on non renewable sources of energy. It's mainly oil and coal which have to be replaced by green energy. Wind power is already established in many countries, for example Germany, The United States of America and Denmark but it has to be continually developed and expanded to meet the needs of the growing energy consumption in the world. During the last few years many types of small wind turbines have appeared on the market. These small wind turbines are an alternative to the big wind turbines or power generators which demand huge sums of investment money.A new target group can now buy the small wind turbines in order to cover their own usage of electricity.

Commissioned for this report is Ramboll, Bridge and Tunnel Unit in Stockholm. Theidea throughout the work has been to primarily help bridge designers compilingadvice and instructions on how fatigue verification for railway bridges in reinforcedconcrete shall be performed under the new rules, the Eurocodes.After the introduction of the Eurocodes in 2011 has major problems emerged amongdesigners around Sweden. In some areas, it differs in the calculation rules comparedwith rules from the Swedish Transport Administration and the National Board ofHousing, Building and Planning calculation. Fatigue verification is one area where thenew calculation rules are different from the past.A large part of the report has been to interpret and find the relevant information inthe Eurocodes concerning fatigue. When questions or doubts have surfaced, this hasbeen discussed with Elisabeth Helsing at the Swedish Transport Administration andbridge designers at Ramboll.The result is a report where the structure is organized in the way that the bridgedesigners can move from cover to cover and realize that fatigue verification in realityfollows the same order as the report's sections.

Klimatologiska förändringar har en direkt påverkan på glaciologiska system genom att förändra glaciärers termiska struktur. Subarktiska Skandinavien har upplevt en klimatologisk uppvärmning sedan 1980-talet och Tarfaladalen har under samma period uppvisat en ökad vintertemperatur med 1°C. Ökade vintertemperaturer medför förändringar i glaciärers temperaturfördelning, då högre temperaturer ger en längre smältsäsong. Storglaciären i Kebnekaisemassivet i svenska Lappland har en polytermal temperaturfördelning med ett kallt ytskikt i ablationsområdet. Det kalla ytskiktet har förtunnats med 22% sedan slutet av 1980-talet och då ingen ökad sommarablation har kunnat konstateras kan den ökade vintertemperaturen vara en indikator för att isyttemperaturen är styrande för det kalla ytskiktets bevarande.

The aim has been to investigate and describe how gender-neutral design, concerning typefaces and colours, can be created. Based on my results I?ve designed a cover for a recipe-book to make it appealing to both women and men. I have been doing my research based on questions such as; Does feminine and masculine design, concerning typefaces and colours exist? And if so what characterizes it? Does gender-neutral design, concerning typefaces and colours exist? And if so what characterizes it? Is it possible to design a cover for a recipe-book in a gender-neutral way, concerning typefaces and colours? The first part of my research consists of a literature study based on keywords such as gender, graphic design, gender theory, typeface, androgynous, visual communication, colour, shape, feminine, masculine, and book design.

This study is commissioned by the Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU - Department of Forest Resource Management) in coorporation with Sveaskog and Vilhelmina Norra Sami reindeer herding community. The purpose of this study is to analyse movement patterns and habitat use of reindeers during two winter seasons (2005/2006 and 2006/2007) in areas affected by forestry activities such as clearcutting. This study examines the possibilities of analysing information from Reindeer husbandry plans and forest variable data from kNN and SMD, in relation to GPS collar points from reindeers by using Geographical Information System (GIS). Lack of knowledge and understanding between the reindeer industry and the timber industry has often led to heated debates. The possibilities of using this type of technique are very interesting and could increase knowledge concerning land-use issues to different resource users. The main results from analyses comparing SMD, kNN, data about clearcuts, and GPS collar points from reindeers indicates that clearcut areas, younger forest, coniferous forest on lichen-dominated areas and areas dominated by pine was preferred by reindeers during the winter period.

Several studies have analysed the relationship between Normalised DifferenceVegetation Index (NDVI) and radiative surface temperature. A main goal for moststudies have been to find the best method for carrying out land cover classificationsand to study land cover changes, based on a combination between the twoparameters. Since atmospheric components have a significant influence on bothparameters, most applications were based on multi-temporal data. The quality of theindividual values in such a combination is improved, but the biophysical justificationis uncertain. This study presents a different method, based on only the combination ofvalues that have been registered the same day and about the same time of the day.125 daily images of NDVI and 250 images of radiometric temperature were used inorder to analyse the relationship between (1) NDVI and radiative temperature and (2)NDVI and relative temperature difference between early morning and mid-day.Results between NDVI and radiative temperature show a significant negativecorrelation on areas where a distinct growing season develops, and a strong positivcorrelation where vegetation is abscent throghout the season.

Today we can create digital 3D models which can be realised almost instantly through production methods such as 3D printing and computer controlled milling.What if this same technology could be applied to the development and construction of terrain parks?With snow as the material tools could be developed using similar principles to design and sculpt the surface, only on a larger scale.How would terrain park designers adapt their process to use this new technology? In this Industrial design thesis I explore how the ideas of the terrain park designer can be expressed through such a system with focus on the designers knowledge and skill without the need to learn complicated 3D programs.Sketch, create, ride. .

Unwanted vegetation on the land of electric transforming stations is a problem, in the sense that it contributes to higher fire risks and also constitutes an obstacle for people performing maintenance operations at the station. Such unwanted vegetation is controlled using herbicides and mechanical measures. Since the use of herbicides implies environmental hazards, there is a need to find alternative ways of fighting the unwanted vegetation. Investigation into suitable plants for ground cover, trials in the greenhouse, trials in the field, soil analyses and compilation of experiences from similar trials are parts of this work. The paper also contains analyses of possible environmental benefits and economical gains. There is also a final discussion of some proposals regarding alternative weed controlling methods.

Total protection is often the option chosen when protecting forests with high environmental values. An alternative to total protection is application of management regimes that do not interrupt continuity of tree cover. This study focuses mainly on continuous cover forestry (CCF) in forest stands already protected. All objects are situated in the county of Jämtland in northwest Sweden. The purpose of the study was to attain a greater knowledge about CCF practices.

Pulsatilla vernalis is one of several endangered plant species that benefit from wildfires and small scale disturbance events that repel competing vegetation and create open patches in the vegetation cover. Previous studies argue that Pulsatilla vernalis is decreasing in numbers due to vegetation changes associated with the decrease in wildfires, forest grazing and changes in forest management. In this study, 17 populations of P. vernalis were inventoried in order to examine if soil and/or vegetation structures affect the population structure of P. vernalis (i.e.