Bakgrunden till examensarbetet är att det existerar ett behov inom Sandvik Materials Technology att komma tillrätta med problemen avseende dålig leveransprecision och antalet reklamationer genom ett förbättringsprogram som kan angripa alla bekymren inom företaget. Företaget har i dagsläget inlett ett internt förbättringsprogram kallat Lyftet Ledtid, med övergripande syfte att sänka ledtiderna i processerna för att minska kapitalbindningen samt uppnå bättre kvalitet. Andra företag har implementerat förbättringsprogrammet Sex Sigma och en undersökning av dess lämplighet för Sandvik Materials Technology bör ske. Arbetet syftar till att undersöka förbättringsprogrammet Sex Sigmas utrymme inom det interna förbättringsprogrammet Lyftet Ledtid. Det bör även ange hur en eventuell implementering kan ske.

Choosing a new plastic material for a container includes several different steps. In this case,the Finnish company Hackman needed a new type of packaging material for theircutlery- and kitchentool series »Hackman tools«. The project was carried out in cooperationwith the design agency Ytterborn & Fuentes, which has Hackman as a client.Several different demands were put on the material in order to fulfill as many of the clientswishes as possible. The most urgent problem with the existing container was the difficultysfor the customer to clearly see the contents in the container. Because of this problemthe customer tried to open the container in the shop.

Highly polluted urban storm water from e.g. highways can contain large amounts of heavy metals that may cause harm if they are discharged into recipients. To remove the heavy metals a possible low-cost method that does not require much maintenance, could be the use of reactive filters with filter materials consisting of industrial residues or other cheap mineral based materials. Dissolved metal ions are removed by reactive filters through the processes of ions binding to active sites on the surface of the filter materials, or by formation of insoluble precipitates.The ability of CaO-treated granulated blast-furnace slag, iron oxide coated sand, olivine and nepheline to remove seven heavy metals (Cr, Cd, Cu, Ni, Zn, Pb and Hg) from urban storm water was studied. Initially batch experiments were performed where the effect of pH, dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved ions on the adsorption efficiency was studied.

The first of May 2005 changes were made in the Annual Accounts Act. The 2006 Annual Report of companies with more than ten employees or assets over 24 million SEK must include environmental information in the directors' report if it affects the company's development, result or position. A survey made by KPMG 2007 investigating the environmental information of companies listed on Large Cap Segment of the OMX Stockholm exchange showed that only a third of the companies, included in the survey, complied with the new law requirements. I have examined how the environmental information in the directors' report is formulated and why the information is formulated in that fashion. I have examined seven companies listed on the Large Cap Segment of the OMX Stockholm exchange. Four companies from the materials sector and three banks from the financials sector were included in the survey.

Four different kinds of filter-materials with reactive surfaces have been studied concerning their capacity to absorb heavy metals in leachate from a municipal waste deposit. The heavy metals studied were: lead, cadmium, copper, mercury, chromium, nickel and zinc. The leachate contains high levels of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and has a high pH-value along with a high buffer capacity. These characteristics of the leachate make it difficult to remove pollutants and require efficient filters. The filters that were examined in the report are blast-furnace slag with CaO, sand covered with iron oxides, olivine and nepheline.

Hemp is an old agricultural plant and has been used for hundreds of years for making textiles, ropes and other fibre products. In the middle of the last century the Swedish government prohibited all growing of hemp. Natural fibres were replaced by syntetic fibres instead. Today there is a newly awakened interest for using natural fibres from renewable materials. Growing of industrial hemp for fiber is allowed in Sweden again. I want in my Paper give Swedish growers an insight of which harvesting methods that have been tried in Sweden and how they worked.

Effects of Menstrual Cycle and Oral Contraceptives on Sport Performance During the menstrual cycle, there is a variation of the female steriod hormones estrogen and progestogen. These hormones has mainly reproduktive functions, but do also affect other physiological systems, which may have an influence on athletic performance. The use of oral contraceptives among female athletes matches the use among the general population. There is a concern among female athletes and there coaches weather oral contraceptives can affect the performance. The purpose of this litterature review is to determine the effect of the menstrual cycle and the use of oral contraceptives on athletic performance.

Bakgrunden till studien är de förändringar i form av minskade produktionsstopp som Sandvik Materials Technology (SMT) infört från och med sommaren 2005. Detta har inneburit att vissa produktionsområden stänger ner sin tillverkning från fyra veckor till inga produktionsstopp under sommaren. Syftet med undersökningen har varit att undersöka hur arbetsfördelning, kommunikation och samordning har skett mellan nyckelaktörer på SMT inför rekryteringen av semesterersättare år 2007. Vi har använt oss av en kvalitativ metod där vi genomfört åtta stycken halvstrukturerade intervjuer och granskat dokument, såsom processbeskrivning och rekryteringspolicy för semesterprocessen. Resultatet har visat på svårigheter i kommunikation och samverkan som vi främst tror har grundat sig i otydliga roller i arbetsfördelning inom processen, då kontaktmannen både har agerat som personalman och kontaktman till de berörda första linjens chefer vi har intervjuat..

.The Whole language program is in Sweden generally referred to as ?Kiwimetoden? - ?the Kiwi program? (author?s direct translation) partly due to the fact that the Whole language program originates from New Zealand. Whole language is basically a literacy program and approaches literacy from a holistic point of view. Children learning to read and write should do so in the same natural way children learn to speak their native language which is in the context of authentic language as a whole. In Sweden the program is generally practiced together with a commercial and pre-organised material called ?kiwi? or ?Stjärnsvenska?.

Bakgrund: Det är viktigt att kliniskt kunna avgöra om idrottaren är tillräckligt rehabiliterad för att återgå till full träning och matchspel eftersom otillräcklig rehabilitering är den största riskfaktorn för återskada i hamstrings. Därför skulle ett test med enkel utrustning behöva komplettera den kliniska undersökningen.Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka vilket samband som finns mellan genomförandet av Nordic hamstring strength test och Asklings hamstring test utifrån skattning av smärta och obehag i samband med testen. Huruvida deltagarnas tilltro till att prestera sitt yttersta i en 90 min fotbollsmatch påverkas efter testerna samt att beskriva obehag och smärta efter testerna för spelare som varit skadad eller inte under senaste sex månaderna.Metod: 22 fotbollsspelare fick skatta sin tilltro till sin egen förmåga att prestera sitt yttersta i en 90 min fotbollsmatch samt skatta obehag och smärta med VAS i samband med testerna. Hamstring Outcome Score användes för att få en helhetssyn av deltagarnas funktion och skadehistoria kring hamstring. Spearman?s rho och Wilcoxon?s teckenrang test användes för att analysera resultatet.Resultat: Korrelationen mellan Asklings hamstring test och Nordic hamstring strength test var moderat (0,4-0,6) dock signifikant på <0,05.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to investigate how librarians approach to the multicultural collection development and which methods they use in providing library materials in minority languages. The questions to be answered are: which methods the libraries use when purchasing library materials in minority languages, how the respondents experience that the minority user groups needs are met in the library and how the multicultural competence of the staff is used in the libraries. For this purpose the qualitative interviews with 6 librarians in Gothenburg are conducted, mainly from the libraries in the immigrant-dense parts of the city, while the study being concentrated on 6 language groups of library users. The study?s theoretical framework is based on theories of multiculturalism, culture, identity and bilingualism.

It is a common view that companies should focus on building brands to increase profitability and stabilize cash flows. However, building and keeping brands alive is costly. Many firms spend large sums on branding only because they are supposed to, without knowing if they will actually gain from it. Up to date, there is limited convincing evidence that branding actually contributes to shareholder value creation. This thesis aims to investigate the relationship between brand strength and profitability and shareholder value.

This report is the written documentation of a project work carried out at the Division of Engineering Materials at Luleå University of Technology in cooperation with Seco Tools AB. The project deals with the analysis of residual stresses in Ti-Al-N thin film grown on WC/Co cutting inserts. The composition of Al varied from 0% up to 75%. Increasing the Al content in the Ti(1-x)Alx N compound improves the compressive residual stresses even after annealing of the material. The experiments have been performed in a high temperature x-ray diffractometer (HTXRD) where the interplanar atomic spacing was determined in-situ and subsequent converted into stresses.

Our environment affect us, not least gardens. By practising the ancient Chinese art feng shui, one could find tools how to create harmony and balance in gardens. By paying attention to different energies working with colours, shapes and materials one can create a nice garden with good feng shui. The philosophy, however, includes much more than what plants or what hard materials to choose in the garden. It describes different energies, the movement of energies, which we can learn to live in harmony with.

This bachelor thesis is a study in the analysis of paintings with focus on the technical exami-nation within the framework of ATSR. ATSR is a methodology based on an interdisciplinary study with the aim of putting the object in its context.The study is based on questions concerning which information the object can give, how we access this information and how it can be put in a larger context. My thesis contains three major parts. First a short overview of methods of analysis used in this form of investigation is presented. This is followed by two case studies which exemplify the technical investigation.