Active work to increase the efficiency of energy use is taking place in Sweden and throughout all of Europe. Electricity is an important part in our society?s energy system which means that the electrical grid operators and associated therewith has a central role in this work. Monitoring and controlling the electrical grids are managed from the distribution system operator?s DC, dispatch center.The aim of this report is to examine how the operations in a typical DC on the Swedish electricity distribution network will look like in five to ten years.

The division of Engineering Materials at Linköping University, department of Management and Engineering, conducted a research project concerning Fatigue life of thermal barrier coatings during 2009. During this project equipment to provoke these fatigue failure by rapidly heating and cooling test subjects in cycles, was ordered.Design and manufacturing of the equipment was handled internally at LIU.The equipment was built using a furnace that is lowered and raised over the table where the test subject is placed. To keep the temperature of the furnace a lid slides in place to close the downward facing opening of the furnace when it is in the raised position. On this door there is nozzle that is used to cooling of the test subject by air.To make sure that the equipment can work independently you need an automation controller that can evaluate if movement can occur without danger of collisions. The control system also needs to monitor that all elements are performed according to plan.This degree project is based on a modular system from OPTO 22 and includes the configuration of a PLC that will be supplied with logic and a user interface.The degree project resulted in a graphic interface in which a user can set desired values for different parameters and get information about current values for them.

This master thesis has been carried out as a prototype development project. The project hasbeen performed in cooperation with ÅF Combra AB. The purpose with the master thesis is toconstruct a Bluetooth interface between an accelerometer and a smartphone and constructinga physical prototype containing an accelerometer. This is done to test a new user interface tomobile phones. The master thesis has also included a research about the possibility toimplement distance measuring with Bluetooth.

During the last decade, there has been an increase in the use of technology-based self-services within the retail sector. The increase is particularly noticeable within the grocery market. The reason behind the increased use of these systems is partially due to the fact that companies within highly competitive retail markets continually look for ways of decreasing costs while upholding efficiency. The problem is that it is difficult to understand the true economical implications of investments relating to these machines. The purpose of this study is to investigate and contribute with new insights regarding the cost-structures of the stationary self-checkout systems and traditional cashier desks, within the retail grocery market.

ABSTRACTThe principal aim of the study was to compare the feeding behaviour of cattle, sheep and goats on pasture and explain any differences between speices. Furthermore, I compared foraging behaviour between dry season and the beginning of the rainy season, in order to see any relationships between weather and behaviour.The study was carried out in Shompole in southern Kenya. Behavioural data were collected by observing herds of cattle, sheep and goats on pasture. The livestock were herded on pasture during the days and kept in bomas, where people live, during the nights. The weather in Shompole is characterized by high ambient temperature and low, bimodal rainfall.

The aim of this diploma work was to obtain a review of the appeal process in Sweden under the Planning and Building Act and the possibilities of appeal in the planning and building permit process. The work was intended to identify potential problems surrounding the appeal process and possible efficiency measures. The goal was to form a report that provides a satisfactory overview of the appeal process in theory and practical application as well as provide relevant concrete proposals on how the appeal process can be streamlined.Background and facts surrounding the work were taken from different types of literature and through several interviews with representatives in government, industry and politicians.The main problems related to the appeal process are in the long processing times and the high number of appeals. There is a great interest to streamline the appeals process and the government is going to launch studies in which possible future actions will be investigated.It is possible to appeal for up to two instances before you need a so called ?leave to appeal? in order for your complaint to be passed on to the next instance.

This master thesis project at KTH is performed in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineeringdepartment at University of Florida (UF). The thesis is a small part of a gas turbine researchproject where a vapour absorption refrigeration system (VARS) and a high pressure regenerativeturbine engine (HPRTE) are integrated together. The main objective is to build a computermodel of the VARS. The computer model is supposed to be used to analyse the off-designperformance of the VARS and should also be easy to integrate as a subroutine in a more complexsystem model. To model the VARS some knowledge of the absorbent/refrigerant mixture had tobe well known, in this case a mixture of ammonia and water.

Partnering is a collaboration method where the contractor and the client work together, based on a mutual trust towards each other and with a common goal for the project. The method originates from the United States where it was early adapted by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It later spread internationally where the United Kingdom and Denmark were early in Europe to see the potential with partnering, to help aid with the issues they were having where construction projects kept running late, going over budget and lacked in quality. By using partnering you can achieve a shorter building time, improved work relationships and enhanced efficiency and cost effectiveness.

The purpose of this research is to identify how E-NGO and forest stakeholders, in the study referred to as non-state actors, have influenced the EU timber regulation; through participation and lobbyism towards the decision- makers (policy makers) at EU and national level, to achieve adjustments in the legislative text. The study also examines the relationships between the forest stakeholders, the E-NGOs and the EU-institutions, regarding communication, cooperation, informal and formal consultation where interviews were accomplished with decision-makers from the EU-institutions, forest stakeholders, E-NGOS and representatives from Swedish authorities that participated under the development of the EUTR during the period of 2008-2013. The participation and lobbying from non-state actors have most likely affected the outcome of the regulation, through alterations in the legislative text and through influencing the EU-institutions. Several factors that have affected the efficiency and timing of the influence have been identified through interviews as well as various approaches to influence the decision makers. The findings of the study may be useful for forest related interest groups that are involved in decision-making procedures at EU-level and as substance and material for further research in the subject of forest policy making at supranational level..

In order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from human activities fossil fuels will have to be replaced with renewable energy alternatives, such as bioenergy. Sweden has a great potential to produce bioenergy derived from forest products and there is currently a great interest within Sweden in using stumps for bioenergy production. However, the environmental consequences of the method need to be investigated before stump removal can be performed on a large scale. Swedish forest soils contain large carbon pools and a different land use may change conditions so that soils that presently act as sinks of carbon could potentially turn into sources of carbon release instead. This study investigates the initial effects of stump harvesting on the emissions of three greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide. The emissions were measured from the soil surface in a Norway spruce forest located in the southern part of Sweden.

De grundläggande värdena för statsförvaltningen är demokrati, rättssäkerhet och effektivitet. I denna studie undersöks det hur rättssäkerhet och effektivitet förmedlas på Skatteverket, hur tjänstemännen på Skatteverket hanterar dessa krav och i vilka situationer det kan uppstå att tjänstemännen måste prioritera mellan dessa krav. I kapitlet den offentliga förvaltningen och tjänstemännen redogörs det för den teori och den tidigare forskning som använts i denna studie. Den teori som använts är Max Webers teori om byråkrati och tjänstemän. I den tidigare forskningen beskrivs det hur kraven på rättssäkerhet och effektivitet behandlas inom statsförvaltningen och det redogörs för två reformer som genomförts inom den offentliga förvaltningen de senaste årtionden.

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine and question the use of mindfulness in the workplace. Mindfulness in the workplace can be understood as an organization recipe and is now a so called trend. We believe that there may be an issue of how mindfulness at work is advertised when it is described in such a way that it could be the solution to many organizational problems, such as reducing stress, increasing efficiency, creativity and productivity. To get a better understanding of what mindfulness is and what it can bring to a stressful work, we conducted semi-structured interviews with four mindfulness instructors. We analyzed the interviews from a theoretical analytical framework consisting of both a constructivist perspective and a power perspective.

AbstractFor an audit organization, it is important to work toward maintaininga high error climate to handle errors in an efficient and propermanner. This means that it is important for accountants to worktowards high quality of work, reduce and manage errors that mayoccur in their daily work. Therefore, auditors must know how tohandle errors in order to improve efficiency, which can be affected byhow leadership is exercised in the workplace. The error climatemeans being able to act in a manner which will ensure a good jobtowards customers but also within the internal operations.The ethical leadership may thus have an impact on how auditorshandle the error environment both internally and externally. It is veryimportant for customers to have confidence in the business but also tomaintain the order and the general rules of society for accountingfirms.My study aims to show the thinkable relationship between ethicalleadership and the error climate.

Mechanical relays are more and more being replaced with semiconductortechnology. In this thesis it is investigated if and how the larger loads couldbe controlled by transistors. The main part of this work aims to create andverify a solution that can control the starter motor, as well as protect it incase of any failure. The different malfunctions that the solution protectsagainst is high current, too high peak current, low current, maximum cranktime and minimum cool off time. The timers also protect indirectly againstoverheating of the starter engine.The transistors used are BTS555, from Infineon.

Haldex Barnes Hydraulics (HBH) is a company which produces hydraulic aggregates for use in forklifts, construction equipment, and trucks. The last two years the company has expanded. This has lead to an insufficient production of aggregates. Thus wishes HBH to increase their production without making to large investments.This report includes a now-state analysis of the problems and where they are. From this a further analysis of possible improvements are made.HBH works mainly with assembling and this is made manually.