Background: In 1999 the Swedish pension system was reformed with an aim to create a stable and high return on pension assets. First, Second, Third and Fourth general pension funds, hereby referred to as AP1-AP4, had an important part in the reform. AP1-AP4, also called the buffer funds, was assigned to secure long-term, big parts of the pension capital. The funds objective is by law, to manage the fund's assets in a manner that provides maximum benefit for the state pension. The funds will also invest pension assets with an overall low level of risk while achieving a sustainable high return.Aim: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the First-Fourth AP-Funds is meeting its objectives regarding risk and return according to Swedish law.

The borehole heat exchangers of today suffer from poor thermal and hydrodynamic performance. The purpose of this thesis is to improve the performance of ground source heat pump systems and thermal energy storages by increasing the energy efficiency of the borehole heat exchangers. For this reason, the annular coaxial borehole heat exchanger (CBHE) has been analyzed. This type of heat exchanger is interesting in terms of both thermal and hydrodynamic performance. A model has been set up in the program Comsol Multiphysics in order to investigate the heat transfer characteristics along the borehole.

Starch is a naturally occurring substance in most plants and is used as energy storage. It is a component that mainly consists of amylose and amylopectin. Together they build a complex pattern which gives starch its specific properties. The proportion of amylose and amylopectin varies in different plants but generally starch consists of 25 % amylose and 75 % amylopectin. There have been discoveries of barley varieties containing 100 % amylopectin called ?waxy starches? or ?waxy barley? as well as varieties that have a high content of amylose, around 70 % and these are called ?amylotypes?.

In the fluidized bed furnace at Rönnskärsverken, Skelleftehamn, sulphur-containing ore concentrates are roasted in order to remove about 50% of the sulphur in the incoming ore concentrate. This occurs in order to reach the goal of a matte containing 55% of copper in the following smelting process. At the same time as the ore concentrate is partially roasted pollutions as arsenic, antimony and bismuth are expelled. Earlier made thermodynamic calculations of equilibrium suggested that calcium and magnesium form stable compounds with arsenic and thereby inhibit expellation of arsenic in the fluidized bed furnace, an element that is undesired. The purpose of this thesis work was to gain knowledge of the mechanisms behind the formation of these stable arsenic compounds.

Since the 19th century the concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere hasincreased by 40 percent as an effect of the use of fossil energy sources.Increased concentration of CO2 will likely lead to increased temperature,changes in precipitation, rising sea level and increased frequency of extremeweather like storm events. A step to reduce emissions of CO2 and mitigateclimate change, for the property of Tagel, can be to adopt new silviculturalstrategies and analyse which is the most effective. As a result of that, threescenarios was produced, business-as-usual (BAU), increased set aside landand energy. An introduction of windpower at Tagels estate (property) andeffects on carbon balance was also examined. By using the Heureka systemand LCA-analysis in this study, it showed that the scenario of increased setaside land was the most efficient way to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2)emissions for the analysed period of 100 years.

Today the individual ventilated cage system (IVC-system) is a commonly used housing system for mice in research facilities. IVC systems have HEPA- filters and are designed to control both supply and exhausted air at cage level, as well as temperature and relative humidity in the cages. This creates an optimal environment for the mouse and at the same time a protection against the risk of cross-infection between cages and the outside environment. The aim of this study was to evaluate the health and welfare of breeding females and pups of two different strains of laboratory mice (NMRI nude mice and C57BL/6N) in three different kinds of IVC-systems; Arrowmight, Allentown and Tecniplast. The NMRI nude (Nu) females gave birth to 18 litters in Allentown, 16 litters in Arrowmight and 15 litters in Tecniplast.

Fast pyrolysis is a method for converting biomass into three energy rich products: char, gas and bio-oil, where the latter is most interesting.  Pyrolysis is an endothermic process where biomass is heated in an anaerobic environment and, with the right operating conditions, up to 80 %wt bio-oil can be extracted. Key parameters for fast pyrolysis are: stable reactor temperature (~500°C), short residue time for gas in the reactor (<2 s) and a very high heating rate for the biomass. Today there are several different process solutions for fast pyrolysis, where fluidized beds and rotating cones are most developed. Bio-oil has compared to fossil oil: lower heating value, low pH and also polymerizes with time. Because of this upgrading is desirable for increasing competitiveness.

Volvo Construction Equipment is a world leading company in construction machinery. Tomaintain the best products, development is prioritized. The master thesis regards sound reductionof the hydraulic system on a wheel loader. The background to the master thesis is asimulation made on the hydraulic system, performed autumn 2005. The result of the simulationshows that the energy of the pressure ripple is reduced when the paralleled hydraulicpumps are phase shifted and reduces each others pump pulsations.

Inledning Corporate Social Responsibility har under senare år uppmärksammats allt mer, inte minst inom energibranschen som blivit kritiserad för sin stora miljöpåverkan. Arbetssättet med CSR leder till en ökad samhällsnytta men allt fler företag väljer också att arbeta med konceptet i förhoppning om ökad lönsamhet. Genom att koppla ihop CSR med företagets övergripande strategier skapas förutsättningar för samhälls- och affärsnytta. Trots att CSR blivit ett allmänt accepterat uttryck råder dock en begreppsförvirring om vad konceptet faktiskt innefattar. Syfte Studiens syfte är tvåfaldig; dels ämnar studien konkretisera konceptet CSR för att studera hur kommunalt ägda energibolag kan arbeta med prestationsmätning för intern styrning av CSR-åtaganden, dels ämnar studien bistå Nogap med förslag för vilka prestationsmått som skulle kunna användas i deras koncept Hållbar lönsamhet. Metod Studien tog i ett ursprungsskede form av en litteraturstudie vilken mynnade ut i en konceptuell modell och en teoretisk referensram. Modellen låg sedan till grund för fördjupad förståelse av CSR inom tre kommunalt ägda energibolag.

This Master Thesis has been conducted as an assignment of the Swedish Defence MaterialAdministration and the Swedish Armed Forces and aims to examine the Target Location Error(TLE) of a Forward Observer System. The targeting accuracy of the system is vital if the systemis to be used as a sensor for precision munitions. The analyzed system, EOI (FOI 2000), wasdelivered to the Swedish Armed Forces in 2007. The targeting sequence starts with deciding theposition of the system with a GPS-receiver, continues with methods where the north direction issettled and ends by measuring the distance, direction and elevation to the target. When allparameters have been measured the system calculates the position of the target.

There are different types of risk, examples include credit risk, liquidity risk and financial risk. In DeMarzo & Berk (2011, s. 293) is a study presented which is based on the yield of different types of financial assets between 1925 and 2009, the study show that a high risk gave substantially higher reward. With the study as a background, it is interesting to study practical risk management within participants of the financial markets of Sweden. In risk management there are several theories about whether risk can be calculated and analyzed with scientific methods in practice.

The anatomy and physiology of reptiles and mammals are in many ways different, and will therefore possibly complicate anesthetic administration. Lizards are ectothermic and one should keep in mind that a decrease in the lizard?s environmental temperature may result in reductions in anesthetic metabolism. Respiratory depression is a profound problem because lizards lack a diaphragm, making inhalation and expiration completely active processes. This, in combination with cardiac shunting and breath holding makes the effects of anesthesia unpredictable.

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.

Tussilago farfara, coltsfoot, is a troublesome perennial weed with deep lying rhizome, which can vegetatively generate new plants. The mechanical control of coltsfoot that is used today, "starvation", which consists of several cultivations of the soil, which fragmentises the rhizome. This results in production of new shoots, which leads to depletion of nutrient resources; as long the new plant is not allowed to establish. However, very little research has been done to investigate how the starving technique affects the regenerative ability of coltsfoot. The purpose of this experiment with coltsfoot was to investigate how fragmentation and burial depths affect the time of emergence, number of emerged shoots per rhizome fragment, number of shoots per node, and if the germination ability within nodes changes during the experiment.

Abstract:This thesis work has been conducted at the Real Estate Department in Halmstad.The department consists of a construction/project management-unit and an operation/management-unit.Like many other towns in Sweden, Halmstad has had a long lasting problem with indoor environment. Not at least at their preschools.Today they are constructing from current building regulations. They have learned from negative experiences which have occurred in the indoor environment in older buildings.Focus is now on healthy materials, like low emission value, energy efficiency and optimization of the building, but still with soft parameters such as cleaning, interior and choice of materials.The fixtures is provides by the real estate department and the furnishings are provides by the children and youth administration. Together they are trying to provide a great indoor environment.I have, together with the real estate department and the children and youth administration of Halmstad, investigated how to provide a good indoor environment in the preschools with small funds.In my thesis there is one theoretical part with a questionnaire survey of how the preschool staff is experiencing their indoor environment to determine where the problems often start. And a practical part with measurements to try and come down to a result that analysis the cause of the problems and also to make sure that the ventilation systems are fulfilling projected values.The measurements and the questionnaire surveys was made at Lokes preschool in Frösakull, Askens preschool in Oskarström and Gullbrandstorps preschool.There were some differences between the staff-responses at the three different preschools.At Askens preschool they feel that the premises are cleaned poorly.At Gullbrandstorps preschool they feel that the indoor-air is bad because they can´t open the windows.