Umeå Energi are working towards a goal, that in the year of 2018, they will be completely climate neutral. As a part of this, one target is to reduce their grid losses by 4 % of the 2012 level, which corresponds to an overall reduction of the grid losses of just over 1.7 GWh. In many residential areas, the distribution grid is designed and rated for electric heating as the heating in the houses. As many of the houses later has been converted to other types of heating, their electricity use has decreased and the total power output from many of the secondary substations has decreased significantly. Because of this, many of these stations today are well oversized, which in turn means that the energy losses in these stations are unnecessarily high.In this degree project, 25 secondary substations have been studied, all located in residential areas in and around central Umeå.

In Halland, agriculture is the major source of eutrophication of water. In the study, synoptic sampling were performed in the three watercourses Nyrebäcken, Skintan and Vinån all located in the county of Halland. Sampling occurred during the period February to May on three occasions with different flow rates: high, low and base flow. Samples were taken in the mainstream and tributaries with intention to show how big the impact of eutrophication it is in the water and  to assess the impact of the tributariesThe results show that all watercourses are affected by eutrophication. Nyrebäcken has the highest concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus in the mainstream, then Skintan and last Vinån.

In this study, the efficiency of a newly launched predatory mite, Amblydromalus limonicus, has been examined for its potential to use as a biological control agent in cucumber production. A. limonicus can be used for biological control of two thrips species, Frankliniella occidentalis and Thrips tabaci. Field trials were conducted in greenhouses of two conventional cucumber growers in Scania, the southern part of Sweden. The basic control agent used against thrips was the predatory mite Amblyseius swirskii. In selected areas, additional A.

Stressful routines for animal handling can reduce immune function and productivity of animals. If stakeholders are handling animals aversively, animals will show increased expressions of fear for humans and higher stress levels which lead to the compromise of animals? welfare. In Ethiopia, there are no legislations to protect animals from suffering or discomfort. The main objective of this study was therefore to analyse welfare of cattle on animal markets in Ethiopia and map out supply chains of animals to these markets.

Glulam?s position at the Swedish market for building constructions has been established over the past decades. Factors affecting glulam demand are found both in global and national contexts as well in customer attitudes and knowledge of the material. Arguments for environmentally friendly and sustainable construction processes and energy-efficient designs are nowadays common, which is something that should motivate increased usage of wood as a renewable material. For the glulam industry to increase its sales, improve profitability and thereby gain market share in present competitive climate, reliable market information and updated market intelligence is required.

The report addresses four main tasks, situation analysis of the company's total costs and transportation volume, cost analysis associated with the adjustment of the filling ratio, transport costs for the expansion and new expenses on a combination of expansion with new adjusted filling ratio.  Increasing transport costs for the company was the main reason for the request of the current situation analysis. A survey of the total cost with the actual volumes and transport provider pricing is the basis of the analysis that extends from May 2006 to October 2008. The results show an increase in costs, both overall expense and per cubic meter of transported goods. Volume spreads, trends, and seasonal variations are according to our and the company?s expectations.

Background: Infectious Diseases Institute points out that the potential of various viraldiseases possibly can block each other. It is said that the virus that causes common cold,Rhinovirus, may have saved many people from the flu. If this assumption proves true, itwould explain why some viral diseases in some countries have been slow to take off and pointto a new way to struggle influenza. Objective: The main purpose of this study, based onreported cases of RSV and influenza type A, type B and H1N1, investigate whether viraldiseases can block each other, i.e. difficult season of flu may delay and / or mitigate thespread of RSV in Sweden.

Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is a tree species that have its natural distribution along the West Coast of North America, from Alaska in the north to northern California in the south. Sitka spruce is a typical coastal tree species that can reach heights up to 85 meters and occurs in single pure as well as in mixed stands. The main purposes of this study were to describe the Sitka spruce growing characteristics and the volume production in comparison to spruce (Picea abies). The possibility to predict future volume production by using prognosis tools designed to be used on spruce were also studied. The material that has been used in this study are permanent sitka trials established by the Faculty of Forestry fixed Sitka trials and also material gathered in this study. A literature study was also carried out in order to determine the Sitka spruce growing characteristics. Sitka spruce has a high adaptation and a high volume production on a broad scale of soil types. The tree species is a pioneer species that has a fast early growth and in combination with sharp needles it is less susceptible to animal browsing than spruce. The factor that is the single most limiting factor for where the Sitka spruce can be planted is frost. This factor can be limited by using plant material with a well-suited provenance. According to the literature, the Sitka spruce has an average total volume production that is between 20-40% higher than spruce.

This essay examines what happened to soldiers from Urshult in military service of Sweden during the diminished power of the country in the beginning of the eighteen century. Information of interest is taken from the soldiers? age, time of service and other annotations of interest that shows to be helpful when examining their fate.  First off, this study explains Sweden?s situation during this period of time. To get a grasp about the situation, allotment is explained as well as the most important events in the big Nordic war. This study is based on qualitative content analysis and GMRs are used as its main resource of information and consists of empiric analysis.The result of this paper shows that very few soldiers from Urshult were able to return home alive.

This paper is intended to provide a picture of which associations water can wake in the human mind from the perspectives of garden history as well as from that of environmental psychology. I hope to paint a fairly broad picture of our perception of water that can serve as a basis for discussion and as a starting point for different forms of design work in landscape architecture. The historical perspective emphasizes the importance of water as a condition for the emergence of gardens and in a wider perspective the importance of water in early cultures. Also, I describe a picture of how water has been used throughout the history of gardens from early Egypt to the baroque era. The garden history analyzed from an art historical perspective gives a picture of human associations to water, and the history behind these associations is presented. As a compliment to the art history approach, I have chosen to highlight our associations with water from the perspectives of environmental psychology and evolutionary science.

The purpose of this thesis has been to assess whether leaching from one particular Swedishlandfill site, Skörbytippen, is contributing to elevated levels of heavy metals in a ditch runningfrom the landfill site to the lake Mälaren in the communal region of Håbo kommun. Since theditch is stretching approximately five km downstream from the landfill site, in situ observationsand maps with known points of inflow was utilized to determine appropriate test points for thecollection of samples.Soil, water and sediment samples were collected and analyzed for content of organic material, pHand conductivity. Data on plant-available elements and total amounts of heavy metals wasacquired through ICP-analysis.The results show that the Skörby landfill is currently in the methane-forming anaerobedevelopment phase, which indicates that the concentration of free and complex-bound metals inthe leachate water should be low due to chemical binding with other landfill compounds. The pHof the sediment samples was generally one unit higher than the soil samples and some of themeasured data, such as pH and conductivity, show that an environmentally disturbing dischargeof some kind of strongly alkaline chemical(s) has been made from Benders? takpanneindustri inclose proximity to the landfill.

Energy is an important issue in the current world which significantly affects sustainability and development. Energy generation and use are major sources of CO2 emissions which is one of the most important driving factors in global climate changes. The amount of energy used in house hold section can lead to estimation of the amount of CO2 emitted within this section which subsequently would be a ground to better management and maintaining a sustainable society. This study which is a bachelor?s project in sustainable energy, deals with estimation of CO2 emission from different types of residential houses in Sweden. An extensive literature review on energy use in Sweden by different residential sectors has been conducted.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate if the stock market reacts differently to accounting information, depending on the stock market climate. The study focuses solely on stocks listed on the OMX Stockholm 30 during each year from 2005 to 2009. By applying the concept of Earnings Response Coefficient we can estimate how the market reacts to accounting information. The dependent variable in the equation is the market reaction on unexpected earnings, in the study described as the abnormal return on stock. For quality purposes we measure this on a ±1,5,10 and 20 days basis.

Denna uppsats utgörs av en jämförande studie vars mål var att utröna huruvida åtta stycken utvalda investmentbolag på Stockholmsbörsen hade varit ett konkurrenskraftigt alternativ som sparform eller inte med avseende på risk och avkastning. Detta jämfört med SIX Return Index och den riskfria räntan under en tidsperiod på tio år, 2001-01-01 till 2010-12-31.Syftet med undersökningen var att den i slutändan skulle mynna ut i generella slutsatser kring investmentbolag som sparform utifrån de data som hämtats in från de berörda investmentbolagens hemsidor.Författarna kunde efter avslutad undersökning dra slutsatsen att investmentbolagen historiskt sett hade klarat sig mycket bra och kunnat uppvisa resultat som varken marknaden eller den riskfria räntan var i närheten av. Även om vissa av investmentbolagen hade presterat sämre än jämförelsemåtten så var dock den samlade bilden att de som grupp hade varit ett mycket fördelaktigt investeringsalternativ. Detta med en genomsnittlig totalavkastning som överträffade index med drygt åtta procent.  .

There is currently no activity or behavior meters validated for sows under Swedish conditions where the sows are loose-housed during farrowing and nursing. An activity meter could in particular be used to detect sows that are getting ready for farrowing. Assistive technology in order to register different behaviors would be extremely useful in research and breeding. In this study, a HOBO Pendant G data logger was validated for two different functions. First, the function as a pure activity meter in which the accelerometer's ability to detect an upcoming farrowing was evaluated, and second, the accelerometer's ability to distinguish between the behaviors standing up, sitting down, lying ventrally and lying laterally on the right and left sides was evaluated. The accelerometer was attached to a collar around the sow's neck, and was recording its location every two seconds for six hours a day for ten days on a total of twelve sows.