As a result of increased energy prices more and more energy-efficient homes are coveted. An energy-efficient alternative is passive houses, which is characterized by an extremely well insulated building envelope that recovers the heat without the use of radiators or under floor heating. But a passive house requires a higher investment cost than a conventional building project, since it will require more construction materials, training of construction workers, greater land area, and long construction period. But the lower operating cost expects to pay back the higher cost of investment. We therefore question how profitable a passive house is in relation to houses built according to modern conventional building techniques.The aim of our study is to investigate the viability of passive houses compared to convent­ional houses.

In this thesis a method for evaluating investments in small scale hydro power is presented. An analysis of the future position that small scale hydro production will have on the Nordic electricity market is also carried out. This is done by an inventory of technology and economic and environmental aspects. The inventory is also a guide as to how the project should be implemented.Hydrolyzer is the name of the Excel tool developed to evaluate investments. The tool requests input data from the user and then evaluates the investment and generates a sensitivity analysis.

In a business environment where the stakeholder perspective is evolving and sustainable development is receiving increased attention, it is of importance for companies to adjust. The demand and pressure is exerted from several stakeholders who force companies to take action and live up to the expectations because if failing to do so, negative consequences will most likely be the case. The attention of this study is on ABB Power Products (ABB PP) and their environment and working environment risk management. The aim of this thesis is to identify and describe how perceived environmental risks are managed and what the incentives are to work proactively to minimize the risks. The incentives for a proactive risk management strategy are researched through both a strategic and operational perspective.

The automotive market is currently undergoing a historical change where stricter emission legislations and ever increasing fuel costs have intensified the search for effective alternatives to the conventional internal combustion engine, which has resulted in a substantial trend towards electrification of powertrains. Storage of electrical energy is the fundamental component in this technology where the lithium-ion batteries are currently considered as the most appropriate solution. Lithium-ion batteries, however, as other types of batteries, can only be used efficiently and durably within a specific temperature range.This Master thesis has been carried out in collaboration with Electroengine in Sweden AB, situated in Uppsala, which has an ongoing project regarding development of a modular battery system for electric powertrains. The project is at a stage where an initial prototype has been developed which provides the foundation for this thesis. The study has addressed the battery system performance from a thermal perspective, in order to validate the ability of the system to create a thermally serviceable environment for the lithium-ion battery cells.

Rapid development in the realms of electronic publishing has had a profound impact on information services in general and the academic library in particular. Since mid 1990´s an increasingly number of scholarly journals and other information resources have been made available electronically. Electronic books are the newest electronic service in the hybrid library and can be seen as the third wave in the digital library. Although electronic books have for a long time existed as electronic texts such as digitalized classics or other texts in the public domain, it is not until recently that e-books have been distributed and packaged in a commercial form. As more e-book models are being developed, libraries are being forced to take e-books into consideration when planning their information services.The aim of this master thesis is to describe the first stage of implementation of the new electronic media, the electronic book or e-book, in Swedish academic libraries.

As a result of increased energy prices more and more energy-efficient homes are coveted. An energy-efficient alternative is passive houses, which is characterized by an extremely well insulated building envelope that recovers the heat without the use of radiators or under floor heating. But a passive house requires a higher investment cost than a conventional building project, since it will require more construction materials, training of construction workers, greater land area, and long construction period. But the lower operating cost expects to pay back the higher cost of investment. We therefore question how profitable a passive house is in relation to houses built according to modern conventional building techniques.The aim of our study is to investigate the viability of passive houses compared to convent­ional houses.

The eutrophication of inshore seas, lakes and watercourses is mainly due to leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus (P) from agriculture. Many efforts are made to reduce the lea-kage of phosphorus in Sweden and the Baltic Sea countries. Phosphorus is also a finite resource and the mining of good quality raw material gets more and more difficult. Se-dimentation dams in combination with filters is one relatively new method to separate P from run-off and drainage water from agricultural land. This study was a part of an IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute?s project which tests the capacity and func-tion for separation of phosphorus in four phosphorus filters.

The purpose of this study was to analyze and develop a workflow for assessing and representing the value of ecosystems to professionals involved in municipal planning. A thorough literature review was conducted and supplemented by interviews and observations. Frameworks for ecosystem service assessments were analyzed and combined with methods in urban planning in order to assess social and ecological conditions. A workflow was set up and methods were evaluated by applying them to a case study in the area Åstråket in Uppsala. Experience from the case study was compiled in order to improve the workflow.Complex assessments were identified and simplified for the method to be useful for practitioners.

Since long, Sweden has had exceptionally low calf mortality compared to most other countries. The tradition has been to keep calves in individual pens. With increasing number of cows per herd there is now a larger interest in more efficient and economical group systems for housing calves. However it has been noticed that bigger herds have more health problems and higher calf mortality than smaller herds. The early signs of disease are harder to detect when the animals are not fed manually.

Fertility is of central interest in the dairy production but has during the last decades declined. Increased milk yield has resulted in high pressure on the metabolism of the dairy cows that are supposed to manage the transition from dry cows to lactating cows within a few weeks around the parturition. Much indicate that metabolism and fertility are closely linked, with insulin playing a substantial part. There are many studies suggesting that the main part of gestation loss can be found during the early embryo development, a period which can be studied in vitro. The aim of this study was to test the effect of insulin during maturation in vitro and to evaluate two different fluorescent stainings on oocytes and embryos; a nuclear stain and a staining of apoptotic cells through the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL)-method. Bovine cumulus-oocyte-complexes (n=991) were aspirated from abattoir-derived ovaries.

The most suitable method to answer the issues of this study was to do a combined literature- and questionnaire study. The literature part of the study was based on Original Research articles, Review Articles and books with a list of reference literature after each chapter and the purpose was to answer the questions ?What feed items should be given to rabbits in different life stages? and ?Which problems may develop from an inadequate diet?? Two questionnaires were constructed. One was sent by e-mail to small animal veterinary hospitals to be answered anonymously by veterinary nurses. The other was linked to from two internet forums, that with rabbits as their focus.

The Swedish government have a goal that wind turbines shall produce 30 TWh by the year 2020, compared to about 3,5 TWh produced in Sweden during 2010. To minimize the disturbance that wind turbines create the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency has stated a guideline value that noise from wind turbines at nearby residents shouldn?t exceed 40 dBA, at 8 m/s wind speed. With advanced calculation models, like Nord 2000, the emitted sound from future wind turbines can be calculated at an early stage to optimize the power production without exceeding the 40 dBA. When the turbines have been built there is a need to verify that they really are within the guideline.

Most of today?s concrete structures that are built on site are mainly constructed in a traditional fashion with a lot of artisanal operations. One step towards industrializing the in-situ construction of concrete is to use prefabricated reinforcement. Through this method there can be a lot of savings when each bar doesn?t have to be placed and fixed separately on site.

The purpose of this thesis was to determine what materials should be used when creating a stimulating garden for intellectually handicapped people and whether there are materials that are better than others to use in this kind of environment. How the materials preferably can be used and how the environment should be designed to satisfy the need of each individual will also be discussed. Seriously intellectually handicapped people have the same level of intelligence as a normal 0-2 year old child. It is important to point out that these individuals can not be compared to a normal child in other aspects than the level of abstract thinking and perception of reality. As the grown up intellectually handicapped people have remained a lot longer on this stage of intelligence they have got more experience. (Kylén 1981) It is important with a lot of different experiences for the brain to develop normally, which implies the use of many different materials to achieve the best stimulation (Kylén 1981).

The number of inhabitants of the towns and city centers have generelly increased, concurrent as the population in smaller towns has decreased. In Stockholm, the migration is very fast and here is also the most populous place, if one compares with other Sweden. In order to respond to the increasing population and the pressure they put on city spaces has Stockholm's town a town building strategy that says "build inwards". It means that one stem seals the town with spaces and business activities in central locations. The increased population in the towns and the densification of buildings leads however to an increased pressure on parks and public places.