How is research and science being used in political debate? An idea analysis of the debate about försäkringsmedicinskt beslutsstöd (decision tool in healthcare security)This is a case study on different types of research use (utilization) The aim of this paper is to examine how the politicians make use of expertise and research in the parliamentary debate surrounding the decision tool in healthcare security (försäkringsmedicinskt beslutsstöd). The aim is also to find out to what extent different types of research use are present in this debate. In this case study the qualitative method of idea analysis is being used on the empirical material. The tool of analysis is based upon the theories of research use by Amara et al.

Agricultural drainage is widely used to manage the amount of water in the ground in order to improve conditions for cultivation. However the effects of drainage companies on water regimes are considerable leading to runoff changes such as altered stream flows, peak flows and water levels. In a greater extent this could imply an increased risk for floods along affected watercourses. This study analyzes the extension of agricultural drainage within the drainage basin of Trosaån in Sweden by ArcGIS mapping. In a statistical analysis, historical variation in streamflow in relation to mean precipitation and mean temperature are investigated for the study area.

In this report you can read about a service company that wants to introduce a new decision tool for their customers. The first question that will be answered in this report is, what information is needed for market controllers. The second question investigates how a decision tool that gives the answers to the first question would work. Theories in business and economics written by Jan Lindvall (2001) and sociotechnical work analysis written by Kim Vicente (1999) are used in this report. To find the answers to question number one, interviews with two market controllers were done.

Bakgrund: Volvo Cars Body Components (VCBC) tillverkar och levererar karosskomponenter till Volvo Cars. För sex år sedan påbörjade VCBC sin implementering av lean production. För att beräkna de kostnader som uppstår i produktionen använder VCBC produktkalkyler. Representanter vid VCBC anser att företaget har problem med höga plåtlager, överproduktion samt problem med att se kostnadssamband. Ett value stream där förbättringsmöjligheter finns är Flöde 1 vid VCBC.

In 2006, Stora Enso Skog implemented an education program in water management for harvester operators, timber purchasers, cut block planners and supervisors. The focus of the program was creating stream crossings with minimal harm to the stream and the surrounding riparian area. This main purpose of this study was to determine the difference in work procedures before and after participating in the program. The methodology consisted of field studies and interviews with harvester operators and their supervisors. The field study looked at how the streams had been crossed concerning the number of crossings, visible damage to the stream and/or the riparian area made by the machines. Biological parameters such as the width and dept of the stream and amount of large woody debris in the stream were also measured. The field result from 30 harvesting sites showed no significant difference between sites that had been harvested before or after the education program. But the harvester operators and their supervisors experienced an increased concern for watersheds after the educational program.

E.ON Elnät has in their project Operational Performance developed a priority tool forconstruction and operation. The tool will help the users to increase the capability to prioritybetween new development projects and removal of faults. The tool can be seen as a measuringfor different bay?s reliability, size and the community usefulness. The result of the priority isdirectly connected to which calibration that is chosen in the tool.The priority tool is still under development and there is therefore an uncertainty about howsensitive the tool is for changes in the calibration.

Lundbergs Plåt AB is a small company situated in Jönköping. Their main task is to process different kinds of steel such as stainless steel. Lately, they have shown an interest in Lean production.On the basis of the situation mentioned above, we developed the purpose to find and decrease the non value-added wastes in the production at Lundbergs Plåt AB. Out of this, we also developed and answered two questions: Which wastes can be found with help from a value stream mapping (VSM)? In what way can these wastes be reduced and how can these reductions contribute to an improved production? VSM is the method used to find the non value-added wastes.

Cache simulator is a tool to increase the understanding of a cache memory. Therefore cache memory simulation is included in the course Computer Engineering IS1200 at the Royal Institution of Technology. The purpose of this project is to develop a cache memory simulator for education. The existing MipsIt and Mips Simulator which is currently used in IS1200 has been the main source of inspiration. This resulted in the development of the cache memory simulator LMSim.

Headwater streams are affected by anthropogenic impacts at multiple scales. One aspect of human impact is sediment transport associated to the abundance of stream structures as large woody debris and the composition of the riparian zone from forest to agricultural landscapes. Riparian buffer zones and stream structures like dead wood are considered as generally important structures for protection against an increasing amount of sediment particles in the water. Hence, in this study these structures were quantified in thirty different stream segments on land and in the water. To measure the transport of sediment Whitlock-Vibert boxes were used in three different types of landscapes; forest, transition and fields. The boxes were left in the stream segments for three months, the taken up and dried and weighed. The results showed that the transition-land in Frösvidalsån had the highest sediment transport. The second highest transport of sediment was in Blackstaån at the fields.

This thesis describes a tool for data mining used to optimize ambulance preparedness. The goal with the tool was that it should be able to retract the information necessary to be able to analyze and calibrate the preparedness model used in the software ResQMap. ResQMap is used by SOS Alarm, who are responsible for the Swedish emergency number 112, as a decision support tool for ambulance operators. It is developed by Carmenta AB, who are the supervisors of the thesis work. Also, a minor study of the preparedness models variables has been performed in order to be able to evaluate the function of the tool.

The thick-shelled river mussel (Unio crassus) is a red listed species classified as Endangered (EN) and is also considered within the Habitats Directive. The distribution in Sweden is fragmented and it is mostly occurring in the south eastern parts. We investigated the presence of Unio crassus in a section of the stream Storån, Östergötland County, from Falerum to the inflow into Lake Åkervristen. The environmental parameters investigated were water depth, bottom substrate, shading, water velocity and the slope over the water surface. In this thesis I have focused mainly on water depth and shading, comparing sites with and without mussels.

This report discusses developing a software log tool for analysis of industrial processes. The target was to develop software that can help electro Engineers for monitor and fault finding in industrial processes. The tool is called PLS (Process log server), and is developed in Visual Studio.NET Framework 2005. PLS works as a client with Beijer Electronics OPC Server. The program is able to read data from PLC (Programmable Logic Controller), trough the OPC Server.

The purpose with this study is to find out how much dead wood we can expect us to find in a Russian reference river and compare with studies from Swedish streams. Dead wood are an important structure for the biodiversity in forest streams, studies have shown that population of trout can increase with up to 300 % when the amount of dead wood are increasing from 0 to 8 ? 16 LWD (Large woody debris)/100 m2. Dead wood are also an important structure for the stream character, formations of dams and pools which are important habitats and reproduction areas for salmon and brown trout. The study where taken place in tributaries to the Russian river Varzuga in the North West part of Russia outside Murmansk. Varzuga has low impact of human activity and is considered to be a reference river to rivers in northern Sweden.

With increasing energy prices and increased focus on the environment we saw the need for companies to get control over their energy use and their emission of carbon dioxid. An analysis tool that integrates both these areas is, with our knowledge, not available on the market today. Therefore, our project became to develop such a tool.By doing this degree project we would like to clarify that energy consumption and environmental impact are integrated. The less energy consumed by today?s society the smaller the environmental impact will be.

In today?s constantly changing market place most organizations need to reorganize. Reorganization carries risks that could jeopardize the organization's well-being and profitability. To minimize these risks, companies need a tool to help them analyze how the reorganization will affect the business before they make major changes. Such tool has now been developed by researchers at KTH.