This master thesis is made in co-operation with the Department of Forest Management and Products at the Swedish University of Agriculture in Uppsala and the Forestry Association in Stockholm. The purpose of the Master thesis was to describe how pre-schools in Sweden use forests and green areas, and to understand how different factors can affect the use of the nature. The purpose of the interviews was to create a picture of attitudes and routines of the pre-schools, in the matter of visiting the nature. The thesis is built on interviews where fifteen pre-schools in five large cities around Sweden participated. Among these pre-schools, five of them worked with special focus on nature, while the other ten did not have any particular focus connected to their activity.

This study aims to discover pedagogues perceptions of children?s sedentary behavior linked to the school and its activities. Questions that the study sought to answer was: What do pedagogues think of when they hear ?sedentary children?. How do the pedagogues look at their own and the schools responsibility? Advantages and disadvantages with sedentary behavior? Relationship between physical activity and sedentary behavior and the impact of environment connected to sedentary behavior? The study is qualitative and implemented through seven interviews with pedagogues in the schools earlier years.

To create multifunctional buffer strips along a watercourse in an economically sustainable way requires consideration of many different factors. In this plan we have selected pollutant reduction as the main purpose of the buffer strip. We have also strived to achieve minimal income loss due to reduced production, increased biological diversity, good game preservation that leads to higher income from hunting, aesthetical satisfaction and possibility to profit from available subsidies. This is done mainly to make landowners/farmers more interested in creating buffer strips along water courses.As sand is the dominant type of soil in the area, the water course is less affected by surface runoff compared to if the soil would be clay or some other finer texture. Game preservation and subsidies have therefore been the main factors when establishing the width of the strip, because these require wider buffer strips in some cases.

This report describes how the system may be exposed to oscillations and how this can lead to resonance. Resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when a system is affected by external periodic oscillations with frequencies close to the system's natural frequencies. Structures subjected to resonance can risk great damage and destruction, why resonance is something that is important to take into account when designing structures. Alternative ways to counteract resonance is to supply damping in the system. Damping means that the resonance decreases instead of letting the amplitude increase.The report discusses some examples on constructions that have experienced the effect of resonance.

This report describes how the system may be exposed to oscillations and how this can lead to resonance. Resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when a system is affected by external periodic oscillations with frequencies close to the system's natural frequencies. Structures subjected to resonance can risk great damage and destruction, why resonance is something that is important to take into account when designing structures. Alternative ways to counteract resonance is to supply damping in the system. Damping means that the resonance decreases instead of letting the amplitude increase.The report discusses some examples on constructions that have experienced the effect of resonance.

This study examines the closure of public libraries, and the nonprofit organizations takeover of them as a phenomenon. The aim is to understand why the nonprofit takeover is common and what the takeover symbolizes and if the discourse in media invokes the views on libraries and the profession.Interviews were made with librarians, politicians and representatives of a nonprofit organization to study different sides of the phenomenon. Other empirical data were found in local and national newspapers and media-channels. I discovered that public libraries are highly valued by both politicians and the community. The study also showed that a library in a community makes people feel valued.

More often consumers demand instant dry soup that can be prepared with a water temperature below 100o C, which is currently not possible, because the dry soup becomes too thin when using water with a lower temperature. In this study, various kinds of starch studies were made to optimize the starch used in the existing product to make it more viscous at both high and low temperatures. The result was that one of the two starches present in the existing product was retained by change in quantity as it contributed to important flavor parameters. The second was removed and replaced with a starch that made the product more viscous at lower temperatures. To find out if the new product differed from the existing product a viscosity measurement and a sensory paired preference test were made.

Aim?Rekryteringsgruppen? (RG) is an organisation that through co-operating with the National Health service aims at optimizing the ability for physically disabled persons to rehabilitate. RG is a non-profit organisation ?using physical and mental exercise for disabled people, mainly neurologically disabled persons.? One of the goals that RG wants to achieve is ?that the target group will be able to live such an active and independent life as possible?. As no previous studies have been done in order to review the adaptation of RG:s work and its effects on the disabled, the purpose of this paper is to examine spinal cord injured individuals perception of independence concerning situation of life, ability to function and physical activity.MethodData have been collected by using three questionnaires.

The main purpose with the project has been to approximate the magnitude of the pollution transport from the actual road surfaces and to get an approximation of the possibility to collect the pollutants to reduce the load to the water and improve the water quality.The quantity of pollution transport from the most trafficated roads areas in Örebro city has been calculated. Roads whith a traffic exceeding 10 000 vehicle/day. The study has been done with the calculation tool StormTac. Through analysis of traffic loads and road surface, which together with a different kinds of parameters gives an approximation of the pollutant transport.The calculation has included some metals and other substances in the stormwater and has also included the present of suspended solids. Included the overall study, some smaller areas has also been calculated for the possibility to remove pollutants.The work also includes calculation for three different areas for stormwater treatment.

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 last decades the increased computerisation at the places of work has led to new physical loads in the working life and new demands on the working environment. The widespread usage of computers in the working life has led to more sedentary work and less daily movement.The purpose of the thesis is to develop a new product to a concept that in a low intensive and healthy promotional way will activate the body. The product will make a combination of healthy promotion activity and work during office hours possible and primary aims to those with a sedentary office work, which leads to that the body don´t get to be activated in the extent needed.Information has been gathered from studies already made in this area, interviews plus a study and an experiment. From the gathered information concepts and functional solutions has been generated and evaluated to result in a product concept.The thesis has resulted in a concept that consists of a work place unit where the user walks on a treadmill and works at the same time.A general conclusion which can be drawn is that the majority of persons that tested to walk and simultaneously work with a computor on the treadmill found this way of working attractive. Many were positively surprised and said that they would use such an physically activating work place implement if it was available at their place of work..

Certain microbial residents from composts are known to possess the ability to suppress soilborne plant pathogens. Trichoderma spp. and Gliocladium spp. are commonly found in composts and are perhaps the most wellknown hyperparasites of fungal pathogens, which may also be naturally present in compost. Trials have many times proven them to be effective against plant diseases caused by soilborne pathogens such as Pythium spp., Phytophthora spp.

Ethanol for automotive purposes is an issue much debated and researchers disagree about the benefits of bioethanol. Converting energy-rich crops into ethanol suitable as motor fuel is a complex process and continuous development and improvements of processes and material used are important steps in the work of developing environmental friendly fuels. Grain is usually preserved by drying which consumes a lot of energy. Alternative storage of high-moisture grain in airtight storage systems reduce the energy required to produce bioethanol and studies have also shown that ethanol yields are increased more than 10% in ethanol fermentations of moist grain compared to dry. Airtight storage is often not perfectly airtight so biocontrol agents are necessary in order to preserve the grain.

This study is an assignment from Västerbottens läns landsting (VLL). The study?s main objective is to examine physical exercise habits and the most common motives for exercise among employees at VLL. It also compares educational status and gender differences to see if there is any significant dissimilarity regarding motives. The study is a quantitative study that used an electronic questionnaire to collect data from the respondents.

This study explores the effects of two different post-treatment methods on stain reduction in glazed creamware from the late 20th century. The objects stains have been characterized by type one and type two stains which is the result of prolonged contact with food residues, were subjected to the same initial stain reduction. The two post-treatment methods examined are soaking the objects in deionized water and surface rinsing with deionized water. The comparative analysis included photographs under normal and UV-light exposure to assess stain visibility, weight measurements before and after treatments to monitor the absorption and evaporation of liquids, and observations throughout the experiment. The results revealed that while type two stains showed significant alterations after treatments, specifically after soaking, type one stains remained unaffected by both methods.