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Passive samplers are not only a versatile tool to integrate environmental concentrations of pollutants, but also to avoid the use of live sentinel organisms for environmental monitoring. This study introduced the use of magnetic silicone polymer composites (Fe-PDMS) as passive sampling media to pre-concentrate a wide range of analytes from environmental settings. The composite samplers were assessed for their accumulation properties by performing lab experiments with two model herbicides (Atrazine and Irgarol 1051) and evaluated for their uptake properties from environmental settings (waters and sediments). The Fe-PDMS composites showed good accumulation of herbicides and pesticides from both freshwater and saltwater settings and the accumulation mechanism was positively correlated with the log Kow value of individual analytes. Results from the studies show that these composites could be easily used for a wide number of applications such as monitoring, cleanup, and/or bioaccumulation modeling, and as a non-intrusive and nondestructive monitoring tool for environmental forensic purposes.

The diagnosis of Von Willebrand's disease (VWD) may sometimes be difficult because of the variability of the results obtained over time in individuals. Moreover, blood group, age, pregnancy and inflammatory stimuli influence the level of Von Willebrand Factor (VWF). The purpose of this thesis was to screen and characterize antibodies to Von Willebrand factor and to evaluate the most promising ones in a gold- Sol assay for VWF on the CA-6000 analyzer. Seven different lots of Anti-VWF antibodies, 3 polyclonal and 4 monoclonal Ab's were screened and evaluated. Two of these antibodies (Sunol R01358 and MAVWF-AP) were selected for preparation of a Gold coated antibody solution. The preliminary testing of these gold coated antibodies on CA-6000 Analyzer showed no immunoreactivity toward VWF for both individual and pooled plasma (from normal healthy donors). Although measurement of VWF for normal plasma with this technique was not demonstrated, these data will be valuable for future work on the design of sensitive and accurate automated sol Gold Immunoassays for the diagnosis of VWD.

Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are generated by diverse anthropogenic sources, are classified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as Semivolatile Hazardous Compounds. PAHs are pollutants of great concern due to their toxicity and mobility in the environment; they can be found in air, water, and soil media. Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) is currently an alternative technology for the removal of PAHs from solid matrices. Carbon dioxide, water and organic compounds, above their critical temperature and pressure conditions, have been used as supercritical fluids. This bench-scale study evaluates the influence of temperature and use of modifiers on the extraction efficiency of PAHs in a diesel-contaminated soil sample from the Miami International Airport (MIA). Carbon dioxide at supercritical conditions was used as extraction fluid in most of this research. Subcritical water, in vapor and liquid states, was also used in a preliminary testing as extraction fluids. A conceptual design of a supercritical carbon dioxide extraction plant is suggested.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate how students in need of support in their language- reading and writing learning describe motivation. The intentions are to investigate how students in need of support in their language-reading and writing learning describe motivation and how students in need of support in their language-reading and writing learning describe motivational education. This is a qualitative study based on 6 interviews. The student interviews are conducted on students between 10-12 years and the selection criteria are primarily that all informants are in need of support in their language-reading and writing learning. The result shows that the informants' descriptions of motivation and motivational education were pupil-oriented, meaning that the informants gave concrete examples of what motivated them, here and now. Furthermore, the conclusion that the social relations of the informants are of great importance in motivational work, which means that the students' social relations play a major role in the work of raising the students' inner motivation. This is in line with the theoretical starting point of this study, the sociocultural perspective, which means that the social context and language is one of our most important tools for developing our thinking and creating new knowledge. In the results the informants said that communication, support or scaffolding, from the teacher is crucial for motivation, which is also one of the school's main tasks. / Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur elever i behov av stöd i sitt språk- läs- och skrivinlärande beskriver motivation. Intentionen med denna uppsats är att undersöka hur några elever i behov av stöd i sitt språk- läs- och skrivlärande beskriver motivation samt motivationshöjande undervisning. Detta är en kvalitativ studie som baserar sig på 6 st elevintervjuer. Elevintervjuerna är genomförda på elever mellan 10–12 år och urvalskriteriet är att alla informanter är i behov av stöd i sin språk- läs- och skrivutveckling. I resultatet framkommer informanternas beskrivningar av sin egen motivation och motivationshöjande undervisning vara elevnära, vilket innebär att informanterna gav konkreta exempel på vad som var motivationshöjande för just dem, där och då. Vidare framkom det i resultatet att informanternas sociala relationer är av stor vikt i det motivationshöjande arbetet, vilket innebär att elever i behov av stöd i sitt språk- läs- och skrivlärande anser att sociala relationer spelar en stor roll kring arbetet med att höja elevernas inre motivation. Detta stämmer väl överens med den teoretiska utgångspunkt som denna studie tar sitt avstamp ifrån, nämligen det sociokulturella perspektivet, vilket innebär att de sociala sammanhangen och språket är ett våra viktigaste redskap för att utveckla vårt tänkande och skapa nya kunskaper. Att man som lärare bör kommunicera med sina elever framkom i resultatet då informanterna menade att stöttning, eller scaffolding, från läraren är avgörande för att motivation ska skapas i undervisningen och därmed nå lärande hos elever i behov av stöd i sitt språk- läs- och skrivlärande, vilket även är ett av skolans huvuduppdrag.