Wood is a complex material and the mechanical properties are influencedby a number of structural parameters. The objective of this study has been toinvestigate the relationship between the structure and the mechanical propertiesof hardwood. Two levels were of special interest, viz. the cellular structureand morphology of the wood, and the ultra-structure of the cell wall. In thenext step, it was of interest to examine how the mechanical properties ofhardwood change with spontaneous/induced changes in morphology and/orchemical composition beyond the natural variation found in nature. Together, this constituted the framework and basis for two larger projects,one on European aspen (Populus tremula) and hybrid aspen (Populus tremulax Populus tremuloides), and one on European oak (Quercus robur). Amethodology was developed where the concept of relative density and compositemechanics rules served as two useful tools to assess the properties ofthe cell wall. Tensile testing in the longitudinal direction was combined withchemical examination of the material. This approach made it possible to revealthe mechanical role of the lignin in the cell wall of transgenic aspen trees,and investigate the consequences of holocellulose degradation in archaeologicaloak from the Vasa ship. The study on transgenic aspen showed that a major reduction in lignin inPopulus leads to a small but significant reduction in the longitudinal stiffness.The longitudinal tensile strength was not reduced. The results are explainableby the fact that the load-bearing cellulose in the transgenic aspen retained itscrystallinity, aggregate size, microfibril angle, and absolute content per unitvolume. The results can contribute to the ongoing task of investigating andpinpointing the precise function of lignin in the cell wall of trees. The mechanical property study on Vasa oak showed that the longitudinaltensile strength is severely reduced in several regions of the ship, andthat the reduction correlates with reduced average molecular weight of theholocellulose. This could not have been foreseen without a thorough mechanicaland chemical investigation, since the Vasa wood (with exception fromthe bacterially degraded surface regions) is morphologically intact and witha micro-structure comparable to that of recent oak. The results can be usedin the ongoing task of mapping the condition of the Vasa wood. / QC 20110420

This study examines four suits of armour that belonged to two Swedish kings, one protestant and one catholic, during the renaissance. The study tries to determine if it is possible to extract the religious identity of these kings based upon the decorations or other connotations of the suits of armour. Since the two kings, Erik the XIV:th and John the III, where half brothers and they succeeded each other, the suits of armour are closley matched in time and style.   The study also examines the grave effigy of one of the kings, John the III of Sweden, to examine if there is a connection between crossed legs on effigys and the perception of religion during the period.   The study is conducted through a archeological and historiological method and uses a combination theory of Smarts seven dimensions and the pictoral turn.   The main question of the study is: -          What does it take to track religious bias through armour? The subsequent questions are: -          Is it possible to find the religious identity in the suits of armour? -          Was the Gothicism movement a religious movement? -          The effigy of John the III was sculpted in a style popular in the eleventh century, created in the 16:th century and placed in the 18:th century. What conclusions can be drawn from this while also tracking the discourse of effigys in the same time expance.   The study concludes that if the identity of the owner of a suit of armour is known, the symbols that adorne the suit can be interpreted fairly well. It also conludes that the gothic movement in Sweden where an extremely aggressive catholic movement. Finally it concludes that the creation and placement of the tomb in Uppsala cathedral closely follows the different discourses about the meaning of crossed legs on effigys in Europe and that the makers most likely gave the position a devout religious connotation.

Dissertation Abstract Abdominalaortic aneurysm (AAA) is a serious disease. Its prevalence is in the developed countries about 3%. As an aneurysm is considered a dilatation of all layers of a vessel wall over 3 cm. Majority of AAA are small and asymptomatic, and although the risk of rupture increases with the size of aneurysm sack, even the small aneurysms rupture. The rupture mortaliry ranges about 70 %. Surgical treatment is indicated in the asymptomatic patients in diameter of AAA over 5 cm. The average speed of growth of AAA is 0.3 cm per year, e.g. in the early diagnosed patients there is a several years interval for a pharmacolocical influencing of the progression of this disease. Knowledge of pathogenesis is essential for any targeted pharmacological treatment. Our prospective, non-randomised studies are based on the application of the stereological methods for the histopathological assessment of the AAA samples. The acquired data enable the statistical analysis, including the null hypothesis testing. In our study analyzing the histopathology of AAA aortae of 65 patients (65 walls and 55 thrombi) and 6 normal abdominal aortae from the organ donors we assessed the following parameters: the area fractions of collagen and elastin, and the length density of elastin in intima and media, the area...

This is a work about documentation and preventive conservation. My case study includes a number of furnishings in an environment where virtually no circumstances have changed during last 400 years. My goal was to, on the basis of observation of materials, techniques and construction, determine the possible date of origin and that with regard to previous research on climate and the effect of light and other conditions to formulate guidelines for the continued storage, without changing anything more pervasive in the physical environment. I have come to the conclusion that the different methods like the control of air movement or protection of the environment from UV-light is not unproblematic in an environment like this, but that the best strategy in the current situation are simple proven methods such as protective covering and ventilation.

This thesis studies the life and work of Lars Skytte (1610-1696), a Swedish Ambassador to Portugal who converted to Catholicism and became a Franciscan theologian, in relation to the concept of Truth. For Skytte, Truth and Catholicism are synonymous. The thesis focuses on his semi-autobiographical book Peregrinatio sancta fratris Laurentii a D. P. Sueci (1658). As a sort of intellectual biography, this study aims at situating Skytte within the context of post- reformation rhetoric and theological thought. The main question guiding the thesis is in what way Lars Skytte argues for the Truth of the Catholic Church, as opposed to what he terms ‘schismatic’ and ‘heretical’ movements. Following a set of identified arguments for the Catholic Church as the religio vera, the thesis looks at how they are employed in various ways to answer the overarching question.

This essay examines how the local Civil Guard in the town of Vaasa, in the Finnish civil war of 1918, were presented based on the notion of masculinity in texts by Axel Iversén. In this study discourse analysis with a qualitative approach has been applied. The study shows that the role of the Civil Guard in the civil war mainly revolves around the discourse on safeguarding the nation's independence and protecting Finland as a nation. Based on Judith Butler's theory of performativity this study shows how masculinity is created from a repetitive practice based on concepts such as freedom, courage, offensive, equality, youth, organization and efficiency. The study confirms previous research which shows that according to the Civil Guards notion masculine ideals were related to nationalism, patriotism and sacrifice for the nation's independence. Furthermore, the study confirms the importance of the homosocial relations for the construction of masculinity within the Civil Guard. The discourse on offensive action regarding the Civil Guard is prominent, regardless if it is in battle or the organization of the Civil Guard.

Dissertation Abstract Abdominalaortic aneurysm (AAA) is a serious disease. Its prevalence is in the developed countries about 3%. As an aneurysm is considered a dilatation of all layers of a vessel wall over 3 cm. Majority of AAA are small and asymptomatic, and although the risk of rupture increases with the size of aneurysm sack, even the small aneurysms rupture. The rupture mortaliry ranges about 70 %. Surgical treatment is indicated in the asymptomatic patients in diameter of AAA over 5 cm. The average speed of growth of AAA is 0.3 cm per year, e.g. in the early diagnosed patients there is a several years interval for a pharmacolocical influencing of the progression of this disease. Knowledge of pathogenesis is essential for any targeted pharmacological treatment. Our prospective, non-randomised studies are based on the application of the stereological methods for the histopathological assessment of the AAA samples. The acquired data enable the statistical analysis, including the null hypothesis testing. In our study analyzing the histopathology of AAA aortae of 65 patients (65 walls and 55 thrombi) and 6 normal abdominal aortae from the organ donors we assessed the following parameters: the area fractions of collagen and elastin, and the length density of elastin in intima and media, the area...

Naturens mineralresurser är till viss del utnyttjade och uttömda, och framtiden är osäker och omdebatterad. Ingen vet säkert exakt hur mycket metall som finns kvar i jordskorpan, hur mycket som går att utvinna eller hur länge resurserna kommer att räcka. Samtidigt har vi byggt in rena metallådror i våra städer i form av elkablar, telekablar och fjärrvärmerör. Många av dem används givetvis, men många är också uttjänta och urkopplade, och därmed tillgängliga för återvinning.Syftet med denna studie är att klarlägga hinder, drivkrafter och möjligheter för metallåtervinning av urkopplade infrasystem i mark inom lokala el-, tele- och fjärrvärmenät i Sverige. För att uppnå detta tillfrågades Sveriges tio största ägare av underjordiska lokala elnät om bl.a. sina rutiner för urkopplade ledningar och genomförda projekt där ledningar tagits upp. Samma bolag frågades även om sina respektive fjärrvärmenät. Utöver dessa ingick telenätägaren Skanova, kommuner med anknytning till de tillfrågade nätägarna, metallåtervinningsföretag, entreprenörer och myndigheter i studien. Dessutom gjordes en litteraturstudie på området metallåtervinning.De viktigaste drivkrafterna för upptagning och återvinning av urkopplade infrasystem i mark visade sig vara ekonomi, utrymmeskonflikt i ledningsgatorna, krav i form av lagar, avtal eller egen policy, samt risk för miljöpåverkan. Alla förutom utrymmeskonflikt kan dessutom, beroende på omständigheterna, vara hinder för återvinning. En viktig möjliggörande faktor är att ledningens läge är känt och att den inte riskerar att förväxlas med andra ledningar.I dag är det vanligt att ledningar ligger kvar i marken en tid efter att de tagits ur bruk. I de fall de tas upp sker det ofta i samband med andra grävarbeten längs ledningen. Miljörisker, utrymmeskonflikter och krav kan tvinga fram upptagning av en ledning, medan ekonomi, med nuvarande metallpriser, är mer av ett hinder. Om återvinning av ledningar i mark ska bli norm krävs det att lönsamheten ökar. Detta kan ske genom ökade metallpriser, användande av alternativa metoder för upptagning, ett bredare synsätt som tar hänsyn till att återvinning kan minska behovet av primära metallresurser, eller kanske subventionering av återvunnen metall. Hårdare lagstiftning skulle kunna tvinga fram ökad återvinning, men för att alla inblandade ska vara med på det är det bättre att låta marknadskrafterna styra och att det baseras på frivillighet.Om återvinningen av infrasystem i mark ska ökas måste det göras insatser på flera nivåer. Nya metoder, som utvecklas av fristående entreprenörer, kan göra återvinning mer lönsam. Nationella mål och riktlinjer bör tas fram av Naturvårdsverket för att vägleda nätägare och markägare. Om ekonomiska styrmedel behövs måste det beslutas om av Riksdagen. Branschorganisationer och länsstyrelser kan samordna arbetet bland sina medlemmar och inom sina regioner. Markägarna måste sedan komma överens med nätägarna om vad som är lämpligt och vad som fungerar för just deras områden. / Earth’s natural mineral resources have, to some extent, already been used and depleted, and the future is both uncertain and debated. No one knows for certain exactly how much metal there is left in Earth’s crust, how much we can extract or for how long the resources are going to last. Meanwhile, we have installed ores of metal in our cities, in the form of electric cables, telecom cables and district heating pipes. Many of these are of course in use, but many have also reached end of life and been disconnected, and are thus available for recycling.The purpose of this study is to clarify barriers, drivers and enablers for metal recycling of disconnected underground infrasystems within the local electricity, telecom and district heating networks in Sweden. In order to do this, ten of Sweden’s largest owners of local underground electricity networks were asked e.g. about their routines and about projects where cables were taken up. The same companies were also asked about their district heating networks. Apart from these, the study included the telecom network owner Skanova, municipalities with connections to the ten electricity network companies, metal recycling companies, contractors and authorities. Furthermore, a literature study on metal recycling was conducted.The main drivers for taking up and recycling disconnected underground infrasystems proved to be economy, conflicts of space in the ground, rules and regulations in terms of legislations, contracts or company policies, and environmental impact risks. All of these, except for conflicts of space, could also, depending on the circumstances, be barriers for recycling. One important enabler is to know the exact position of the cables or pipes and that they don’t risk being confused with other cables or pipes.Presently, cables and pipes are commonly left in the ground for some time after they have been taken out of service. When they are eventually taken up, it is often done simultaneously with other digging operations along the cable or pipe. Environmental risks, conflicts of space and rules and regulations can force the excavation of cables and pipes, while economy, with current metal prices, is more of a barrier. If recycling of underground infrasystems is to become norm, the profitability needs to increase. This can occur through increased metal prices, use of alternative excavation methods, a wider view that takes into account that increased recycling can decrease the need for primary metal resources, or perhaps through subsidization of recycled metals. Tougher legislations could force a higher recycling rate, but in order to include all involved parts and not upset anyone, it is better to let the market drive and base it all on free will.If the recycling of underground infrasystems is to increase, efforts must be made on several different levels. New methods, developed by independent entrepreneurs, could make recycling more profitable. National goals and guidelines should be presented by the Swedish EPA, to guide and direct network owners and landlords. If financial instruments are needed, these must be decided upon by the parliament. Business associations and county administrations can coordinate the work among their members and within their regions. The landlords and the network owners must then agree on what is appropriate and applicable for their specific areas.

The Battle of Lake Hjorten The unknown battle of the Dacke war which settled the future of Sweden Argumentaion on the basis of various types of sources

<p>The Battle of Lake Hjorten</p><p>The unknown battle of the Dacke war which settled the future of Sweden</p><p>Argumentaion on the basis of various types of sources</p>