Avhandlingens övergripande syfte kan sägas vara att finna vägar och medel att effektivisera distributionen av livsmedelsprodukter i ett marknadssystem. Avhandlingen utnyttjas empiriska observationer i form av minifall som återspeglar olika

kritiska händelser avseende distributions och inköp av livsmedel. Detta används för en brett anlagd teoretisk analys med normativa slutsatser.

In this study I delve into the strategic certainty and theoretical quandary that characterize both the practice and the assessment of “women’s language.” My contention is that “women’s language” is a composite of hypothetical speculations, political intentions, interpretive practices, and ethical convictions. Consequently, the validity of “women’s language” is dependent on an economy of belief and consensus rather than on fixed linguistic features or absolute stylistic distinctions. Proceeding from this premise, I draw attention to what might be called the compositional legibility of “women’s language.”

To illustrate this point, I examine the critical assumptions and textual initiatives of three feminist poets: Adrienne Rich, Susan Griffin, and Beverly Dahlen. Taken together they cover a wide range of aesthetic departures and travel various textual routes. All three persistently focus on the codes and structures of language from a feminist perspective. What they have in common is a desire to revitalize language and thus invoke new positions for female identity. Although their discursive strategies overlap and intertwine, I accent documentation, dramatization, and invention as the characteristic writing modes of Rich’s, Griffin’s, and Dahlen’s work respectively. These distinctions are relevant when considering the means by which Rich, Griffin, and Dahlen conceive woman as a subject of changing significance and they are beneficial when examining the degree to which change is actualized in their language revisions. The differences between their writing strategies signal important variance within feminist thinking. Thus, in the final section of my study, I attempt to relate the diverse modes of “women’s language” to the contingencies of conscious and unconscious factors which elicit change.

In this study I delve into the strategic certainty and theoretical quandary that characterize both the practice and the assessment of “women’s language.” My contention is that “women’s language” is a composite of hypothetical speculations, political intentions, interpretive practices, and ethical convictions. Consequently, the validity of “women’s language” is dependent on an economy of belief and consensus rather than on fixed linguistic features or absolute stylistic distinctions. Proceeding from this premise, I draw attention to what might be called the compositional legibility of “women’s language.”

To illustrate this point, I examine the critical assumptions and textual initiatives of three feminist poets: Adrienne Rich, Susan Griffin, and Beverly Dahlen. Taken together they cover a wide range of aesthetic departures and travel various textual routes. All three persistently focus on the codes and structures of language from a feminist perspective. What they have in common is a desire to revitalize language and thus invoke new positions for female identity. Although their discursive strategies overlap and intertwine, I accent documentation, dramatization, and invention as the characteristic writing modes of Rich’s, Griffin’s, and Dahlen’s work respectively. These distinctions are relevant when considering the means by which Rich, Griffin, and Dahlen conceive woman as a subject of changing significance and they are beneficial when examining the degree to which change is actualized in their language revisions. The differences between their writing strategies signal important variances within feminist thinking. Thus, in the final section of my study, I attempt to relate the diverse modes of “women’s language” to the contingencies of conscious and unconscious factors which elicit change.

Upon core ionization of a free molecule or a molecule adsorbed on a metal surface, higher binding energy satellites are observed, so called "shake-up" satellites, which can be viewed as valence excitations simultaneously to the creation of the core hole. In this thesis, theoretical studies of such core level XPS satellites in transition metal systems are presented, as well as cluster calculations of XES spectra, using the quantum mechanical INDO method. The main motivation of these studies is to get a more detailed understanding of the bonding between the adsorbed molecules and the metal and the screening process accompanying the creation of the core hole. This interest is motivated by fundamental questions about the adsorbate-substrate interaction as well as technical applications, such as catalysis.

It has been found that many aspects of extended adsorbate systems, where CO is coordinated to metal atoms, can be modelled by transition metal carbonyls such as Mo(CO)6, Cr(CO)6 and Ni(CO)4. The bonding between the core ionized CO group and the transition metal, consists of an interaction between, on the one hand, the sigma lone pair of the ligand and, on the other hand, the metal d-orbitals and the CO antibonding pi-star orbital of the CO-group, i.e. a sigma donation from the ligand and pi donation from the metal. It is the changes in this bonding which are responsible for the dominant features of the shake-up spectra in the studied model molecules. The main conclusion of the three abovementioned case studies is that new excitations involving charge transfer from the metal to the ionized ligand occur with significant probability in the metal carbonyls, in addition to the internal excitations present also in free CO.

In extending the model towards larger systems, calculations of CO/Ni(100), N2//Ni(100), CO/Cu(100) and benzene/Cu(100) were undertaken, where the metal surface was modelled by clusters of 1-12 metal atoms. Many of the features from the metal carbonyls are found also in these systems. The most important added feature is the presence of high-intensity metal-metal excitations, which mainly affect the shape of the main line.

Ground state cluster calculations were performed to explain the XES spectra of CO adsorbed on Ni(100) and Cu(100) surfaces. It was found that the calculations reproduce the important characteristics of the experimental spectra, and were used as a support for the assignments of the involved states.

The basis of mixing ventilation is the airflow supply to the room by means of jets initiatedfrom the ventilation diffusers. To avoid the draught problem, the design of mixing ventilationmakes uses the throw term, which is defined as the distance to the supply air terminal inwhich the jet centreline mean velocity is decreased to a given value. Traditionally, the throw ismeasured by the supply air device manufacturer. The throw is applied by designers to estimatethe velocity levels in the occupied zone. A standard for determining the throw is the CENstandard CEN/TC156/WG4 N86 "Draft Standard. Air terminal Devices. AerodynamicsTesting And Rating For Mixed Flow Application".The measurement of the throw is very time consuming even with the free jets and theinfluence of the room (the effect of confinement) is not considered. The objective of thepresent study is to give a basis for modifying the existing design and testing method used topredict the velocities in the occupied zone during the design process. A new method whichmay probably be more easier than the existing methods and at the same time give a betterprecision by including the confinement effect.In this thesis two methodological systems of experiment and numerical simulations have beenused. The numerical predictions are used in comparison with the measurements. Thereasonable agreement of the above mentioned methods is implemented to numerical study ofthe other room configurations which are not experimentally studied. This examining methodallows the possibility of studying a lot of configurations and in this manner generalising of theresults. Although the experimental part was made for both model-scale and full-scale testrooms, a large amount of data was obtained for a new test room whose dimension aresystematically varied. All of studies have been made for the isothermal case and themeasurements of velocities and pressures conducted along the room perimeters. The effect ofshort and deep rooms on the properties of the jet ( velocities, pressure, integral scale, jetmomentum, the rate of spreading of jet and turbulence intensities) have been carried out.Some old and recent investigations have been examined. Specially the concept of correlationsfrom open to closed rooms is criticised. It is also shown that the flow field in a confined roomis affected by many other factors than the Reynolds number. The surface pressure on theperimeters was used to calculate the reaction forces at the corners which causes recirculatingbubbles at corners. A study of the turbulent axisymmetric jet which is the basic element inturbulent shear flows and some restrictions of the traditional measurement techniques at theregion of interest in ventilation applications are discussed. The jet momentum is measured byweighing on a balance. Also a study of jets which collide with a wall , that is impinging jet,the effect of walls and confinement on the jet momentum have experimentally andnumerically been carried out. A new momentum balance model was developed for both thefree jet and confined one. An empirical relation has been found for estimation of the room’srotation centre which is used for validation of CFD results.Finally, it is found that the jets in a ventilated room which are a combination of free jet, walljet and impinging jet differ from the traditional wall jets. The rate of spreading of the jet andthe maximum velocity decay in a ventilated room are also different depending on the roomsize and its confinement.

Research itself -  on television and the young -  is the object of this research. From a humanistic viewpoint, relational and interactional concepts are critically scrutinized: how have eg 'identification' and 'para-social interaction' been defined and used by (psycho-analytically influenced) mass communication researchers in sociology, psychology and pedagogy in order to allegedly 'explain' the 'effects' of television on the identity, personality or behavior of young viewers? These definitions and uses are found lacking in many respects, and the views of insightful film theoreticians are recommended instead. Terms such as 'viscarious experiences/satisfaction', 'escapism', and 'mirror/ing' are also examined and rejected.

Crucial deficiencies in mass media studies is firstly the lack of a theory that would be able to explain how viewers with the assistance of TV construct their identities and, secondly, the absence of an aesthetic theory which could explain why TV viewers presumedly would become more influence by what they know does not exist (fiction) than by what they know to be facts. Symbolic Interactionism and Aesthetic Philosophy (the 'thought-theory of imagination') are here used to illuminate these issues. G H Mead's theory of self development and the importance of play and games in self-formation is applied to children's television viewing and M Csfkszentmihályi's concept 'flow' to adults' absorbed TV-relations. Both for school age children and adults, watching television is treated as a form of complex perspective-taking and muted dialogue or inner conversation with imaginal Others. TV viewing is thus considered a form of true and fully social 'two-way' communication oscillating, however, between 'participation through the thinking and feeling I' and 'observation through the reflecting and empathizing self'.

The concept of 'role-taking' is finally tested for methodological utility on preschoolers' (videotaped) reception of a six-minute-episode of a TV series for children. These children are clearly found not to be captured by or engulfed in any 'identification' with the main protagonist/s, but instead alternate between the different perspectives of the characters, interspersed with their own reflective perspective and that of their friends' - judging by their smiles, laughter, looks, comments. Consequences of this for their imagination and moral thinking is also discussed.

This thesis is a comprehensive examination of cross dressing among men and providesdescriptive information, a review of the literature and some new research data. The theoreticalpart presents a multidimensional model for the analysis of transvestism. Various theoreticalapproaches are analyzed and a self theory based on a cognitive and transpersonal psychologyperspective is successfully elaborated. Transvestism is viewed as a multidetermined phenomena. One important argument in the model is that transvestism can be seen as an expression of a second self or a feminine self. The feminine self is conceptualized as a subsystem of the self.

The empirical section of the thesis contains three different studies. The main part focuseson a qualitative in-depth analysis of a group of twelve transvestites from a cross dressing clubin Sweden, This group of transvestites is also compared with a small group of marginaltransvestites and male-to-female transsexuals. The empirical results give a detailed picture ofthe experiential world of the transvestite and the cognitive and affective changes associatedwith cross dressing. The results confirm previous findings that male transvestism can be seenas an expression of a second self or a feminine self and that cross dressing follows a dynamicpattern from an early "fetishistic stage" to a later "gender identity stage".

The second part of the empirical study contains a comparison between treated and untreated male cross-dressers. This comparison was based on an interview study with 92 male members of a cross dressing club in Sweden. Multiple comparisons showed many similarities between the two groups. However, those in the treated group were more often unmarried or divorced, had experienced more difficulties functioning in the male gender role and also seemed to have a more intense identification with the feminine self.

The third part of the empirical section reviews the findings from a study of 50 wives andlong-term partners of transvestites in Sweden. The results show both positive, neutral andnegative attitudes in various degrees towards cross dressing and both positive and negativefactors in marriage attributed to transvestism.

This dissertation’s objective is twofold: (1) to show how the life lived is reflected in old age (the articles), and (2) to analyze how life-stories are presented and interpreted from the social constructivist perspective (the comprehensive summary).

     Article I is a critical discussion of two biographical methods of data collection: the “freely-told” life-story and the semistructured biographical interview. Article II addresses the thesis’ first aim. This article presents the data gathered through the qualitative biographical interviews conducted with elderly Finns, which resulted in a typology of six ways of life: The bitter life and Life as a trapping pit, which end up in a problematic old age; Life as a hurdle race, The devoted silenced life, Life as a job career and  The sweet life, which describe different strategies for successful ageing. Article III is a study of Life as a hurdle race, where successful ageing is reached, despite previous difficulties in life. Article IV explains the paradox of the absent body in social gerontology, in light of the dualism of the Platonic-Christian tradition between body and soul.

     The comprehensive summary consists of critical methodological reflections on the conducted research. This summary acknowledges how the conclusions, reached at through analytic induction, where influenced by gerontology’s two myths (misery vs. success). The summary also treats the Renaissance of biographical social research, and the conducted research in relation to the theoretical debate on “the realist perspective” vs. “the story-focused, constructivist perspective.” From the latter perspective it is shown how emplotment shapes the life-story. Finally the summary addresses the generalizability and credibility of my results; results which by virtue of the life history perspective open up for a new qualitative understanding of ageing.

Erwinia herbicola is an epiphyte of apple and pear with potential as a biocontrol agent of Erwinia amylovora, which causes fire blight. This research aimed to assess the relative role of antibiotics produced by E. herbicola, Eh318 as a mechanistic basis for biocontrol. A genomic library of Eh318 DNA was constructed in Escherichia coli and two distinct cosmids, pCPP702 and pCPP704, were identified that conferred upon E. coli the ability to produce two antibiotics inhibitory to E. amylovora. The antibiotics were distinct based on their spectra of activity, differential susceptibility to the presence of histidine and arginine and antibiotic production by marker-exchange mutants of Eh318. Transposon mutagenesis and subcloning were used to delineate the Eh318 DNA that enabled E. coli to produce the two antibiotics. The smallest clone that conferred antibacterial activity was pCPP717. Its antibiotic was named pantocin A. The Eh318 insert DNA of pCPP717 revealed three predicted genes, paaA, paaB and paaC, in a 2.7 kb region. The predicted paaA gene product is similar in sequence to a group of biosynthetic enzymes that possess a dinucleotide binding motif. PaaC was judged to encode a membrane protein. The second antibiotic was named pantocin B. Its synthesis is conferred on E. coli by DNA harbored in clone pCPP719. Between 19 kb and 20 kb of Eh318 DNA is needed for the production of pantocin B. Direct Tn5- and marker-exchange mutants of Eh318, deficient in pantocin A and/or pantocin B, were created. The mutant strains were tested for biocontrol ability in immature pear fruit in the laboratory and in apple blossoms in a controlled environment chamber. Results from both assays revealed that the marker-exchange mutant deficient in both antibiotics (Eh440) protected against fire blight less well than Eh318. The single marker-exchange mutants, Eh421 (deficient in pantocin A) and Eh439 (deficient in pantocin B), were not significantly impaired in biocontrol ability, whereas three directly induced Tn5-mutants, Eh454, Eh464 and Eh468, were less effective than Eh318. Thus, pantocins contribute to but are not solely responsible for the biological control of fire blight by E. herbicola Eh318.

This study deals with the popular theatre performance of Hira Gasy, and its actors and audiences in the central highland regions of Imerina and northern Betsileo in Madagascar. The Hira Gasy has developed from a court to a rural performance during the last two centuries, a period influenced by first the British and then by the French presence in the country. Today, the performances are given in diverse contexts, the most common being in connection with reburial ceremonies. The Hira Gasy troupes all have a common form of their performance, with speeches, songs, acrobatics, dance and music, while the content is unique for each troupe, although given in a culturally recognized form.

The study is based on 19 month of fieldwork divided into five periods between 1991 and 1996. The main argument is that the Hira Gasy performances provide a forum in which the problems of identification and belonging are discussed. The 'foreigner'is used as a 'mirror image' for the rural and the poor in their aims to assert and shape their sense of belonging in a changing society. The symbols of identification - the ancestral land, the common tomb and the family solidarity - are felt to be threatened by increasing individualization and the decrease in the fulfillment of the ancestral duties. For the rural poor their feelings of marginality and powerlessness in relation to the economically and politically powerful urban elite are expressed in Hira Gasy. Through the practice of custom they sustain their moral dignity, which is one of the most important means in order to remain malagasy. The Hira Gasy performance are indigenious arenas for existential and moral discussions, and for providing a sense of belonging in a problematic reality shaped by both the 'way of the ancestors' and the 'way of the foreigner'.

Söderlund, M. 1998: "En mänsklig atmosfär". Trygghet, samhörighet och gemenskap. God vård ur ett patientperspektiv. ("In the atmosphere of humanity". Security, solidarity and mutual understanding. The concept of good care from the patients’ perspective).

Written in Swedish with an English summary. Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis. Uppsala Studies in Education 210 pp. Uppsala. ISBN 91-554-4310-9

The dissertation is a qualitative study which is based on the patients’ experience of caring. The aim of the research is to obtain a hermeneutical understanding of the meaning of Man’s existential world of being a patient. In order to attain the aim, the author uses a model for existential interpretation.

The existential perspective on caring is total with respect to the view of how human beings, wherever they might be, are influenced and changed by some educational process. The author’s opinion is that the patients’ perceptions of care depend on the unique educational process which is present in every culture and which influences people in each and every aspect of life. It makes caring a cultural matter and it calls attention to the processes of socialization and learning which traditionally would remain hidden or invisible.

The need to study experiences of caring in context was demonstrated using the method of triangulation in purposeful sampling. To be able to reach a deeper understanding of the concept of caring, interpretation using the hermeneutical dialectic process is necessary.

The author has interpreted different types of texts and, in doing so, she has reached a deeper understanding of the patients’ existential world as being a conflicting process of dehumanization or humanization. Dehumanization is experienced when the caring process is characterized by patients’ struggle against caregivers to overcome their suffering and humiliation. In the process of humanization the confirming dialogue is the essential mode of caring communication as a learning process. The opposite is when the caregivers fight with them, not for them, in the struggle with the aim to protect the patients’ humanity. In the process of dehumanization the anti-dialogue is conspicuous.

The dissertation concludes with a reflection on the freedom of praxis in relation to caring.

The efficiency of room ventilation by the displacement principle was studied with respect to some influential factors, in particular that of physical activity. The study was experimental and performed in two full-scale test rooms, one of office-size and one of classroom-size. Physical (mainly walking) activity was executed in these rooms by person simulators and by humans. The ventilation efficiency was quantified by tracer gas measurements.

In the performed tests, the activity of a walking person generally proved detrimental to the ventilation efficiency. Particularly the air quality in the occupied zone was impaired, due to down-wash of air in the wake behind the moving person, causing transportation of relatively old and contaminated air from the upper part of the room down to lower levels. It appeared, however, that it takes a rather high level of physical activity to completely abolish the displacement effect. Especially the air quality in the breathing zone of non-moving occupants tended to remain significantly better than at perfect-mixing conditions. Completely mixed room air occurred nevertheless when the activity was intense, but the displacement flow pattern was re-established fairly quickly after ceasing of the activity.

The contaminant distribution showed substantial horizontal variations in the "classroom". A contaminant released in the occupied zone was effectively extracted from the room when the source was situated on the same side of the room as the extract terminal(s), whereas, when situated on the opposite side, the contaminant accumulated in the upper part of the room. It was further shown that the air supplied from displacement diffusers tends to reach all occupants fairly quickly, also in relatively large and densely populated rooms such as classrooms.

The temperature stratification of the room air, and free-convection currents along the walls are crucial for the appearing air flow pattern and contaminant distribution. Transfer and accumulation of heat in materials tend further to make the thermal conditions indoors more or less transient at all times. This entails, it was shown, that also the ventilation efficiency is time dependent. In tests where people suddenly entered the "classroom", the ventilation efficiency improved with time. This generally caused the highest contaminant exposures to occur at the beginning of the stay in the room.

Tests with two different ceiling heights showed lower ventilation efficiency with the higher ceiling, involving a higher contaminant exposure of the occupants. The reason for this appears to be enhanced down-flow along the walls, caused by a higher section of relatively low surface temperature, and possibly by the appearance of merging plumes, enhancing the vertical recirculation process.

A wall temperature deviating from that of the indoor air impaired the ventilation efficiency, whereas an increase in ventilation rate improved it. In all test cases in this study, however, the air quality in the breathing zone of seated occupants remained significantly better than that at perfect-mixing conditions – a sports-activity test being the only exception.

The main purpose of my thesis is to study Swedish public service television's relation to the audience in the light of three historical phases: The monopolistic system with one channel, the two-channel system with internal competition and the multi channel system with external competition. One starting-point is the notion that it is primarily this series of changes that has determined the external framework for public service televisions relation to the audience. Another is that this relation is expressed at different but connected levels. First, through the TV institution's discursive conceptions of the audience, and second, through programming, which establishes in various ways, concrete contact with the viewers. The audience is addressed indirectly via the overall programming, such that, e.g., the distribution and placement of programs imply intentions in relation to the audience. Looking at smaller elements, we see direct address, e.g., when the TV announcer or news anchor meets the viewer's gaze. The basic assumption is that the question of modes of address, as well as the underlying conceptions of the audience, is not only relevant when studying the history of public service television, but also when trying to understand its current situation and possibilities. At the same time, the historical conceptions and modes of address play an important role in how public service television today tries to realize its mission.

The theoretical framework includes discussion of the concept of public service as a set of discursive images of the audience, and of TV as text, using concepts such as flow, segment and mode of address. From this framework, an analysis schema, combining different methods, was constructed and applicated to each of the three case studies: First, document analysis, in which views of the audience are read from political and internal documents dealing with programming policy. Second, the overall programming and implicit level of expression, and third, the programming´s explicit level of expression: Different types of narrators and social spaces in program transitions, entertainment, news and mixed programs.

In the monopolistic system of the 1960's, there was a parallel between the programming and the official formulated public service ideals, based on paternalistic maxims, while at the same time representing strong ambitions for democratization and justice. In the case study of the 1970's, we see again this parallel, in the system that was created to increase the audience freedom of choice, but also had an educational element to cultivate a more selective and serious audience. However, the period also saw a breakthrough for mixed programs, based on social interaction. In the 1990's system, one important aspect of the official policies is that it takes exception to ideals that connote paternalism and elitism and the Swedish hybrid channel TV4 plays a key role for the conception of public service. While TV4 has made it difficult to draw a definitive boundary between commercial and public service TV4, SVT and TV4 are mainly marked by differences both on the overall level of programming and on the level of direct address. SVT addresses the audience more as a public and as selective viewers e.g. via a significant proportion of factual programs and its systematic built-in reminders of program choice. TV4 addresses the audience more as a TV audience, e.g. via its high proportion of fiction and entertainment. The viewer's position is more that of the non-selective viewer who, via a downplayed feeling of choice and the dream techniques of advertising aesthetics, flows along the channel's programs and attractions.

It is often said, among practicians and theorists, that doing business is about taking risks. This thesis is focused on the relationship between doing business, and thereby earning a return, and the inherent risk taking. A profitability risk perspective of the firm is taken, for which an appropriate theory and an accounting-based research methodology is developed.

The empirical part of the thesis deals with the financial performance of Swedish industrial firms. In particular, it is focused on profitability and its stability over time. Several hypotheses concerning risk and return are specified and then tested in a large quantitative study involving 123 industrial firms investigated over the period 1982-96. According to economic theory, there is a positive relationship between risk and return. Thus when controlling for risk no firm can achieve an abnormally high return in the long run. The empirical results stand in contrast with several of the stated hypotheses.

The main conclusion from the empirical study is that firms earning a high return also earn a more stable return over time, whereas firms earning a low return have a more volatile return over time. If stability in return is a valid measure of risk, then the results are in conflict with economic theory. Others have labelled similar findings a "risk-return paradox".

Several other associations between financial variables have been investigated. Some of the results confirm hypotheses concerning risk, others do not. It seems as if the volatility in profitability is mostly explained by operating risk, and then particularly the volatility in sales. But it is shown that the sensitivity to sales volatility also has an important role in explaining operating risk. Furthermore, components of operating and financial risk are related to each other, indicating that management has some ability to influence the level of risk.

To explain a negative association between risk and return, the author returns to the distinction between risk and uncertainty. It is argued that product markets are not as efficient as, e.g., financial markets. The conditions underlying a positive risk-return relationship are not fulfilled. Other explanations of the paradox could be misspecifications of risk, or non-linear risk-return relationships. Without efficient markets, there can never be a positive risk-return relationship and it is questionable whether the efficiency of product markets will ever be adequate for a positive risk-return relationship to be achieved.

This dissertation focuses on Swedish films from 1967 and 1972; an epoch that is marked by a critical view on society. My purpose is to examine how the social criticism was manifested and communicated to the contemporary audience. The theoretical frameworks and discussions that have come up from the study of documentary films - above all from the studies of Bill Nichols - have proved to stress matters that are characteristic of the films. Therefore I make use of these, even though I focus on fiction films.

In the first chapter there is a survey of the influences from earlier debates and earlier film production as well as an examination of how the film companies reacted to the debate's demand for a social committed film. Furthermore, I speculate in why the socially committed fiction films suddenly disappeared from the cinema theatres.

The second chapter deals with the melodramatic structure in the films. I argue that the Swedish society functions as the perpetrator of the films and that the dichotomy between perpetrator and victim is a matter of class.

In the third chapter I further examine the argumentative structures; how they stand out in the over all fictive discourse of the films. I use Aristotle's demonstrative proof along with Edward Branigan's narrative scheme in order to show how the rhetoric functions.

The fourth chapter, finally, focuses on the way the films strive to realise indexical bounds to reality by means of the camera's supposed ability to represent without interfering. The signs that Charles Saunders Peirce calls indexical that are at work are to be understood as historically predicted. The reason why they are used is not that they offer a more "true" representation per se but that they correspond to a contemporary idea of an accurate representation.

This thesis deals with patients in a rural area of southern Africa and poses these basic questions: What does it mean to be ill in this part of the world and what do patients' life-worlds look like? In order to find answers to these questions, an in-depth fieldwork was carried out through which I was able to study how patients reacted to illness. I followed twenty patients in their search of ease, of which ten were members of Chief Mataga's family, with whom I was staying. Each patient, some relative(s) and the traditional healer(s) and faith healer(s) consulted constituted a "multi-episodical" case. In addition, a questionnaire was applied in order to collect supplementary information. A further area of research was the various factors which negatively and positively influenced the lives of people in the area. I examined those factors from both the insider and an outsider perspective and concluded that the phenomenon of illness and healing need to be regarded holistically and that it is of crucial importance to acknowledge patients' own ideas concerning those issues.

Due to its relatively high total energy efficiency, the application of cogeneration, i.e. simultaneous exploitation of power and heat from the energy transformation process, is receiving increased attention. In many countries cogeneration is today an essential element in the energy supply system. In order to improve the operation of such systems, it is necessary to have detailed and reliable optimization models and methods available. The same is also desirable for pure heating systems, and for pure power systems. However, finding the optimal plan for production of heat and power, possibly also taking into account the optimal use of storage devices, is a difficult optimization problem.

Finding the optimal production schedule for the near future is known as the short-term planning problem or the unit commitment and economic dispatch problem. Typically a time horizon of up to one week, partitioned into one-hour time intervals, is considered. The problem may be characterized as a nonlinear mixed integer optimization problem, often large scale. In line with the development of optimization tools, a large number of optimization methods have been applied to obtain the solution. In recent years, methods based on Lagrangian relaxation have become the dominant ones, motivated by the separable structure of the problem.

The present thesis deals with mathematical models and Lagrangian relaxation based algorithms for short-term planning of cogeneration and power systems. Both deterministic and stochastic models are discussed. Using Lagrangian multipliers, Lagrangian relaxation is applied to the problem by either relaxing all unit-coupling constraints or all time-coupling constraints, which will decompose the (relaxed) problem into independent subproblems. This will also generate a corresponding dual problem. make the algorithms successful, it is necessary to have reliable methods for the solution of the dual problem and for the independent subproblems. The aim with the thesis is to present ideas and theories that may be exploited in such algorithms to make them more efficient.

GPS as a height measuring tool has been widely introduced for solving various tasks within the fields of Geodesy and Engineering Surveying. The obvious advantage of not needing lines of sight when acquiring height differences is, however, darkened by the fact that GPS and traditional spirit levelling have fundamentally different reference systems for heights. To handle the main task, i.e. to replace spirit levelling with GPS levelling, or other important tasks, like, for instance, detection of vertical crustal movements or geoid slope and undulation contribution for creating geoid models, knowledge about the two reference systems, and how to combine them, is required.

In this thesis a practical experiment concerning GPS as a height measuring tool is described. The experiment, whos aim is to develop and evaluate a geometric geoid model, has been carried out in an area of approximately 100x300 km situated in central Sweden, were GPS measurements (with average baseline length of 13 km) have been conducted at well established benchmarks with known orthometric heights.

In order to gain experience, valuable for the experiment, GPS measurements were carried out on one and the same line (referred to as base measurements) during different circumstances, i.e. day, night, summer, winter etc., during the course of a year. The findings lead to strategies which were applied in the field work as well as in the post processing procedures of field collected data.

Different gravimetric geoid models have been evaluated on a regional bases utilising the Swedish GPS reference network SWEPOS and locally, in the research area, utilising the results from the GPS levelling.

To find out if a geometric geoid model, based on the GPS measurements, would be a better height corrector surface for the research area than the gravimetric geoid models, such a model has been computed with geostatistical methods, i.e. universal kriging. The model has been experimentally evaluated utilising a Swedish GPS campaign called RIX95. It was found, when the geometric geoid model is used, that the absolute accuracy of GPS levelling is ±14 mm and the relative accuracy ±10 mm (on a 10 km long baseline). It is concludet that the geometric geoid model is the best height corrector surface for the research area among the studied models.

This thesis analyze local institutions and management practices related to natural resources and ecosystem dynamics, with an emphasis on "traditional ecological knowledge" systems. Papers I, II and III analyze ‘resource and habitat taboos’ (RHTs) with the objective to synthesize knowledge about informal institutions behind resource management. Papers IV and V focus on resource management practices and social mechanisms with a capacity to confer resilience in ecosystems. Ecological resilience is the buffering capacity of ecosystems to incorporate disturbance and yet continue to provide biodiversity and ecological services critical to societal development. Cases for the synthesis were mainly derived from the literature. Examples of RHTs could be grouped in six different categories depending on their potential management and conservation functions. These included both use-taboos and non-use taboos. The former regulates access to, and methods and withdrawal of subsistence resources. These appear to be closely related to traditional ecological knowledge, as it is defined in this thesis. The latter prohibits human use of species and habitats, and is closely related to religious and cosmological belief systems. As discussed, both groups of taboos can be comparable to ethics of academic conservation biology, although rationales behind such ethics differ. RHTs have effects that may contribute to the conservation of habitats, local subsistence resources, and ‘threatened’, ‘endemic’ and ‘keystone’ species, although some may run contrary to conservation and notions of sustainability. It is asserted that under certain circumstances, RHTs, and possibly other types of informal institutions may offer advantages relative to formal measures of conservation. These benefits include non-costly, voluntary compliance features. Results of papers IV and V revealed that there exists a diversity of traditional practices for ecosystem management. These include multiple species management, resource rotation, ecological monitoring, succession management, landscape patchiness management, and practices of responding to and managing pulses and ecological surprises. Social mechanisms behind these practices included a number of adaptations for the generation, accumulation, and transmission of knowledge; dynamics of institutions; mechanisms for cultural internalization of traditional practices; and the development of appropriate world views and cultural values. These traditional systems had certain similarities to adaptive management with its emphasis on feedback learning, and its treatment of uncertainty and unpredictability to ecosystems. Furthermore, there existed practices that seem to reduce social-ecological crises in the events of large-scale natural disturbance. These included practices that create small-scale ecosystem renewal cycles, practices that spread risks, and practices for nurturing sources of ecosystem renewal. These practices are linked to social mechanisms such as flexible user rights and land tenure. It is concluded that ecological monitoring appears to be a key element in the development of many of the practices. Management practices in local communities are framed by a social context, with informal institutions and other social mechanisms, and supported by a worldview that does not de-couple people from their dependence on natural systems. Since management of ecosystems is associated with uncertainty about their spatial and temporal dynamics and due to incomplete knowledge about such dynamics, these practices may provide useful ‘rules of thumb’ for resource management with an ability to confer resilience and tighten environmental feedbacks of resource exploitation to local levels. To link local institutions in cross-scale polycentric co-management arrangements may be a viable option for improving current resource management systems.

Over the last twenty years, accounting diversity between countries has been an important issue in international accounting research. A driving force has been the growth of multinational companies across borders. The development has created new challenges in consolidating financial statements across borders to a common group accounting report. The actual behaviour at the headquarter levels and in the subsidiaries abroad when consolidating vertically to a group report has not been empirically examined. 

The main research question in the study is if Swedish multinational enterprises make the accounting adjustments that would be necessary to comply with the Swedish accounting standards in their group reports. The vertical adjustments can take place either at the parent company (group level) or at subsidiary levels. The empirical investigations were conducted as three survey investigations of companies on the Stockholm Stock Exchange (1990, 1992 and 1999) and case studies in twelve Swedish groups and their subsidiaries in Denmark, the US, and Brazil (1991-1992). The objective of the empirical study was to investigate how Swedish multinational groups listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange deal with accounting diversity among foreign subsidiaries in the consolidation processes.

The study focused on accounting method choices in the adjustment process from local subsidiary reports to the group accounts as well as the issue in which currency the adjustments were made. The effects of currency translation methods can have a material impact on reported profits. Factors that were related to the frequency of adjustments were: the number of stock exchanges the Swedish groups were listed on, proportion of foreign activity in the group, inflation rate in the subsidiary countries, accounting diversity the group faced, main industry of the group, size of the group and income smoothing behaviour especially on subsidiary levels.

An unexpected result was that some of the groups declared in their annual reports that they had followed actual Swedish accounting standards even if they made accounting method choices that did not comply with Swedish standards.

The aim of the dissertation is to study whole class discussions in the Swedish upper secondary school, concerning issues subjected to controversy in the public debate. The empirical study is related to a wider question: the possibilities for the school to educate democratic citizens.

By using discourse analysis,14 videotaped lessons from social- and religious studies where analysed, with the ambition to investigate recurrent patterns of participation and meaning making. Five teachers and six classes participated in the study.

The analysis shows that the teachers have two concurrent goals: to focus on the students’ contributions on issues in the public debate, and introduce the students to different questions in the public debate. A consequence of these goals is that the role of the teacher often becomes complex. By acting on the basis of having responsibility for the students’ development of knowledge, and sometimes also calling attention to certain values, the teacher attempts to guide the students as not yet ready for the public debate. Features from other kinds of teacher-centred education are thereby present in the discussions. However, students can also act as more autonomous participants in relation to the teacher. When they are not answering the teacher’s questions in an expected way, and in particular, in situations in which they are interacting with each other, the students may discuss the public issues without being teacher-guided to the same extent as in other situations.

The last chapter concludes that the authority of the teacher is partly given by the official steering-documents. It is still possible to ask if the guiding role of the teacher itself could be subjected to discussion. This suggestion is made from the point that teacher authority is considered as more or less limited for developing a critical attitude among the students. One may also ask if the students’ could be offered possibilities to choose the topic for discussion themselves. This latter point is made against the background that classroom-discussion presupposes student’s viewpoints in order to be accomplished.