Allanblackia is a genus of trees that grows in the rainforests of West, Central and Eastern Africa. Its big fruits contain seeds very rich in oil which has been used by local communities for cooking and making soaps. The native stands are threatened by overexploitation and the demand for the oil is much greater than the supply. Domestication programs, aiming at introducing the trees to small holder agroforestry systems, have been started for some of the species. The main aim of this study was to investigate the soil requirements of Allanblackia stuhlmannii in terms of chemical and physical parameters, as revealed by the soil conditions in native stands. Another aim was to see if these varied along an altitudinal transect.

The goal of the society to increase the proportion of renewable energy has led to an increased demand of bioenergy e.g. forest biomass. However, there are concerns that removal of biomass will lead to decreased base cation concentrations in the soils and acidification of streams. In order to find in which types of landscape removal of branches and tops could have such negative effects, this study aims to analyse the relations between pH-sensitivity and landscape variables in the Bothnia Bay water district. GIS and digital geographical data were used to analyse the landscape in subcatchments.

The aim of this project was to improve taste of a liquid food product, comprising extremelybitter and unpalatable amino acids and one unrevealed ingredient. The amino acids were Lleucine,L-isoleucine, L-valine, L-threonine and L-lysine monohydrochloride. Experimentaldesign was set up as a screening of water solutions comprising these ingredients (called BCAAsolutions) and added ingredients with potential to improve flavour. BCAA solution withingredients that were potential bitterness suppressors were evaluated in flavour, bitternessand/or palatability. Solutions of separate amino acids were also studied.

One of the most serious and economically important defects caused by clostridia in milk products is the late blowing of semi-hard cheeses.Clostridia occur naturally in soil and can contaminate milk through crops contaminated by dung and soil followed by a less successful silage process, that give them opportunity to grow unaerobically. When anaerobic conditions occur, such as storage of semi-hard cheese, they ferment lactic acid to butyric acid and the gases CO2 and H2.At the fusion of Arla and MD Foods, a series of changes were conducted on the MPN method for lactic acid fermentation for clostridia in milk. These changes resulted in an increased accuracy due to an increased number of test tubes and the change of media from MRCM to BBB, Bryant & Burkey Broth, that was thought to be more selective for Cl. tyrobutyricum, the organism mostly found in hard cheese. When the number of dairy farmers that were given quality reduction fines increased, the new method was suspected and a validation was conducted.The validation included inoculation of different clostridia and bacillus strains into BBB substrate and enzymatic testing of positive samples with Rapid ID 32A.

Ten colic horses and seven healthy horses were included in a prospective study aiming to evaluate acid-base disturbances in colic horses. Traditional acid-base methods and measurements of lactate were used to study prognosis and changes before, during and after surgery. Strong ion gap, anion gap and base excess were compared to evaluate their ability to predict lactate. Of the ten colic horses that went through surgery, seven survived, two were euthanised and one died. Significant differences in plasma lactate levels were seen between the group of survivals and non-survivals, p=0,000025. No differences were seen in pH and base excess between the two groups.

Transformation of inorganic mercury (Hg) to methyl mercury (MeHg) is a biotic process that is proposed to be conducted primarily by sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB). The formation of MeHg is of great interest because it is the mercury species that biomagnifies to the greatest extent in the aquatic food webs; about 90 % of all Hg in fish is MeHg. Our understanding of factors involved in the production of MeHg is very important for making a reliable risk assessment. The purposes of this study were to investigate the different factors that control the solubility of Hg and the production of MeHg in a contaminated lake sediment. The lake Ala-Lombolo, Kiruna municipality, is well-known to be contaminated by mercury from different sources. Sediment cores were sampled at three different locations (N, SW and SE) in the lake and divided in three different layers; 0-5, 5-10 and 10-15 cm.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of an infusion of hypertonic saline solution (HSS) in combination with an oral waterload on cows suffering from rightsided displacement of the abomasum (RDA). Six dairy cows were treated with 7,2% HSS in a dosis of 5 ml per kg bodyweight. They also received an oral waterload of approximately 15 liters. To monitor changes in fluid-, acid-base- and electrolyte-balance, bloodsamples were collected during the next 24 hours. During this period, the cows also underwent surgery to empty and correct the position of the abomasum.

The decomposition of organic carbon in drained peat soils is a major source of carbon di-oxide in Sweden. A big part of these drained peat soils are used in agriculture and it is a big challenge to slow down their decomposition. It has earlier been thought that less tilling and higher water table levels would decrease the activity of soil microbes and thereby the decomposition, but recent experiments has showed that this has little or no effect. In this bachelor thesis a field experiment was made on drained peat soil with ley, outside Björklinge, Uppsala municipality, Sweden. The experiment was carried out in May 2011. The objective was to develop a method to examine how the net exchange of carbon diox-ide from plant covered peat soil is affected by temperature and photosynthetically active radiation (PAR).

During whole-tree harvesting, there is a risk that the soil will become impoverished of nutrients. To prevent this, nutrients are returned to the harvested site as wood ash. This action also reduces the risk of soil acidification. Nevertheless, the ash does not result in any increase of tree growth if it is added on mineral soils, which is where the measure is most commonly used in Sweden. Due to the lack of growth response, the interest from landowners is small, which is why ash amendment today is not done enough to compensate for the need.

The aims of the silvicultural method natural regeneration of spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) in birch (Betula pendula and pubescens) shelterwoods are to establish a new stand of tree seedl-ings and to protect those from high groundwater levels, frost damages and grass competition during its first life years. The aim of this work has been to (i) describe how shelterwood and stand characteristics influ-ence the results from using natural regeneration of spruce protected by a shelterwood of birch, and to (ii) compare those regeneration results with planting of spruce after soil scarification in clear-cut areas. Totally 17 harvesting sites have been inventoried and 15 of those included natural regenera-tion in birch shelterwoods, and two were subjects to soil scarification and planting of spruce. The sites represented 7-10 year old final cuts and are located in the coastal (eastern) region of the province of Norrbotten in Sweden. In all areas shelterwood and stand characteristics, as well as the number of main crop seedlings and the height of the highest main crop spruce seedling, were estimated and registered in all areas.

During the last ten years the cultivation of maize in Sweden has increased and is expected to grow further. Most of the maize in Sweden becomes silage which is used to feed animals at farms. Maize has in other countries been shown to be a substrate for growth of mould and especially Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp. and Pencillium spp. has been reported.

The key elements of sourdough fermentation are the presence of active lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast. Sourdough fermentation originates from the ancient Egypt. One theory concerning its onset states that a portion of bread dough was set aside to be baked at a later date and started to ferment spontaneously.Sourdough may contain a wide variety of microorganisms, mainly dominated by LAB and yeast. There are over 50 species of LAB that has been identified in various sourdoughs and more than 20 species of yeast. Sourdough fermentation has been shown to have various impacts on baked cereal good, most of which are attributed to LAB.This study addresses some effects of LAB from fermented milk products in sourdough and sourdough bread.

The key elements of sourdough fermentation are the presence of active lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast. Sourdough fermentation originates from the ancient Egypt. One theory concerning its onset states that a portion of bread dough was set aside to be baked at a later date and started to ferment spontaneously.Sourdough may contain a wide variety of microorganisms, mainly dominated by LAB and yeast. There are over 50 species of LAB that has been identified in various sourdoughs and more than 20 species of yeast. Sourdough fermentation has been shown to have various impacts on baked cereal good, most of which are attributed to LAB.This study addresses some effects of LAB from fermented milk products in sourdough and sourdough bread.

The key elements of sourdough fermentation are the presence of active lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast. Sourdough fermentation originates from the ancient Egypt. One theory concerning its onset states that a portion of bread dough was set aside to be baked at a later date and started to ferment spontaneously.Sourdough may contain a wide variety of microorganisms, mainly dominated by LAB and yeast. There are over 50 species of LAB that has been identified in various sourdoughs and more than 20 species of yeast. Sourdough fermentation has been shown to have various impacts on baked cereal good, most of which are attributed to LAB.This study addresses some effects of LAB from fermented milk products in sourdough and sourdough bread.

The key elements of sourdough fermentation are the presence of active lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and yeast. Sourdough fermentation originates from the ancient Egypt. One theory concerning its onset states that a portion of bread dough was set aside to be baked at a later date and started to ferment spontaneously.Sourdough may contain a wide variety of microorganisms, mainly dominated by LAB and yeast. There are over 50 species of LAB that has been identified in various sourdoughs and more than 20 species of yeast. Sourdough fermentation has been shown to have various impacts on baked cereal good, most of which are attributed to LAB.This study addresses some effects of LAB from fermented milk products in sourdough and sourdough bread.