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.

Subclinical mastitis (SCM) is a well-known problem in the dairy sector, where it causes severe economic losses mainly due to reduced milk production. This is a problem not only in the western world but also in developing countries. Surveys from different developing countries have shown a SCM prevalence of 52.4 ? 88.6 % at cow level and 26.7 ? 63.2 % at quarter-level. To combat mastitis is important to optimize the milk production of the cow.

Proliferative enteropathy is a group of disease conditions in pigs where the disease may vary from subclinical to critical with bloody loose feces. The etiological agent is the obligate intracellular bacteria Lawsonia intracellularis. L. intracellularis infects enterocytes from jejunum to colon. The bacteria is taken into cells and start to replicate and cause a massive proliferation of immature enterocytes.

ABSTRACT: Commercial swab transport systems are used for collection and transporting of fecal and other microbiological samples. This system must maintain viability and contribute to survival of microorganisms during transport to the laboratory. Four swab transport systems have been compared, eSwab, ?- Transwab and fecalSwab, all three with flocked swabs, and Copan Venturi Transystem with rayon swabs. The study followed the recommendations from the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute; document M40-A for recovery of Samonella, Shigella, Yersinia and Neisseria gonorrhoeae after storage for 0, 6, 24, 48 and 72 h at room- (22-25°C) and refrigerated (2-8ºC) temperature.

The Kverneland Ecomat and The Ecomat Seeder has been tested in three different field studies. All the studies were conducted on soils with different clay content during 2005 in Säby outside Uppsala. In one of the trial spring ploughing with the Ecomat and spring ploughing and seeding with Ecomat Seeder were compared with conventional autumn mouldboard ploughing and spring mouldboard ploughing to conventional depth (22-23 cm). In this study the quality of the seedbed, the number of emerged plants and weeds, the pentration resistance and the yield were examined. Shallow spring ploughing (10 cm) with the Kverneland Ecomat has shown to be a good alternative to conventional autumn ploughing when growing spring crops. During the season 2005 tilling with the Ecomat resulted in a higher yield than conventional ploughing. In 2002-2005 the average yield for shallow spring ploughing was 4 percent higher than after conventional autumn mouldboard ploughing and 10 percent higher than after spring mouldboard ploughing to conventional depth (22-23 cm). In the other two studies, ploughing to different depth in the autumn with the Ecomat was compared with conventional mouldboard ploughing and stubble discing.

The purpose of this report is to examine the possibilities to decrease the number of insects and other pathogens in a crop of pak choi (Brassica rapa), grown with different types of cover and living mulches. Included in the report is a study of literature where amongst others, a summary on the vegetable pak choi and theories of living mulches and different kind of covers are to be found. To examine the amount of predators in the field, traps were used. During the autumn 2002 the tests were conducted in Alnarp. The pak choi and the living mulches were planted/sawn at the same time, the different covers were also applied at this time. The total experiment was divided into six different treatments (plus control) of which three were with covers and three were with living mulches. Once a week the number of leaves, the height and damages were read on ten of the plants from each parcel.

Promoters are genetic elements that facilitate the transcription of a gene and they have been found in front of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes in different organ-isms, e.g. the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A similar element, DUSE, has been found in front of ncRNAs in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and a part of this project has been to analyze the function of this putative promoter element through cloning and expression studies. A construct to analyze the func-tion of DUSE was successfully designed and introduced into D. discoideum but full expression studies were not finished because of shortage of time.

Lyckeby Starch AB is a farmer-owned company that produces products based on potato starch. In order to increase their production efficiency and their international competitiveness the company is investigating the possibilities of keeping their factories open longer. To achieve this, potato has to be stored for a longer period of time than what is practiced today. Starch potato is usually stored in large piles covered by straw and plastic, either in the field or on the farmyard. The objective was to examine in what way starch yield (starch content*tuber weight) in three different potato varieties was affected by storage in two different types of storage piles. The potato was stored for three months in total and starch content and tuber weight were controlled throughout the period. Stored tubers were also visually examined and prescense of mechanical damage as well as wet rots and dry rots was recorded. Bacteria and fungi were isolated and identified. In general, varietal differences were greater than differences between the storage piles.

A zoonosis is a disease or infection that is naturally transmitted between vertebrate animals and humans. The majority of infectious diseases that affect humans are zoonoses. Environments where wild animals, domestic animals and humans live in close proximity with no or small boundaries in the ecological system favor the transmission of diseases between animals and humans. The above described situation is more common in low income countries, where humans and animals live in high density and zoonoses are generally more common. The study was conducted in Cambodia.

The genus Campylobacter is globally recognised as the leading bacterial cause of human foodborne gastroenteritis. Every year around 8000 Swedes are infected by Campylobacter. Most people are infected by thermotolerant Campylobacter species, commonly C. jejuni and C. coli.

Sub-lethal doses of neonicotinoids have been shown to negatively impact the health of honeybees. However, most studies to date have exposed bees only artificially to these pesticides under laboratory conditions. There have been just a few well designed and replicated studies of the impacts of realistic neonicotinoid exposure on honeybees foraging under field conditions. In order to close this knowledge gap, and to test the influence of the neonicotinoid clothianidin on honeybees, we used a study system of 16 paired, spatially separated (>4 km) spring oilseed rape fields in the south of Sweden. The fields were paired according to land use, the surrounding landscape and geographical proximity, using GIS.

Oilseed rape is an important crop in Sweden and is grown on about 90000 ha today. The interest in oil seed pro-duction is increasing because of growing demand and high prices for oil seed both in Sweden and Europe. However, an increased intensity in the oil seed production can bring higher risk of yield losses due to fungal diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate what different fungi are associated with oilseed rape under field conditions and if their incidence is correlated to crop establishment problems. This study was carried out in three parts: 1) investigations on fungal community structure in roots and rhizosphere soils from young spring- and winter rape plants sampled in failed respectively good establishment patches in four fields, 2) investigations on the pathogenicity of fungi isolated from oilseed rape in controlled environment and 3) investigations on the effect of different fungicide seed treatments on germination and early plant development in a field soil naturally infested with damping off- and Verticillium wilt pathogens. The studies on community structure using a combined approach of standard fungal isolation techniques and DNA based methods revealed a high fungal diversity in three out of four studied fields of spring rape and winter rape. For some unknown reason, very few fungal species were identified from the fourth field.

Peat litter is a soft material with high absorbency. About hundred years ago many farmers in Sweden used peat litter to their dairy cows. After the World War II the use of peat litter decreased and the farmers used more straw. Nowadays (year 2007), when it is harder to find straw and sawdust to buy, peat litter is advancing again. The purpose with this study is to investigate peat as a litter to dairy cows.

The increased frequency of reported Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus pseudintermedius (MRSP) is of great concern to small animal healthcare due to limited options of antimicrobial therapy. The aim of this literature study is to investigate 1) characteristics and classification of S. pseudintermedius, 2) resistance mechanisms and emergence of MRSP, 3) risk factors for selection of MRSP, and 4) clonal distribution around the world. S. pseudintermedius is a skin and mucosal commensal in healthy dogs and cats, but can cause infections, including pyoderma. Beta-lactam antibiotics inhibit bacterial growth by binding to the penicillin binding protein (PBP), a vital enzyme in the synthesis of the bacterial cell wall.

In studies of serum, in the early 1930s, from patients with pneumonia, a factor was found. It could agglutinate certain pneumococcal species. This factor, which later became known as C-reactive protein (CRP), increased sharply during the early and middle stages of the disease. CRP was identified as an acute phase protein and found especially in bacterial infections. CRP is synthesized in the liver by stimulation of interleukin 6 (IL-6), which is produced by the monocytes, and consists of five non-covalently bound subunits.The aim of this study was to compare two different analytical instruments (Vitros 5.1 FS Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics and QuikRead CRP Orion Diagnostica) for CRP analysis.