To get a good economy on the dairy farms the fertility control of heifers and cows is a crucial factor. It is also important to know which key parameters that should be tracked. In this work well established routines for heat detection have to be applied. When the dairy farmers use technical aid in estrus control it is important not to forget that technical aids can not replace the human eye. Approximately 50 % of all opportunities to inseminate are missed because clear signs of estrus have not been displayed and/or recorded. The cattle fertility has been declining over recent years. During the same time the cow?s proceeds have increased, consequently applying a higher pressure on the cow and the manager.

Investment aid is a part of the Rural Area Programme, which contains support to Swedish agriculture and the countryside. There is a new programme every seventh year and SLU (Swedish University of Agriculture) has the mission to perform the evaluation of the previous programme, which lasted between 2000 -2006. The investment aid's aim is to support investments that, among other things, support the adaptation or conversion to more environmentally friendly production methods, improves the product quality, develops new or complementing activities, and improves the environment and the animal- and working environment. The question is if it's only money that matters for these kinds of investments to be done and what has happened with the money that was paid? This thesis investigates how the investment aid has affected the receivers.

The Swedish Transport Administration manage nearly 4,000 railway bridges in different condition and age around the country. These bridges is in constant need of maintenance and requires continuous inspections. This thesis is designed as a damage investigation on a single-track railway bridge south of Solvarbo in Säter municipality. The railway bridge is in operation and serves over 10,000 trains a year, everything from speed trains to freight trains. The bridge is built as a beam bridge, simply supported over a road.

The aim of this study was to evaluate different types of volume and taper equations that can be used to predict single-tree stem volume and stem diameter at any given height along the tree stem for plantation grown Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr.), Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst) and White spruce (Picea glauca (Mounch) Voss) in Iceland. A number of published tree volume equations were tested and modified to predict the total stem volumes over bark but three logarithmic equations were taken for more in-depth analysis. Three taper equations were tested. Two variable-exponent equations (Kozak 1997, Kozak 2004) and one exponential equation described by Biging (1984). Data from a total of 617 sample trees were used in this study, collected from stands in various parts of the country and present different types of stands growing in different soil types and cover most of the site conditions suitable for forestry in Iceland.

At the end of 2008, Arla concluded agreements with several supermarkets in southern Sweden. The agreement with the supermarkets excluded Ska?nemejerier from the stores. This meant that Ska?nemejerier lost approximately 7% of sales volume.

Bakgrund Många mammor som fött barn prematurt önskar amning som uppfödning för sitt barn för bröstmjölkens immunologiska faktorer och som en kompensation för att graviditeten avslutats för tidigt. Amningens etablering kan vara komplicerad och kräva tålamod när barnet behöver vård. Beroende på barnets känslighet kan det ta olika lång tid tills barnet kan påbörja amningsträning. En av de viktigaste faktorerna för att amningen ska kunna etableras är att mamman får igång en tillräcklig mjölkproduktion motsvarande den mängd ett fullgånget barn skulle kräva. För att få igång en tillräcklig produktion är det bra att komma igång med urmjölkning så fort som möjligt efter barnets födelse.

Today, our cows experience a harder pressure to achieve higher milk yield. To manage this challenge the animal needs first class feeding and treatment. An important aspect of the feeding is to fulfil the need from the cows of especially fiber; and fiber with a sufficient proportion of long particles. Both too much and too little fiber is bad for the wellbeing of the cow, and she might get diseases like acidosis. Many models for feed management have been developed to secure that the animal gets enough of e.g. fiber with a sufficient proportion of long particles.

Bakgrund: En cancerdiagnos är ofta startskottet för en livskris och påverkar många områden i livet så som familj, kroppsbild och sociala relationer. Att få ett cancerbesked kan skapa ett lidande hos kvinnan. Sjuksköterskans fyra huvudområden är att främja hälsa, förebygga sjukdom, återställa hälsa samt lindra lidande. Hälsa är ett centralt begrepp i omvårdnad och människan kan uppleva hälsa även om kroppen uppvisar tecken på sjukdom. Hopp och hälsa ställs ofta i relation till varandra och anses vara ett primärt behov hos människan och att känna hopp kan leda till att situationen känns mer acceptabel.

Pomace is the solid remains (i.e. stems, pulp, seeds, and skins) after pressing for juice. The annual production of apple pomace is 593 000 ton worldwide. Its field of application depends on local conditions. In order to investigate the field of application of apple pomace in the Southern Sweden, six persons on companies with production of apple juice were interviewed.

The purpose with this study was to investigate how the behaviour and physiological parameters differ between high ranked and low ranked cows, and between cows in an automatic milking system verses conventional milking parlour. The study was carried out at the Kungsängen research Centre, Department of animal nutrition an management, Swedish University of Agriculture Sciences, Uppsala. Twelve cows, the six highest and the six lowest in social rank were selected from the automatic milking system for the experiment. Ten cows, the five highest and five lowest in social rank were selected from the conventional system. Blood samples were taken during milking and resting.

BakgrundDiabetes typ 2 är en av de snabbast växande sjukdomarna i både Sverige och resten av världen. Vid diabetes typ 2 utgör egenvård en betydande del av behandlingen och för att klara detta behövs kunskap om sjukdomen. I sjuksköterskeyrket ingår att förse patienter med information och kunskap, bland annat genom patientundervisning. Ett flertal studier beskriver hur information och kunskap uppfattas av patienter och hur det på bästa sätt förmedlas till dem. Däremot saknas ett instrument som mäter patienternas befintliga kunskap om sjukdomen och hur de värderar information.SyfteSyftet med arbetet är att undersöka hur informations- och kunskapsbehovet vid diabetes typ 2 varierar utifrån kön, HbA1c, ålder, utbildning och duration samt identifiera de frågor där informations- och kunskapsbehovet är störst respektive lägst.MetodArbetet grundas på en kvantitativ enkät utformad efter The Toronto Informational Needs Questionnaire-Breast Cancer och är analyserat utifrån data från 86 patienter.  Frågor ur denna enkät har behandlats i dataprogrammet Statistical Package for the Social Sciences och presenteras som deskriptiv statistik.

Earlier attempts at mechanising pre-commercial thinning have been met with varying degrees of success. Most attempts have been based on techniques where residual stems are straddled. Early treatment is essential to limit damage on residual trees. One part of the present study is an evaluation of mechanised pre-commercial thinning using the new Vimek 404R. Vimek 404R is a fairly small machine that permits selective removal of stems, making it potentially suitable also for areas overdue for pre-commercial thinning. The study established the level of performance for the machine, as well as the improvement needed to make it an economically viable option.

ABSTRACT For hundreds of years there has been a tradition with tethered dairy cows in Sweden. The last decades the old fashioned way to hold cows have been questioned and the number of dairy cows in loose housing has been increasing. Last year (2004) 19 percent in total of all farms with milk production in Sweden had their cows in loose housing. Because of EU-legislation concerning all organic production no farms are allowed to build tie stalls any more and after 2010 all organic dairy cows are supposed to live in loose-housing systems. The aim of the thesis was mainly to find out the number of farms with tethered organic dairy cows and if they will continue after the year 2010. Furthermore the purpose was to study if there are any regional differences, how countries similar to Sweden interpret the EU-decision about tethered cows and differences in buildings between organic and conventional farms and the reasons to them.

In order to optimize calf welfare and health it is important to know the behavior of cattle in free ranging conditions. When the cow is about to give birth to a calf she will leave the heard about 12 hours before. It is then rather obvious that isolating the cow about calving time in a single pen is imitating the cows? natural behavior. To save space and minimize building cost it?s common that the farmers build calving pens for four of five cows especially at larger farms.

Bakgrund: Bröstcancer är den vanligaste cancerformen bland kvinnor och i Sverige diagnostiseras cirka 7000 nya fall per år. Behandlingsstrategierna vid bröstcancer är i första hand kirurgi följd av eventuell strålbehandling och läkemedelsbehandling. Efter genomförd mastektomi erbjuds alla svenska kvinnor plastikkirurgisk rekonstruktion. Rekonstruktion är frivilligt men många kvinnor väljer att rekonstruera för att känna sig mer kvinnliga, mer självsäkra i sin kropp och sin sexualitet och som en ?hel? människa igen.