This thesis has two aims: The main purpose is to describe and illustrate how a large Ltd. company can use voluntary redundancy as a tool for restructuring. The additional purpose is to challenge the concept of voluntary redundancy trough outlining alternative ways of reaching the intended achievements of the voluntary redundancy programme. The theoretical framework that has been used primarily contains knowledge assets theories. The chosen theories are intellectual capital and knowledge management theory to approach and analyse the empirical findings.

A common perception is that fungicide treatments increases yield, but that the nitrogen of the particular grain is diluted so that the overall removal of grain nitrogen from the field remains unchanged. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that a healthy crop reduces the risk of nutrient loss from agricultural land. The results from genotype and plant protection trials often show constant nitrogen content in the grain, although the yield has been increased. Results from such experiments are therefore processed in order to confirm this and show that it is no statistically significant difference between the protein content (and also nitrogen content) in crops which have undergone fungicide treatment compared to crops which remained untreated. The trials processed have been carried out in the southernmost part of Sweden and are distinguished to concern winter wheat production.The explanation to the results is that a healthy crop is able to maintain the biological functions of the plant in a more efficient way than a crop damaged by a fungal infection.

Diabetes mellitus is characterised by persistent hyperglycemia in all species. Fructosamine is a glycated protein reflecting blood glucose concentration during the preceding weeks. It has become a valuable analysis to differentiate persistent hyperglycemia from transient stress induced hyperglycemia in cats. It is also used to evaluate current therapy in diabetic patients. Although fructosamine is a well accepted analysis, it is sometimes regarded with scepticism.

The purpose with this study was to analyze the possibilities to produce organic lambs and to hihglight the most common difficulties in such a production system. A description of current organic and conventional lamb production systems was conducted, both from Sweden and from some other countries. The Department of Animal Environment and Health at SLU in Skara performed the project together with The County Board of Agriculture in Västra Götaland and Värmland and The Swedish Animal Health Service. The project lasted from 2002 to 2004. The student report contains the years 2002 and 2003. In the year of 2003 there were 210 000 adult sheep in Sweden, of which 16 400 adult sheep were certified by KRAV. Of the different countries in Sweden, Västra Götaland and Gotland had the largest number of sheep, 14 and 13 per cent of the total number.

BAE Systems Hägglunds has a long history of producing high performance terrain tracked vehicles (mostly for military applications), and they are now aiming at developing a tracked forwarder with similar techniques.The forwarder will be of series hybrid type where a diesel engine via a generator will power the motors (one for each drive wheel). Thanks to individually controlled motors and the gentle rubber tracks, this forwarder is calculated to have a considerably higher average speed in the terrain and to be more gentle to the soil. The forwarder with a weight of 11 metric tons and a load capacity of 15 metric tons is specified to have an average working speed of 7-10 km/h, a top speed in terrain of 15 km/h and a top speed on roads of 40 km/h.This master?s thesis aims at developing a conceptual design of the forwarder?s drive module which includes electric motor, gear unit, brake and drive wheel.To investigate if the requirements can be fulfilled a study of the dimensioning loading scenarios has been carried out. The resulting needs regarding the torque has been considered in order to determine the required gear ratios for different motor options.

Näringsrik mat och bra matvanor är en viktig förutsättning för god hälsa. Valet av mat styrs av olika faktorer, till exempel media, vänner/familj och ekonomi. Då många levnadsvanor skapas i ungdomsåren får dessa en stor betydelse för hälsan senare i livet. Av denna anledning väcktes intresset att undersöka unga tjejers uppfattningar kring hälsosam mat. Vidare ville vi undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar deras matval.Metodvalet i studien blev fokusgruppsintervjuer.

Vid behandling av kemoterapi är illamående ett vanligt och besvärligt symtom hos patienter med cancer. Illamående påverkar patientens dagliga liv genom att det ofta leder till viktminskning, dehydrering, ökade kostnader och påverkan på det sociala livet. Antiemetiska läkemedel är effektivt mot behandling av kräkningar men lite fokus har lagts vid behandling av illamående. I syfte att redogöra för kunskapsläget om icke-farmakologiska interventioner för att lindra illamående hos patienter som genomgår kemoterapi genomfördes en integrerad systematisk litteraturöversikt. Litteratursökningen genomfördes i fyra bibliografiska referensdatabaser, och fokuserades till vetenskapliga studier vilka beskrev icke-farmakologiska interventioner, hur dessa hade studerats, vilka effekter de hade samt vilka erfarenheter patienterna erhöll av interventionerna.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has the potential to be used for the diagnosis and study of osteoarthrosis in the equine tarsal region. In the development of new diagnostic MRI techniques cadaver specimens are often used. To allow the use of cadaver legs for these types of studies it is important to know the effect of time after death on the MRI image. Since the relaxation times are temperature dependent, it is interesting to examine whether the time after death and the temperature of the cadaver may play a role in the image appearance and quality. The radio pulse sequences that show the different types of tissues are also important to know when pathological evaluation with MRI is used.

Uppsatsen är en statistisk bearbetning av material från studien Health Hunters som genomfördes i Göteborg på unga kvinnor som befann sig i en högriskgrupp för att utveckla övervikt eller fetma. Barn till överviktiga har en ökad risk för att utveckla övervikt därför är det viktigt att arbeta preventivt då behandlingsresultaten vid fetma ofta är otillräckliga. Det är viktigt att förebygga övervikt och fetma då detta kan resultera i bland annat typ II-diabetes och hjärtkärlsjukdomar samt så ger behandling av fetma och dess följdsjukdomar höga sjukvård- och samhällskostnader. Health Hunters har visat att preventivt arbete mot viktuppgång kan ge resultat. Information kring deltagarna har vi fått via Health Hunters där de fick ge information om sina vanor och genomgå mätningar.

Background Calprotectin is a protein expressed in the cytoplasm inside the neutrophile granulocytes. During inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the neutrophile granulocytes are involved in a complex interaction at the inflammatory area where they die and release their content into the intestinal lumen. Therefore, calprotectin in stool is a suitable marker for diagnosis and measurement of the disease-activity in patients with IBD. The most commonly used method to detect calprotectin in stool is ELISA, but the process of manual preparation of stool samples is time-consuming.Aim The objective of the study was to evaluate an extraction method that could replace manual preparation of fecal samples and to compare different methods for measuring Calprotectin in stool using two ELISA-methods from two manufacturers and one rapidtest.Methods For extraction of calprotectin from stool samples we used sample collector tubes from Epitope Diagnostics and fecal preparation kits from Roche. Two different ELISA-kits for measuring calprotectin concentration in stool were compared.

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.

SCA has today almost 300 000 hectares of their forest land planted with lodgepole pine(Pinus contorta var. latifolia). Due to initial extensive planting in the 1970ies the area oflodgepole pine forests in the thinning age has grown rapidly from the end of the 1990ies.During the years 1996-2005 first commercial thinning of lodgepole pine at SCA took place.The goal of the hereby presented study was to investigate the growth and stability in thosefirstly-thinned lodgepole pine stands a few years after thinning. Furthermore, the objectivewas to investigate the relationship between stand stability and different stand parameters.Additionally, lodgepole pine stem quality was estimated.The study is mainly based on the data collected during an inventory project carried out atSCA in 2008. Altogether 91 lodgepole pine stands in northern Sweden were measured afterthe first thinning.

In the early 80s, several new synthetic materials have come to be used in the treatment of canvaspaintings, among them Plextol D 360, Plexisol P 550 and Beva 371. Today, many conservatorsfind the information about the long term sustainability of these binding mediums to beincomplete. Evaluation of synthetic materials is mostly done through clinical research, sometimesartificial aging is simulated. The correlation between artificial and natural aging is however notestablished, useful information can therefore be gained through evaluations of actualconservation treatments. The intention of this study is to find out more about how thementioned products perform over time in normal museum conditions.

De neutrofila granulocyterna ingår i det icke specifika immunförsvaret och fagocyterarmikroorganismer och rester från kroppens egna celler. Neutrofilen innehåller fyra olika typerav granula, som vid aktivering av cellen kan uppregleras till plasmamembranet. Proteinetdysferlin har bevisats förekomma i membranet i en del av dessa granuler. Det tros ha en roll imembran fusion och underhåll av membranet.Dysferlin är ett transmembrant protein av typ II, och proteinet saknas i funktionellt tillståndvid sjukdomstillstånden Limb-Girdle muskeldystrofi 2B och Miyoshi myopati. I arbetetkommer en metod att utvecklas som skall användas till att studera proteinet dysferlin hos deneutrofila granulocyterna vid olika funktionella tillstånd.

Förgiftningar hos däggdjur som druckit vatten kontaminerat med cyanotoxiner har observerats världen över, och riskerar att öka i takt med tilltagande övergödning och klimatförändringar. Denna litteraturstudie inriktar sig på mikrocystin (MC) som är det vanligaste och mest studerade cyanotoxinet. Studien avgränsar sig till akut intoxikation hos däggdjur och fokuserar på grundläggande mekanismer hos toxinet, såsom absorption, distribution, metabolism och elimination. Vidare beskrivs de toxiska mekanismerna och de akuta toxiska effekterna. MC orsakar utbredda nekroser och blödningar i levern. Den specifika distributionen till levern anses bero på det höga uttrycket av organiska anjontransportörer (OATP).