The search for antibiotic compounds from the natural environment has been going on for seven decades, ever since penicillin entered the market and antibiotic treatments became routine. The evolutionary pressure put on the pathogenic microorganisms induced a rapid spreading of naturally occurring resistance genes, leaving only the option of finding new antibiotics to treat the resistant pathogens. Microorganisms have been extensively mined for their biosynthetic abilities to produce biologically active compounds. To date, more than 23 000 microbial natural products have been discovered. The Actinomycetales are ubiquitous bacteria that have been used for antibiotic discovery for more than half a century, and over 10 000 natural products have been identified from the order.

The Swedish production of biogas was 1,5 TWh 2011. About half of the production was used as vehicle fuels. The cost for upgrading biogas depends on the size of the biogas plant and its gas production. If the gas flow is low the cost will be high. However, further development of existing upgrading technologies or development of new ones, have good potential to decrease the upgrading cost for small scale biogas plants.

Background: Cerebral Palsy is usually divided into three subgroups: ataxic, spastic and dyskinetic, where children and adolescents can, because of misestimation in nutrition and energy intake, suffer from weight problems.Aim: To compare calculations with equations with the individual's measured RMR in the subgroups, to see if any equation is more suitable. This could be used as a tool to calculate the resting metabolism at times when it is not possible to perform clinical measurements.Method: The RMR has been measured in 37 children and adolescents aged 3-15 years through indirect respiratory calorimetry. Those values have been compared with calculations from five equations. The results were then analyzed in order to find if any equation is better to apply for calculating resting metabolism for each subgroup.Results: The ataxic group was overestimated by 56.5% of the calculated values. WHO/FAO/UNU?s equation indicates a significantly strong correlation between the measured and calculated values (r=0.85, p<0.05).

This study was carried out at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden. The aim of the study was to determine how plant species richness and diversity influence the nitrogen pools and nitrogen fluxes in the soil. Plant and soil samples from a biodiversity experiment in grasslands were used. Thirty plots with 12 grassland plant species (legumes, grasses, and non-legume herbs), combined from 1-12 species were investigated.

Chemicals are everywhere in todays society, in humans, animals as well as nature, and they are difficult to avoid. The chemical industry is regarded to be the fastest growing industrial sector, accounting for ten percent of the global economy. A large amount of chemicals are used to produce hygiene products and cosmetics, products that in Sweden only are consumed in quantities of 110 tons per day. Researchers find it increasingly difficult to determine which chemicals that are dangerous and which that are safe, and how they might affect us in the long run. Correlations have been found between chemicals, diseases and other health effects such as cancer, allergies, reproductive and endocrine disorders.

The quality of meals is included in the constant improvement of each preschool. The study is carried out on behalf of the City of Malmö and Environmental Management and focuses on this quality work. By compiling a checklist of meal quality and by identifying what the meal quality means for persons working with the meal (managers, cooks, educators and parents), it is our wish that this will be a help in their quality work. To inspire the composition various organizations working methods and ways to manage, evaluate and make use of different models and tools to improve the dining quality, has been studied. In the literature, the work has received confirmation of theories that emerged during the analysis work of what a meal is and how quality can be measured. The results show that food quality is described as a complex concept consisting of different parts, where the food, atmosphere, service, together form the meal quality. The semi-structured interviews and the inquiry form, have given an indication of the preschool work with quality in the meal activities and it shows that on a wide range and large differences.

The connection between rune stones and churches is a known phenomenon. Unfortunately, very little is known about the previous function of the church sites, and consequently very little is known about what the connection between rune stones and churches means. The purpose of this study is to examine the rune stones connected to churches in the administrative province of Jönköping, in an effort to ascertain their purpose, symbolism and function. The aim is to find out if the rune stones connected to churches were primarily or secondarily placed on the site where the church was later built, and why some rune stones were built into the churches. Further, the inscriptions and iconography of rune stones have been analysed, and also their relation to their immediate surroundings.

Under det senaste årshundradet har de svenska skogarna genomgått en omfattande förvandling, från mer eller mindre naturligt dynamiska till hårt brukade skogar bestående av monokulturer av tall eller gran. Denna förändring har lett till en minskning av den biologiska mångfalden, att många arter som är beroende av skog har minskat radikalt och hotas av utrotning. Som ett försök att främja variation, biologisk mångfald i allmänhet och förhindra minskningen av rödlistade skogsarter introducerades i början av 90-talet en viss naturvårdshänsyn i brukade skogar. I den här studien utvärderas den påverkan som kalavverkning har och den betydelse hänsynsträd har på artsammansättningen och förekomsten av ektomykorrhizasvampar (EMF) under de första 20 åren efter kalavverkning. Studien utfördes genom extrahering och identifiering av svamp-DNA från jordprover tagna på kalavverkade ytor, nära hänsynsträd och i gammal skog i ett begränsat geografiskt område i norra Sverige.

Syftet med denna studie är att ta reda på hur kompositörer inom genren svensk folkmusik idag går till väga när de komponerar ny musik, hur deras arbetsprocess ser ut och vilka arbetssätt de använder sig av. Det teoretiska perspektivet är hämtat från Stan Bennet och Max Grafs tidigare forskning om hur kompositionsprocessen ser ut för kompositörer inom konstmusikgenren. Ett didaktiskt perspektiv används också som utgångspunkt. Bakgrunden till arbetet baserar jag på tidigare forskning om kompositionsprocessen, forskning om gehörsmusik och kreativitet och idé-skapande. Jag ser även till vikten av att tränas i sitt divergenta tänkande som komponerande innebär.

Chemicals are everywhere in todays society, in humans, animals as well as nature, and they are difficult to avoid. The chemical industry is regarded to be the fastest growing industrial sector, accounting for ten percent of the global economy. A large amount of chemicals are used to produce hygiene products and cosmetics, products that in Sweden only are consumed in quantities of 110 tons per day. Researchers find it increasingly difficult to determine which chemicals that are dangerous and which that are safe, and how they might affect us in the long run. Correlations have been found between chemicals, diseases and other health effects such as cancer, allergies, reproductive and endocrine disorders.

The euthropthication of the Baltic Sea is a threat that is beginning to be taken seriously by the governments concerned. In Sweden, regulations concerning the allowed nitrogen (N) concentration in the effluent water from wastewater treatment plants are being tightened up. The Rimbo wastewater treatment plant has been imposed to reduce the annual mean concentration of total N in the effluent water to levels below 15 mg l-1. A more and more common way to reduce the nitrogen level in wastewater is to let the water pass through a wetland. This study investigates the possibility to build this kind of wetland at the outlet of the Rimbo wastewater treatment plant.A prestudy of the topography, soil characteristics and groundwater flow indicates that the land area in question is well suited for the construction of a wetland.

Chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAH´s) were used widely within dry cleaning facilities and for metal degreasing until their toxicity was discovered. PCE is still used as dry cleaning liquid. Today CAH´s are found in soil environment at places where they have been used in the past. The CAH-concentration in trees growing on contaminated land has quite recently received attention as a cheap and effective way of assessing the extent of a CAH-contamination. The method has however, not been put into use in Sweden.The aim of the study has been to investigate whether the CAH-concentration in tree cores could be used to delineate the spread of CAH in a soil environment under Swedish conditions in different seasons.

The stretch from the riparian zone of a major river, through the mouth and upstream in tributaries forms a range of differing habitats. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of these different habitats on the riparian frog community in primary rain forest in Borneo; i.e. examine whether any gradients could be demonstrated in terms of species composition, diversity and density of frogs, as well as which environmental characteristics that seem to be of most importance in forming habitats of high conservational value. A major river, Segama, and three of its tributaries were investigated. The surveys were carried out at night by searching for frogs visually and acoustically along the streams, from the shore of the Segama river and 400 metres upstream in the tributaries.

This project was started within the Market-Design programme of Elforsk, with the aim of developing representative test systems of Swedish distribution networks. Using such test systems as a basis for reliability and customer interruption cost calculations makes it feasible to analyse the network tariff regulation of Swedish power  istribution companies. In particular, it enables studies of the incentives for companies to invest in system reliability. Until now, the available test systems are either not representative of Swedish conditions, or too small in scale and limited in function.Within this project we have created two test systems. In order to represent the diversity of actual Swedish distribution networks, we have created one test system for urban environments and another for rural environments.

The development within the textile industry is always ongoing with development of new andbetter textiles, which often mean the use of non-natural materials like polyester. This doesn?t lineup with the work shared around the world against an improved environment, so the idea came touse a form of linen fibers instead of polyester as the reinforcing material together with cotton.The idea was to use flax, linen of low quality, which is seen as a waste product and garbage inthe production of high quality linen and flax seed oil. This flax of low quality needs to beseparated before it can be used in cotton spinning machines. Fireball 2 is just that, a process toseparate flax fibers through the treatment of a technique called electrohydraulic discharge.The thesis works goal is to evaluate the Fireball 2 process ability to separate flax fiber.