Artificial insemination (AI) has had a great influence on the development of pig production and is today widely practiced (Gerrit et al., 2005). With AI, genetic progress can at a short period of time be spread worldwide compared with using natural service and the best boars can be intensively used. This is also one of the biggest risks with AI; the impact of semen containing a genetic disease or contamination of pathogens can be enormous. Fortunately, it is a small risk of disease transmission due to many tests of the boars and the semen before use (Maes et al, 2008). It is important that the boars used for insemination have good breeding values along with good reproduction features and have good fertility results (Robinson et al., 2005).

Today dairy farmers in Sweden are obligated to have lights turned on during night time in addition to the mandatory daylight inlet. This presents a cost for the production but many argue that it can be economically beneficial, especially in loose housing of dairy cows. In loose housing and even more so in herds with automatic milking, well functioning cow traffic during all hours of the day is crucial to optimise production. In order to keep the cow traffic flowing, lights may be an important management tool. It is also perceived among farmers with tied up stall that night light decreases the incidents of cows accidental stepping on their own or neighbours udders.

The cat is one of our most common pets. Understanding the reproductive physiology of the queen is important, not only for the knowledge of our domestic cats but also for wild undomesticated feline species, many of which have been reported endangered. Understanding the mechanisms behind the estrous cycle, ovulation and pregnancy is also important for handling the feral cat populations that are a problem in several countries. The purpose of this literature study is to look into the hormonal patterns of the reproductive physiology of the female cat, with focus on ovulation, pregnancy and pseudo-pregnancy, and from this information determine in which fields more research would be needed. The female cat is seasonally polyestrous in Sweden, meaning that she can have several estrous cycles during the breeding season but goes through a long period of reproductive dormancy during the darker months of the year. The queen is considered an induced ovulator, with copulation triggering the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland needed for ovulation.

The aim with this thesis is to make a comparison between forcing tulips in a hydroponic system and the forcing off tulips that have been planted in soil. The results are mostly based on interviews with six Dutch and one Swedish tulip forcer and the managing director at the Horticultural Research Centre, Proeftuin Zwaagdijke, in the Netherlands. There are benefits and disadvantages with both methods. Tulip bulbs planted in soil seem to get a brighter colour after forcing, compared with those forced ?in water?.

The large number of surrendered and feral cats is a big animal welfare problem all over the world. Populations of feral cats arise through a large number of unwanted cats which can lead to surrender of these, through cats allowed to roam free outside which can lead to the owner losing these and through the reproduction that occurs amongst these surrendered or lost cats. One aim of this study is to give an account of this problem. It is however difficult to draw general conclusions about these populations of cats since studies all over the world has been carried out on different types of populations, during different conditions and different periods of time. The welfare of many of these cats is presumably low because they are exposed to risks as disease, starvation, climate, traffic, other animals and humans.

Uganda is one country with fastest growing populations in the world and with more than 25% of the population living in poverty. There is a rapid rural urban migration with increasing demands for food for low income earners especially in these areas. One way to mitigate food insecurity is to increase milk and meat production efficiency, and thus reproductive performance of cows is crucial for good production. A well-documented strategy for improving dairy cow productivity through faster genetic improvement is to breed dairy cows using proven semen via artificial insemination (AI). AI has been used in Uganda for over 60 years but only less than 10 %, a small population of the country?s herd has been bred that way. The aims were to study knowledge, attitude and practices factors influencing cow fertility results on dairy farms around Kampala using AI and to propose ways of promoting increased use of AI in Uganda.

Wounds on horses are common and sometimes difficult to treat. The wounds are often big and could be discovered too late for primary sutures, which have to be applied within 8 hours from time of accident, before bacteria has been able to infiltrate the surrounding tissue. The healing is often complicated by delayed healing and wound infection with consequences like phlegmone, fistulation and proud flesh formation.To avoid these consequences, the traditional practice has been to administer systemic antibiotics alone, systemic antibiotics in combination with topical antibiotics or topical antibiotics alone. Because few antibiotics can be used in horses, is it important to household with the few substances that are available. In veterinary medicine today, the increasing resistance amongst pathogenic microbes such as MRSA presents a growing problem.

The Swedish Lapphund is one of our eleven Swedish domestic breeds of dogs and one of Sweden?s oldest dogbreeds. The Finnish Lapphund?s origin and physical conformation is similar to that of the Swedish Lapphund. One aim of this study was to examine whether the average litter size differs between these two closely related breeds, and if so, try to find causes for this.

I Centralasien lever det utrotningshotade djuret snöleopard (Panthera uncia). Antalet vilda snöleoparder beräknas ligga under 7000 individer. Snöleoparden brottas med ett antal olika hot i det vilda, med risk att det leder till utrotning. Djuret jagas av tjuvjägare, delvis för sin fina päls, men också för att använda ben och tänder till medicin. Människans utbredning leder till mindre områden för snöleoparden att hitta byten på, samt att den dödas i vedergällning om den skulle anfalla boskapsdjur.

On a request from the water sewage plant Gryaab in Gothenburg a power quality survey was performed. The voltages and currents have continuously been sampled in the incoming 10 kV substation HSP01 from April-August 2008. Power quality measurements were also performed in Gryaabs other 10 kV substation HSP04 fed from HSP01 and at the terminals of the induction motor IN_PU4040 of 1.3 MW which controls one of the four large inflow pumps to the plant. The reason for the latter measurement was due to registered negative transients each time the motor was connected to the grid. The cause of the transients could be explained by the coupling in the substation, the ageing of the motor which could result in damage of the bearings or resonance in the motor circuit which amplifies high frequency harmonics.

This article presents a survey of male dogs treated with the gonadotropin releasing hormone (GnRH) agonist deslorelin (Suprelorin®, Virbac) at three animal clinics in central Sweden. Filled-in questionnaires from 110 dogs were received. The paper also includes a review of existing litterature concerning reproduction in male dogs, focusing on endocrinology, the effects of gonadectomy and the GnRH agonist deslorelin. Continuous treatment with deslorelin produces infertility in male dogs. The pituitary is initially stimulated by deslorelin leading to a rise in luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) secretion. As a consequence the testosterone levels also increase temporarily.

Heat stress negatively influences the performance of dairy cattle such as lactation and reproduction. Heat stress can cause production losses as well as welfare problems. Years of research have shown that heat stress is a huge problem for dairy cattle in both the tropics and temperate zones but no such research have so far been done in northern European countries. It seems like shade is an important tool when improving pasture conditions and therefore deserves more attention. The aim with this study was to investigate whether there is a need of providing shade for grazing dairy cows during the summer in Sweden. Two groups of lactating Swedish Red dairy cows (n=15 per group) were kept on pasture.

Gerbera jamesonii is a plant with a large amount of pollen and various flower colours and a favourite host plant for Frankliniella occidentalis. The best growing temperature for gerbera is approximately 20°C. Frankliniella occidentalis or the Western Flower Thrips is a small insect that has become an important pest in greenhouse cultivation all over the world. The high temperatures in the greenhouse are favourable for F. occidentalis.

As birch is one of the most common trees in Sweden, and probably one of the easiest for someone who lives here to identify, it is interesting to note that most people do not know how variable the genus is and how widely it is distributed across the northern hemisphere. One can find birch growing at both high and low elevations, demanding different soil conditions and preferring varying amounts of sunlight. Many people may also be surprised to hear that the colour of the bark can vary from bight white to almost black, and different shades of pink, orange and red can also be displayed. This, together with the astonishing beauty of the genus, the important role as a pioneer in many ecological systems and the difficulty in sorting out the taxonomy of the genus, constitutes the background of this thesis. The thesis is written at the Department of Landscape Development in Alnarp, Sweden with Kenneth Lorentzon, researcher at the Swedish University of Agriculture as a supervisor. The aim of this thesis is to highlight which species and cultivars within the genus Betula could be appropriate for horticultural use in Sweden.

Studiens syfte var att undersöka magsäcksinnehåll hos skjutna vildsvin i syd- och mellansverige för att fastställa vad vildsvinen ätit, d.v.s. om födan kom från utfodringsplatser eller från naturen, och om det kan ha betydelse för reproduktion. Även könsorganen (äggstockar och livmödrar) undersöktes för att se om det fanns ett samband mellan utfodring och reproduktion. Arbetet ingick som en del i en pilotstudie om vildsvin och reproduktion. Studien genomfördes under 2013 på fyra gårdar (fyra olika län) med egna viltslakterier för att få en spridning av insamlat material. Till dessa gårdar skickades en enkät för att få information om deras utfodring till vildsvin (typ av foder och utfodringsrutiner).