Africa is one of the regions most affected by climate change. However its forests are important carbon sinks for the whole world, and if recognised as a global public good, could be conserved and contribute to green house gas emission reductions. A global mechanism, Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation(REDD+) aims to help developing countries in reducing emissions from deforestation and forest Degradation, and enhancement of carbon stocks. REDD+ strategies may, however exclude local forest dependent communities from forests in order to conserve and maximise carbon stocks, thus having a severe impact on local livelihoods. Therefore, how local communities can participate and share benefits from REDD+ is a key concern.This study investigates how three forest dependent communities in the Nazinon forest, in Southwest Burkina Faso could financially benefit from a REDD+ project.

SammanfattningMykotoxiner är sekundära metaboliter som kan bildas av vissa mögelsvampar. Idisslare har generellt ett högre skydd mot mykotoxiner än vad enkelmagade djur har då våmmens mikroorganismer kan fungera som ett extra skydd mot mykotoxikos. Trichotecenerna deoxynivalenol och T-2 toxin bryts ner till de-epoxymetaboliter i våmmen genom att dess toxiska epoxyring spjälkas bort. Deoxynivalenol metaboliseras helt eller delvis av våmmens mikroorganismer, medan T-2 toxinets nedbrytningskapacitet inte är lika hög. Aflatoxin B1 har en låg nedbrytbarhet, och inga metaboliter har kunnat detekteras i våmmen.

The purpose of this work was to provide a better understanding of urea?s decomposition and byproduct formation in an SCR system on heavy trucks. In my experimental setup with TGA-DSC-FTIR (a combination of two thermal analysis methods and a method for gas phase detection), an FTIR method for urea in the gas phase was developed for the qualitative and quantitative determination of urea and its decomposition products. Chemicals such as urea, biuret, cyanuric acid and melamine of p.a. quality were used in this method development. Beforehand, there was no FTIR method available to detect these substances; hence, the aim of this work was to develop an FTIR method to understand the Degradation chain of urea. The combination of TGA and DSC was used for analysis of different samples, where urea, biuret, cyanuric acid and melamine in varying amounts have been weighted in for various experiments in order to study the temperature at which a phase transition or reaction occurs, i.e.

The aim of this thesis was to answer a number of questions about the environmental consequences of aircraft de-icing. A further aim was to suggest how the environmental consequences due to the release of de-icing fluids can be measured and reduced.The main impact of the aircraft de-icing on the environment is due to the large oxygen demand for the Degradation of glycol based de-icing fluids which are released in the environment. The effect of the increase in oxygen demand depends on where the Degradation occurs in the ecosystem. In a sensitive ecosystem, the large demand of oxygen could provide an anaerobic environment which would be harmful for many types of organisms.In order to reduce the negative effects of the applied de-icing fluid, there is some type of collection system at every regular airport in Sweden. The methods of collection can be divided into two general groups, hydrological isolation or vacuum sweeper trucks.

The freshwater pearl mussel (Margaritifera margaritifera) is threatened throughout its range. There has been a substantial decline of the species and one major reason is habitat Degradation. We investigated how the substrate composition of the bottom floor affects the regeneration of the mussel by analyzing data from the Västerbotten County Board?s inventory of the freshwater pearl mussel. The results implied that fine material such as fine sediment and sand might be detrimental to regeneration whereas gravel and boulders and in particular stone seem to be beneficial.

The market for heavy duty engines is constantly requiring engines that should be more andmore powerful, while still maintaining low fuel consumption. As a result of increasing enginepower, the engine and coolant temperature increases as well due to insufficient coolingperformance (because of design issues, cost etc.).Also, emission legislations, both current and future, require more and more measures to betaken by engine manufacturers. One way of meeting the legislations is the use of cooled EGR(Exhaust Gas Recirculation), which also lead to increased coolant temperatures.Both these factors also naturally lead to increased engine oil temperatures, the consequencesof which are not thoroughly investigated.This thesis project aims to investigate effects of high temperatures on engine oil Degradation,with focus on the greatest Degradation process: oxidation. To do this several engine runs havebeen performed on a 310 hp engine with EGR to see what happens to the engine oil in a realengine when exposed to high temperatures. During the tests oil samples have been taken andanalysed for important parameters.As a complement to these engine tests some laboratory oxidation testing have also beenperformed, to be able to compare engine test data with laboratory tests.One goal of the project was to try to formulate an empirical oxidation model, which would beable to predict oil oxidation levels in an engine, given any running parameters.

Sahlgrenska Academyat University of GothenburgDepartment of Internal Medicine and Clinical NutritionAbstractTitle: A vegetarian diet, a possible treatment complement for relief of symptoms ofrheumatoid arthritis? A systematic review.Author: Alexandra Ahlsén and Caroline ForsbergSupervisor: Mette AxelsenExaminer: Anna WinkvistProgramme: Dietician study programme, 180/240 ECTSType of paper: Examination paper, 15 hpDate: May 22, 2012Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic remitting polyarthritis that is relapsing.Symptoms are inflammation of the joints with pain, stiffness and Degradation of joint tissue.In some cases, also other parts of the body are involved. The treatment consists ofmedications to reduce pain, inflammation and Degradation of joint tissue. Today, the offerednutritional treatment is primarily focused on meeting energy requirements and nutrient needs.The diet has also been discussed as symptomatic treatment, and one of the factors believed toinfluence the symptoms is meat.Objective: To assess the evidence as to whether a vegetarian diet affects the symptoms ofrheumatoid arthritis, and if so, to suggest how it can be implemented in practical dieteticswork.Search strategy The databases used in the literature search was PubMed, Scopus, and AMED.The search words used were: "rheumatiod arthritis", "vegetarian", "vegan", "diet", "meat" and"animal protein".Selection criteria: Studies investigating a vegetarian diet on the symptoms of RA wereincluded. Only RCT, clinical trial, controlled clinical trial, human studies and original articlesin English or Swedish were included.

Large areas of forests in the tropical region have during the last decades been lost and converted to new land uses while other areas have been degraded into secondary forests. These secondary forests need to be restored and rehabilitation through enrichment planting and liberation may help to speed up the recovery process. The objective of this thesis was to evaluate a rehabilitation method that includes enrichment planting, slashing of weeds and girdling of unwanted trees. The site for the project is situated in Sabah, Borneo in a secondary forest which had been logged and burnt by a wildfire. The project?s goal is to rehabilitate and increase biodiversity through enrichment planting of seedlings mainly belonging to the family Dipterocarpeaceae (dipterocarps).

This thesis studies the negative impact that control signal saturation may have on a controlled system. Different methods that are used to compensate for this problem are also studied and evaluated. Both sensitivity to disturbances and the effect the method has on the systems'ability to follow a reference signal will be examined. Stability will be discussed, but no conclusions whether the systems are stabilized or not can be drawn. Control signal saturation will lead to a slower behavior in general.

The demand for biogas as vehicle fuel has risen sharply and there is a great need for increased production. A possible addition of vehicle gas can be produced by upgrading landfill gas which is formed by Degradation of organic waste. This thesis investigates the potential of producing vehicle fuel from landfill gas in the region of Biogas Öst.In 2008, an amount of 32 million Nm3 landfill gas was extracted in the region. This level can be maintained for another ten years if the efficiency of gas extraction is improved. The annual production will decrease with time since landfills aren?t allowed to receive more organic waste.

New energy resources that can replace petroleum diesel are needed and biodiesel may be an excellent substitute. During storage and use, biodiesel can oxidize and form peroxides, leading to Degradation of the fuel. It is therefore important to determine the peroxide content of the fuel. In this thesis the triphenylphosphine method, which involves GC-MS analysis has been compared to the standard iodometric method which involves titration with sodium thiosulfate. Working standards were made to see how well the iodometric method worked and also in order to make a calibration curve in GC-MS.

Tripeptidyl peptidase II (TPPII) is an exopeptidase which cleaves tripeptides from theN-terminus of peptides. The exact functional role of TPPII is still a matter of investigation. Itis believed that the enzyme is primarily involved in intracellular protein Degradation, where itcooperates with the proteasome and other peptidases to degrade proteins into free aminoacids. These amino acids can subsequently be used in the production of new proteins. The aimof this work was to express murine wild type TPPII using E.

With ever-increasing environmental problems in the world, I have with this thesis aimed at studying how the Inuit people of the Arctic organize themselves around the issue of environmental Degradation. In focus for this thesis is the organization Inuit Circumpolar Conference (ICC), an NGO that focuses on saving and protecting the social and cultural rights of the Inuit people, along with the environment in the four arctic regions. This aboriginal population has a strong connection to the environment they dwell in, as the area serves as a source of income and nutrition as well as an historically important place for their culture.I will in this thesis primarily investigate the methods of operation amongst NGOs, as well as their ability to influence and interact with the UN. These are three concepts that I, as a hypothesis, considered to distinguish ICC from other NGOs. With help from three theories about NGOs, I conclude that certain central elements of ICC differ from the average NGO, making ICC a new kind of actor in global politics..

The aim of this thesis is to form a theory of the green consumer power and to distinguish whether this phenomenon could indicate a movement toward the ecological citizenship. To do so, scientific theories regarding the responsibility of companies have been used, as well as the public choice theory, to link individuals as citizens to individuals as consumers. The motives of corporate environmental responsibility, along with consumers ability to bring pressure in different dimensions, are later drawn on as indicators applied to empirical information. The largest producer of ecological products in Sweden, Arla Foods, is employed as case study to explore if the green consumer power can and does exist. The ecological citizenship uses the ecological footprint, to define in what ways we can minimize our part of environmental Degradation.The study seems to strengthen the theory, consumers do have a power to make companies go green and they tend to use it increasingly.

One part of preventive conservation is controlling the lighting in the exhibitions. As a first step we have to accept the fact that the very act of displaying objects is causing them damage, and because the trend is for everything to be open to the public view all the time, the aim is to minimize light exposure of exhibits.This essay will present lighting options and relate them to the current recommendations. I have put the emphasis upon describing which methods one can use to minimize the Degradation of exhibits on display by eliminating UV- and IR-radiation and reducing the visible light. The intention with this essay is to investigate the current lighting options and compare these to the recommendations on lighting exhibitions.The selections of different lighting options such as LED-, halogen- and energysaving lamps were made based on avaibility. Thereafter I did two types of investigations.