Measurement of plasma concentrations of natriuretic peptides have been suggested to be of diagnostic and prognostic value in canine cardiac disease. In several previous canine studies, however, a considerable overlap between investigated groups has been identified. A reliable natriuretic peptide test for use in clinical practice requires establishment of reference values for natriuretic peptides in healthy dogs and cut-off values for subclinical disease as well as for clinical signs of congestive heart failure. Numerous physiological, pathological and pharmacological factors, aside heart function, may influence concentration of natriuretic peptides. A potential effect of dog breed on natriuretic peptide concentration has been suggested but has, to our knowledge, not previously been specifically studied.

Standarder för ledningssystem är ett hjälpmedel för företag och myndigheter att bedriva arbete i en viss fråga. Spridningen och etableringen av ledningssystemstandarder är beroende av flera faktorer. I och med lanseringen av det nya ledningssystemet för trafiksäkerhet, ISO 39001, vill Trafikverket förstå vilka framgångsfaktorer som finns för ett väletablerat ledningssystem. Detta görs genom att utvärdera ett ledningssystem som har kommit att få god global spridning och etablering, miljöledningssystemet ISO 14001. Syftet med denna uppsats är att utreda vilka framgångsfaktorerna är för etableringen och spridningen av miljöledningssystemet, ISO 14001, för att sedan se om dessa går att applicera på trafiksäkerhetsledningssystemet, ISO 39001.

Prescribed burning was commonly used for site preparation in Sweden to establish new forests until the 1960?s, when mechanical scarification was introduced. During recent decades the interest in prescribed burnings has increased again, mainly due to certifications of forestry stating that 5% of the regeneration areas should be burned on dry and mesic soils. The objective of the study was to evaluate actual influence of prescribed burning compared to other site preparation on stand stem density, growth parameters and tree damages for Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) after direct seeding and planting. The study also attempts to simulate growth until first thinning.

This survey was made during the autumn of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, on commission from the National Board of Forestry. The purpose with the survey was to gather experience and knowledge in the organisation about fencing and this was made through interviews. The ambition was also to get knowledge from people outside the organisation that have great experience of forestry and fencing. The interviews were based on questions that have been composed by the author with help from the supervisors. The questions were the same to both the personal from the National Board of Forestry and to the foresters. Interviews were also made with private landowners, gamekeepers, game researcher, the County Administrative Board, the National Road Administration, pole and net retailers and contractors. The target group for this work is the National Board of Forestry to be forwarded to persons interested in forestry with the ambition to spread knowledge about how to prevent damage on the forest by browsing animals. The deer populations are big in the south of Sweden and growing populations have increased the damage on plantations of broadleaves of the most species.

This paper is about skiing and Swedish nationalism during the late 19th century and early 20th century. The aim is to investigate why skiing was considered so eminently suited for the incorporation of certain ideals in the national fellowship.The paper accounts an analyse of texts and documents about Swedish skiing from 1897-1924. Skiing was a nationalistic concern from the very beginning of this period. It was connected to heartfelt feelings towards the Swedish nature, the patriotic upbringing of the youth, as well as the health of the nation. Over the years skiing also became an increased object of sportification.

For a long time, economic activity has decreased and shows a downward trend in the food sector. To break this requires efforts to strengthen corporate position with the ability to meet market challenges. In the small producers is a great potential for them to be able to increase its profitability thanks to its ability to offer added value in the product. But to achieve this requires not only a willingness and creativity out of the ordinary but also factors that lead us into this report, current issues. The issues are related to marketing, brand building and the importance of developing a stable network. The study aims to investigate how small businesses operate in rural areas are experiencing the possibilities of support from various networks and organizations and that, from a business perspective, and also see which areas that they need more support in to achieve a growing business. The work has been followed by an inductive method, when we initially could not say anything about the empirical results.

Wind power is a growing energy sector in Sweden. However, it still represents only a small part of the total electricity production, about 0.7%. In order to create good conditions and to facilitate the establishment of wind power in Sweden, the government has for example, created a national centre for wind use. The objective has been to reach the governmental goal, which is an expansion of wind power by 10 TWh by year 2015 compared to the level in 2002. The Swedish electricity market was deregulated in 1996 which refers to the introduction of a competitive market in electricity production and trade.

Institutional repositories are now being created to manage, preserve, and maintain the digital assets and intellectual output of a university. The incentives to change the process of scholarly communication have also begun serving as a strong motivator. There are problems to consider and questions to be solved when dealing with electronic publishing and the implementation of institutional repositories. At present time no summary exists regarding the activities of scholarly electronic publishing at Swedish universities and university colleges.This Master's thesis aims to describe the current situation regarding electronic publishing and the development of institutional repositories at Swedish universities and university colleges. To investigate the situation, a questionnaire was sent out to 38 academic libraries since they are normally responsible for the electronic publishing within institutions of higher education.

The purpose of this essay is to examine how public libraries work with children's books, in other languages thanSwedish, regarding acquisitions. The purpose is also to describe what the libraries assignments are in regard tochildren with non-Swedish backgrounds. This is then put in a relation to the libraries democratic assignment.The main questions are: What are the libraries' assignments, as described in the libraries regulations? How do thelibraries work to fulfil their assignments?To answer these questions a survey in two parts has been carried out. The first is a study of the libraries'regulations, and various handbooks that serve as an inspiration for librarians.

Logistics planning for a construction site is usually limited by traffic flow to and from the workplace. The geographical location of the construction site is determined by roads around the workplace and opportunities for well-functioning logistics. Inventory of material is often impossible because of the frequently small workspaces. As a result, a concern relating material handling remains . Even before the establishment of a construction site, it is required in the construction industry to eliminate errors that might arise in the planning stage.

Vårt syfte med denna studie är att undersöka de kontroverser som uppstått vid vindkraftsetableringar på Västkusten. Detta syfte innefattar frågeställningar om vilka argument och aktörer som är inblandade och vad som formar en aktörs åsikter.Anledningen till att vi valde detta område var på grund av ett förslag vi fick från en konsult inom området. När vi studerat ämnet närmare insåg vi att det existerar kontroverser kring de olika etableringar som skett och även runt de som endast är i planeringsstadiet. Dessutom insåg vi att det inte fanns mycket aktuell forskning inom området.Studien är baserad på material som har insamlats i form av samrådsredogörelser, artiklar, insändare och fyra utförda intervjuer. Tolkning av materialet har skett utifrån en diskursanalys som gett resultat i form av tre olika diskurser inom kontroversen; Miljödiskursen, Lekmannadiskursen och den Ekonomiska diskursen.

The Yangtze finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides asiaorientalis), is a small freshwater cetacean which has recently fallen dramatically in number. It is an endemic species for the Yangtze River and unless drastic action is taken, it risks the same fate as the now functionally extinct Yangtze river dolphin (Lipotes vexillifer). Threats to the porpoise are diverse but they have in common that they are caused by man. Development of the river has been made to supply a growing human population with food, hydropower, and to reduce the risk of flooding. These changes have resulted in a degraded habitat for the porpoise.

In the 90's the establishment of external trade centers had a strong growth in Sweden, primarily in large and medium cities. Gradually took smaller towns by this development. In larger cities with larger and growing customer base than in small towns were not affected by the trade centers heavily, but in the smaller towns where the customer base was smaller, there was a risk that it created a negative competitive relationship between external trade center and trade in the citycenter. In some cases, competition is a positive development for both the citycenter and external trade areas, but in some cases there was a risk that the center became impoverished. In such situation there are theories that the different variety of different types of goods should be at the center and in external trade center could lead to a balanced trade relationship.

Teachers and special education teachers play a vital role in the creation of a study environment that fosters productivity in students. The current study aims to further expand the knowledge regarding teacher?s perception of common work with developing an optimal study environment within the classroom and the educational institution. In order to achieve this, qualitative interviews have been performed and study results analyzed according Nilholm´s model of the three different perspectives on special education: The critical perspective, the compensatory perspective and the dilemma perspective.The study results show that the concept of order and study environment is not clearly defined among the interviewees. However, the concept appears to presuppose the teacher?s responsibility to create the sense of security and effective study environment to those students who express the wish to educate themselves (Children make the things right only if they have been shown the correct way to do it).

The activities of beavers in forested landscapes affect both ecological and economical values. The creation of the dynamic wetland mosaic associated to beaver activities can even improve the quality of water and have been documented as an important landscape engineer affecting the environment for many species. The local office of Sveaskog in Skinnskatteberg is responsible for the management of large areas of the forests in the County of Västmanland. In this area one of several company?s goals are to create ten new wetlands in their own forests as a part of cooperation with the Swedish bird society and Swedish wetland association.