The idea behind this project came from a feed study executed two years during the lambing season. Both years wool loss was experienced. Low temperature in combination with shearing was believed to cause the wool loss the first year, while protein deficiency was believed to be the cause the second year. In the literature many causes of wool loss are described; mechanical wear, telogen effluvium, bacterial dermatitis, external parasites, wool break, scrapie, genetic causes and nutritional deficiencies are some examples. The aim of this thesis was to study causes for wool loss and how common wool loss is in Swedish sheep herds.

Local differentiation may occur during a short period of time and is part of the formation of new species. The isopod Asellus aquaticus is an example of a species in which local adaptation has occurred during a short period of time. An establishment of stonewort (Chara spp.) vegetation in Lake Tåkern (in the 2000) resulted in two different Asellus ecotypes; a lighter pigmented, smaller one that lives among stoneworts grazing periphytic algae, and a darker, larger ecotype that feeds on decaying leaves in reed (Phragmites australis vegetation. The purpose of this study was to examine whether there are differences in growth between ecotypes, depending on whether the food was periphytic algae or leaves, and to study the choice of substrates between the two food types. For the study, animals from both habitats were brought in from Lake Tåkern to the laboratory.

The main purpose of this work was to examine the information behavior of nonfiction publishing Company editors. Three problem areas were presented and expressed in the following questions:- What is the information need of the editor in every day work?- Which sources of information do the editors use when they are looking for information and how do they make use of them?- Are there any factors that have an influence on the information behavior of the editors and in what way do the factors effect the information behavior of the editors in their everyday work? And finally, do the editors experience any factors as barriers to information behavior?Six editors, all with academical background, all employed in different publishing companies were interviewed. The result of this study have been analysed within a theoretical framework influenced by the work of Tom Wilson, Lars Höglund and Olle Persson and Block and Lagberg. The result shows that the editors had various regular needs of information in their every day work.

Soft rubber flooring have gained in popularity over the last years. Rubber flooring al-lows cow to move more freely without slipping and improves claw and leg health. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of a stepwise introduktion of soft flooring on cow`s placement in cow houses with robotic milking. A case study was carried out in a herd in northern Sweden with 41 cows. Observations were made every 15 minutes between 09.00 and 16.00 concering cow placement in cu-bicles, in cubicle alley, in feeding alley and in feeding alley with the head through feed-ing gate. One observation period was carried out per flooring alternativ: 1) all concrete slatted floor, 2) rubber slatted floor in feeding alley and concrete slatted floor in cubicle alley and 3) rubber slatted floors in feeding alley and solid rubber floors in cubicle alley. The study showed that 6 %-units fewer cows lay in the cubicles when the feeding alley surface was slatted rubber.

The Goal with this Master of Science thesis is to expand the possible turbine efficiencymeasurements on an exhaust turbocharger. It was done as a part of the CICERO competencecentre. To feed the turbine with air a special flow rig has been used. Instead of loading theturbine by just restricting the compressor flow a docking system for an electrical dynamometer isdesigned to use the dynamometer as an additional loading source. By using an electricaldynamometer as loading device for the turbine, measurements are not depending on compressorperformance.A large part of the work consists in designing accessories for the dynamometer.

This report is an outcome of a master degree project at Linköpings University in co-operation with Micronic Laser Systems AB. The purpose with this master degree project was to investigate how to implement a receiver in a data transfer system. The system consists of several data channels, where every channel consists of three parts: driver, transmission lines and receiver. The driver send low amplitude differential signals via the transmission lines to the receiver that amplifies and converts it to a single-ended signal. The receiver has to be fast and be able to feed an output signal with high voltage swing.

Active immunization against gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) is an alternative to surgical castration of male pigs to avoid boar taint. The aim of this study, including 128 pigs, was to evaluate the effect of a GnRH-vaccine Improvac® on performance and on social and sexual behaviour. Male pigs were assigned to three treatments; surgical castration at four days of age, immunization against GnRH and no castration. Vaccination was performed eight and four weeks before slaughter. Surgically castrated male pigs had significantly lower daily weight gain during the suckling period than entire male pigs (235 vs.

Today, buildings utilize 40 % of the total energy consumption. New energyrestrictions and directives have entered the construction industry. Photovoltaic is asustainable, clean and quiet solution that integrates well in the urban environment buthave not yet reached a breakthrough on the Swedish market. The conditions for solarenergy production are often set in the early planning stages where they rarely arebeing prioritized.This master of engineering project focuses on identifying problems regardingimplementation of photovoltaic in city development projects and giving suggestions topossible improvements in the planning- and construction process. It also givesrecommendations on how the conditions for energy production can be optimized inthe early zoning stage.By conducting simulations with PVsystV5.21, on three ongoing city developmentprojects in Umeå, Malmö and Stockholm and by carry out and analyzing interviewswith city planners, constructors and architects, some conclusions have been made.Several improvements, both politically, with changes in the subsidization systemand/or instatement of a new law with feed-in tariffs, and within the solar- andconstruction industry itself, with better communication between different parts of theprocess as well as better use of experience, can be made.

The work thesis was performed at Assalub a company which is situated in Åtvidaberg. The company works with developing, manufacturing and marketing equipment for handling of lubricants for light and heavier industry. The work thesis it is based on a inquiry Assalub got from MacGregor which is a company within cargo solution, from port to offshore system.For unloading grain and other material from the ship cargo it is used combined inlet feeder and screw conveyor, there the inlet feeder is drilling down through the cargo and feed the screw conveyer with material to further destination. At the bottom of the screw conveyer and the inlet feeder there is a bearing that keep the parts together. However the lubrication of the bearing must be made manually.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the content of glucose, fructose, sucrose and fructan (WSC) varied in silage, haylage and hay harvested from the same field and at the same time of harvest. The study also investigated if differences in the WSC-fraction in the forages caused differences in composition of WSC in the colon of horses fed the forages. Hay, haylage and silage were harvested in the first week of June 2005 and stored for about nine months before feeding. Horses that were fistulated in right ventral colon and caecum were used, but only the colon fistula was used for sampling. The fresh crop and the conserved hay, haylage and silage were analyzed for chemical composition and WSC-fraction.

Bringing back the nutrients from the city to the country is becoming increasingly important, as the world?s stores of nutrients get more exhausted. Sewage sludge is an unapplied resource, rich in plant nutrients, which could replace parts of the commercial fertilizers used in Sweden today. Sewage sludge may contain large amounts of pathogens, such as Campylobacter and Salmonella, why use can cause severe spreading of infections, both to animals and humans. These pathogens have the ability to survive for a long time in soil and water and therefore some sort of treatment of the sludge is recommended before use.

Manure evaluation has been suggested as a cheap, fast and easy method which can give information about the digestibility of the ration, the function of the rumen, where in the gastrointestinal tract the feed is digested and the health of the cow. An experiment was conducted to study how manure evaluation could be used as a management tool in Swedish Dairy farming. Manure was collected from cows on Kungsängen Research Station and from 9 other farms. The manure samples were analysed for dry matter, ash, starch, pH-value and particle size (wet sieved). Also, the consistency of the manure was determined on a 5-point scale and the colour and smell were noticed. Penn State Forage Particle Separator was used for determining the particle size of the roughage.

Ethanol for automotive purposes is an issue much debated and researchers disagree about the benefits of bioethanol. Converting energy-rich crops into ethanol suitable as motor fuel is a complex process and continuous development and improvements of processes and material used are important steps in the work of developing environmental friendly fuels. Grain is usually preserved by drying which consumes a lot of energy. Alternative storage of high-moisture grain in airtight storage systems reduce the energy required to produce bioethanol and studies have also shown that ethanol yields are increased more than 10% in ethanol fermentations of moist grain compared to dry. Airtight storage is often not perfectly airtight so biocontrol agents are necessary in order to preserve the grain.

In this thesis an energy analysis of ethanol production at the ethanol plant of Lantmännen Agroetanol in Norrköping has been performed. The ethanol plant has been studied in combination with Händelöverket, the combined heat and power plant which provides the ethanol process with steam. The purpose of this study was to determine the energy consumption for the whole production chain from grain to ethanol. The analysis has included the energy consumption for cultivation of grain, production of chemicals, the production chain for wood chips, the steam production and the ethanol plant. The grain and wood chips are both considered raw materials there for the energy content in these are not included as energy input in the system.

In this thesis an energy analysis of ethanol production at the ethanol plant of Lantmännen Agroetanol in Norrköping has been performed. The ethanol plant has been studied in combination with Händelöverket, the combined heat and power plant which provides the ethanol process with steam. The purpose of this study was to determine the energy consumption for the whole production chain from grain to ethanol. The analysis has included the energy consumption for cultivation of grain, production of chemicals, the production chain for wood chips, the steam production and the ethanol plant. The grain and wood chips are both considered raw materials there for the energy content in these are not included as energy input in the system.