The ability of a dog to perform some kind of practical work, for example hunting or herding, depends among other things on its behavioural characteristics. In animal breeding it is not always easy though to select for behavioural traits. It may, for example, be difficult to identify traits that are not only heritable but also of importance for the dogs' ability to perform the practical work of interest. Moreover, it is often difficult to accomplish accurate measurements of behavioural traits. When selecting dogs for breeding, it is usually preferable to evaluate them using an objective and standardized bahavioural test, rather than results from field trials.

This report is a thesis work for a B.Sc. in Forestry at the School for Forest Engineers, SLU. The work was an assignment from Jarlträ AB which is a privately owned sawmill located in southern Småland. The aim of the work was to investigate the economical result of different pricelists and how to adjust different parameters such as length correction to give an optimal result. The pricelists was examined through a computer program (SilviA). The pricelists was made in the program and after that a simulation was preformed with a selection of random sampled trees gathered from the area nearby the sawmill.

Most of the goats in the world exist in the developing countries where they are important in the meat industry. In Europe, goats are mostly kept for milk production although the interest for meat is growing. Goats have a thin carcass with only small amounts of intramuscular fat, which gives a lean meat. This thin subcutaneous fat cover can cause cold shortening when chilling the carcass. By using electrical stimulation cold shortening can be prevented.

In this thesis you will be able tofollow the design work of a drumtest. A tool that by having a rotatingdrum with equally positioned obstacleswill simulate the conditions a mountainbike rim will pass through.Initially there is a specification ofsome parameters and requirements thatthe design had to fulfill. There is alsosome brief background information aboutwhy a drum test is required for abicycle rim manufacturers and about thecompany Innolite Design AB that thisthesis is done for. After that itfollows an extract from conceptgeneration with the chosen concepts andsolutions but also some of the conceptsthat were not chosen.The thesis also contain a part where thereader cangain a deeper understanding of how thedesign works as well as some moredetailed facts about how the choice ofmaterials, their thicknesses, etc. havebeen made.

Hepatitis E virus, HEV, is a frequent causative agent behind, especially waterborne, infections in developing countries such as India. However, during the last years the number of non-travel-associated infections in industrialised countries, for example US, Germany and Sweden, has increased. The symptoms vary from mild with nausea to icterus and it can even be lethal. There are four different genotypes of HEV and many studies consider HEV infection to be a zoonosis. Scientists have by using phylogenetic analyses found great genetic similarity between strains isolated from humans, pigs and food, such as pork and liver, especially among viruses belonging to genotype 3.

The aim of this thesis is to find a statistical model that sort logs according to a predicted modulus of elasticity on the sawn boards. The input parameters for the model are X-ray variables from an X-ray scanner. For some of the log classes sawn at the sawmill it is desirable to have a narrow distribution of modulus of elasticity on the sawn boards. 250 pine logs from five different diameter classes were numbered and followed through the sawmill process. Log data were collected from X-ray and 3-D scanners in the log intake.

The overall goal of this diploma work is to produce a design of a 5 GHz radio frontend using Agilent Advanced Design System (ADS) and then build a working prototype. Using this prototype to determine if RF circuits at 5 GHz can be successfully produced using distributed components on a laminate substrate. The design process for the radio front-end consists of two stages. In the first stage the distributed components are designed and simulated, and in the second stage all components are merged into a PCB. This PCB is then manufactured and assembled.

To investigate the possibilities for effective soil tillage, that could imply lower costs, lower negative environmental impact and in addition a meaningful occupation for foraging pigs, a field experiment was carried out in Gränna, Småland, during growing season 2006. The experiment contained two treatments that were repeated three times and were carried out on a couch grass-infected fallow on a light soil close to Sweden?s second largest lake, Vättern. Ploughing was one treatment and pig rooting followed by ploughing, was the other. The experiment was conducted according to the guidelines of organic growing and seedbed preparation was done the same way in the two treatments. The pigs, three groups of five half-year old Linderödssvin (an old Swedish breed), was encouraged to perform an even tillage by strip-grazing, i.e.

The 22q11.2 deletion syndrome is a common genetic disorder that affects for example the heart, palate, immune system and hearing and therefore affects a child?s development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the proportion of children (0-18 years) with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome who have a hearing loss. A retrospective study of 103 children diagnosed with 22q11.2 deletion syndrome was conducted by medical records. Of the 103 children, 51 were boys and 52 were girls.

This thesis compares different methods for risk assessment of a creosote contaminated site in Vansbro, Dalarna. In a complementary study the importance of using representative data for calibration and validation of stationary groundwater models is discussed. The time dependency between surface water levels and groundwater levels on the site in Vansbro is evaluated by step response analysis. The results show that the groundwater levels reflect only long-term variation in the surface water levels. Hence the use of such long-term means for calibration and validation of the stationary groundwater models is the only theoretically defendable alternative.As a first step in the comparison of risk assessment methods the degree of contamination is evaluated on the basis of generic guideline values for contaminated soils, developed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency.

In this thesis you will be able tofollow the design work of a drumtest. A tool that by having a rotatingdrum with equally positioned obstacleswill simulate the conditions a mountainbike rim will pass through.Initially there is a specification ofsome parameters and requirements thatthe design had to fulfill. There is alsosome brief background information aboutwhy a drum test is required for abicycle rim manufacturers and about thecompany Innolite Design AB that thisthesis is done for. After that itfollows an extract from conceptgeneration with the chosen concepts andsolutions but also some of the conceptsthat were not chosen.The thesis also contain a part where thereader cangain a deeper understanding of how thedesign works as well as some moredetailed facts about how the choice ofmaterials, their thicknesses, etc. havebeen made.

 Genotyping can be used to link genetic variation among individuals to certain diseases or conditions. Some known disorders and states that are dependent on single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) are lactose intolerance, venous thrombosis, hereditary hemochromatosis and the difference in sensibility among people to metabolise drugs.In this project a new kit, TaqManÒ Sample-to-SNP KitÔ for extraction of DNA and preparation of the extract for genotyping with real-time PCR and allelic discrimination, was evaluated. QIAamp® DNA Blood Biorobot® MDx Kit was used as the reference method.The purpose of the comparison was to find a method that makes DNA extraction from blood samples cheaper and faster, but with the same reliability as the reference procedure.The results of the evaluation showed a complete agreement of the genotype results between the methods tested, which means that the new method was as reliable as the reference method. The costs of reagents and material would be reduced with 52% if the new method is adopted, that alone would result in a cost reduction of 144 000SEK a year with a sample volume of 650 samples/month. The time for DNA extraction would also be reduced with the new procedure. .

New technology makes it possible to remotely measure all consumers in a power network onan hourly basis and store the values in a database.This thesis work describes the conversion process between automatic meter reading systemMActor and calculation software Xpower.Then the possible differences between calculations of power networks using load curves incombination with a yearly estimate of consumption and calculations using hourly measuredvalues is examined.The result of the comparison shows that, for the power network under inspection, nosignificant difference could be noticed. This does not mean that calculations using hourlymeasured values would be unnecessary. I believe that in a near future calculations using hourmeasurements will be the primary choice for many power companies to whom technology isavailable.Also some basic calculations of fundamental power network parameters, such as power factorand loses, are presented using hourly measured distribution transformers in combinations withits hourly measured loads.The report is written in Swedish.

Upon marketing the system in Europe and the USA cost savings generated from reduced work force have been prevailing. Since the cost of labour is much lower in the Asia Pacific region other factors have to be stressed. The parameters of flexibility and quality assurance may however cover any initial investment in a production system. Our purpose is to value flexibility and quality in a manufacturing context, applied to DAS, in order to use it in investment calculations. In order to make an adequate estimation of different companies, due to problems associated with acquiring correct figures, the Key Success Factors needs to be examined so that the gathering of numbers can be conducted with more focus.

Since the demands from authorities regarding lower energy consumption havebecome increasingly strict, this puts new pressure on designers and builders, who notonly have to ensure an esthetically pleasing building, but also make sure it issufficiently efficient to pass under new laws and regulations.This thesis takes into consideration a wide range of various parameters and theireffect on a building?s energy consumption. For this evaluation a computer softwarecomparison between the two programs Autodesk Ecotect Analysis and AutodeskProject Vasari was performed.Autodesk Ecotect Analysis is better suited for studies made on individual factors whileAutodesk Project Vasari is better used in experiments regarding the geometricalshape of the stucture itself.The results from the two different software tools used, give us both differences andsimilarities. For instance, both software programs produced the same resultsregarding the importance of the windows of the buildings to ensure a highly energyefficient building, both when it comes to the windows size and their U-value..