Djur har historiskt haft en central roll i människans utveckling och behandling av ohälsa, och djurs hälso- och terapifrämjande egenskaper har de senaste decennierna börjat uppmärksammas. Med syfte att utröna hur hästar kan användas i terapeutiskt arbete intervjuades sex yrkesverksamma kvinnor på två behandlingshem med hästassisterad terapi (HAT) för tonårsflickor med psykosocial problematik. Därtill enkätintervjuades fyra kvinnor som genomgått HAT. Det framkom att hästar kan utgöra terapeutiska och kommunikativa verktyg som kringgår klientens försvarsmekanismer, reducerar det hotfulla i samtals-situationer samt underlättar koncentration och anknytning. Klienten upplever ett ömsesidigt förhållande med hästen, och meningsfullhet och kärlek.

Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) it?s a clinical condition that includes obesity, regional adiposity, insulin resistance (IR) and laminitis. A similar syndrome exists in human medi-cine, the metabolic syndrome (MS), were systemic hypertension also is a prominent fea-ture. The systemic hypertension seen in humans with MS is partly due to a vascular endo-thelial dysfunction with an enhanced endothelin-1 (ET-1) mediated vasoconstriction. There are indications that systemic hypertension might be a feature in EMS as well but if ET-1 is involved in the development of the systemic hypertension in horses is not known.

Genom tiderna har det funnits ett särskilt band mellan människan och sällskapsdjuret. Forskning tyder på att denna relation bär med sig åtskilliga fördelar för människan. I den här studien undersöks vad hästen och hunden upplevs ha för inverkan på människan. I studien intervjuades 15 kvinnor som har djurrelaterade yrken. Nio beskrev hundens inverkan och sex beskrev hästens.

A number of studies in human medicine has documented positive effects of whole body vibration treatment in humans. The Vitafloor system, witch is based on treatment of horses with vibration, has the purpose to be used in training of healthy horses and as rehabilitation for horses with injuries in their musculosceletal system. The purpose of this study was to analyse what happens with a clinically healthy horse during treatment with Vitafloor. The methods used is mainly thermography before and after treatment, but also blood samples, measurement of rectal temperature, heart rate, clinical examination and observation of psychic reactions has been done. Statistic significant changes in skin temperature in hoofs and fetlocks of front legs has been observed after treatment with Vitafloor. Analyzing of the blood samples showed a tendency for decrease in Kalium, and two of the horses had changes in CK. No negative effect has been observed with the treatment of horses with Vitafloor, and the horses seems to like the treatment. .

Sport horses are widely used for performance in jumping, dressage, endurance etc. To enable comparisons of horses, training facilities, programs or physical status, an exercise test can be used. Exercise tests are also important to increase knowledge about exercise physiology of the horse considering different ways of training to compare training methods or individual qualities, development of an individual or other investigations of equine exercise physiology. Since several investigations are done on standard- and thoroughbred horses but less on sport horses, it is of great importance to get an overview of the investigations done. Most common is to investigate heart rate and lactate concentration.

Opioids are considered the "golden standard" in pain management for both humans and small animals, but is used less often in equine medicine - probably for fear of side effects. Are there any studies that suggest that side effects are a major problem, or is it lack of experience which is the greatest obstacle to use? As early as 1937 it was shown that morphine and morphine derivatives provide analgesia in horses. For species other than horses used opioids often both pre-, intra-and postoperatively. They relieve pain effectively and are often included in the anesthesia protocol.

In this trial we used QualispermTM as an objective method of measuring stallion semen. Samples of semen were analyzed before and after centrifugation. Motility and concentration were statistically analyzed. During the trial all the objective mesaurments were compared to a subjective method. The advantages of QualispermTM compared to older CASA- systems is it´s ability of measuring a greater amount of spermatozoa while it also grades them into different subpopulations. These subpopulations have different qualities that decides their capacity of fertilization. The results showed that this objective method might be used practically. Although, there are still some disadvantages, such as high costs and the necessarity of accurat training of the handler. If it´s possible to prove further relevant results that also are statistically correct, this could prove the usefulness of QualispermTM as an objective measurment method in the daily work at gestuts and stallion stations, thus giving the staff a reliable instrument in assisting the work for an improved horse breeding in Sweden, improving both in quality and economically..

Denna rapport är resultatet av ett examensarbete utförts på Linköpings Universitet och Karlstads Universitet. Syftet med examensarbetet var att undersöka och vidareutveckla en befintlig färgbaserad GCR metod.GCR står för ?Grey Component Replacement? och är nödvändigt för att få korrekt färg i tryck. Givet ett C-, M- och Y-värde returnerade den undersökta metoden C?-, M?-, Y?- och K?-värden som var tänkt att ge samma färgintryck som i föregående fall.

Då hästar är flyktdjur och bytesdjur och vanligen hålls i miljöer som är långt ifrån deras naturliga, uppstår ofta situationer som kan upplevas som stressande för hästen. Syftet med detta arbete var att undersöka om hästars ras och grundpersonlighet har inverkan på hur stressbenägna de blir, samt även se om hästar kan drabbas av posttraumatiskt stressyndrom (PTSD). Arbetet syftade dessutom till att undersöka om det finns någon träningsmetod som visat sig ha bättre eller sämre effekt gällande hästar och rädslor, samt vilken effekt feromoner har hos hästar i de sammanhang där hästar utsätts för situationer som är stressande för dem. Stress kan påverka både individens fysiologi och beteende. Studier har visat att hästar som hade olika typer av skador eller sjukdomar hade förändrade nivåer av kortisol, ACTH, serotonin och adrenalin, jämfört med en frisk kontrollgrupp.

This BSc thesis is a part of an initial step of a collaboration between Skansen and Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) and constitutes of an inventory of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage run by KWS. Animal Orphanage takes care of orphaned and injured animals arriving from throughout Kenya. The project started out as a refuge and as a temporary place for animals in need of care and help. With time it has evolved to an establishment that resembles and functions more like an animal zoo. The aim of this inventory is to focus on how the biological needs of Congo grey parrots ( Psittacus erithacus erithacus) and cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are met, in terms of management and housing.

Instrumental conditioning, the use of reinforcement and punishment, is used when training horses and these procedures may have different consequences regarding animal welfare. The aim of this study was to investigate what kind of reinforcers that are used in training horses and when these reinforcers are used. This study has its focus on positive reinforcement and its advantages and disadvantages. Interviews of five A-level and B -level equestrian coaches about their training methods were conducted to complement the literature search and give a greater understanding to why certain methods are used or not in training horses. The results show that negative reinforcement seems to be the foundation of training horses whereas positive reinforcement is used but not to the same extent.

As commonly known, Social Media is a rapidly growing area. Since consumers to a great extent are present in Social Media, this new internet environment is increasing in relevance for consumer marketing. For controversial brands that are regulated in conventional marketing channels Social Media is an extra ordinary marketing opportunity, since social media is a legal grey area. More and more controversial brands are taking advantage of this opportunity, but the effects of these marketing activities are fairly unknown. Therefore there is an interest in examining the controversial brands marketing progression in Social Media.

The logistic business Svenska Retursystem AB was founded by the Swedish retail sector in the year 2000, and their introduction of a grey plastic crate to the supply chain for perishable goods changed the situation for the swedish horticultural sector. The new system revealed several challenges to be tackled by all actors, from the small family firm to the bigger organisations. Whereas the initiative comes from the customer himself, from the horticultural sector ?s point of view, a refusal of the new packing is a hard decision to take. It is however interesting that a comparison between the two systems, shows in favour of the corrugated board boxes, not only concerning environmental aspects but also for economical and ergonomical reasons.

The main purpose of this thesis was to take part of girl?s descriptions and experiences of their treatment for deliberate self-harm and to investigate whether they still experience effects of the treatment today. Our main research questions where; how do the girls describe their experiences of the treatment method, do the girls describe that they still experience any effects of the treatment, and finally how do the girls look back on their treatment today? In order to answer these questions, we carried out eight qualitative telephone interviews with girls that had undergone treatment in a specific treatment centre. We chose to analyze the material from the salutogenic theory and the concepts of SOC (sense of coherence) and with a hermeneutic approach.

This BSc thesis is a part of an initial step of a collaboration between Skansen and Kenyan Wildlife Service (KWS) and constitutes of an inventory of the Nairobi Animal Orphanage run by KWS. Animal Orphanage takes care of orphaned and injured animals arriving from throughout Kenya. The project started out as a refuge and as a temporary place for animals in need of care and help. With time it has evolved to an establishment that resembles and functions more like an animal zoo. The aim of this inventory is to focus on how the biological needs of Congo grey parrots ( Psittacus erithacus erithacus) and cheetahs (Acinonyx jubatus) are met, in terms of management and housing.