Promoters are genetic elements that facilitate the transcription of a gene and they have been found in front of non-coding RNA (ncRNA) genes in different organ-isms, e.g. the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. A similar element, DUSE, has been found in front of ncRNAs in the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum and a part of this project has been to analyze the function of this putative promoter element through cloning and expression studies. A construct to analyze the func-tion of DUSE was successfully designed and introduced into D. discoideum but full expression studies were not finished because of shortage of time.

Chlamydia is a sexually transmitted infection. The infection rates have increased in the last decade. During 2008 the trend rates declined in all counties and regions in Sweden. Chlamydia infections have a geographical spatial pattern differences. This is seen from the national surveillance data report from the Swedish Institute for infectious disease control (SMI).

The Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) causes bronchiolitis and interstitial pneumonia, predominantly in calves, and is a major cause of bovine respiratory disease worldwide. In humans, BRSV is paralleled by the closely related Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), an important cause of respiratory disease, most severe in infants.The clinical signs and pathology during RSV infection is caused, not only by the direct effects of viral replication, but also by the response of the host immune system. The immunopathology of RSV has long obfuscated our understanding of the disease, and development of effective treatment and vaccines will be very difficult until greater knowledge is gained.One of the components of the immune system that has come into focus in RSV research the last few years, is the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). The TLR4 receptor is well known as the receptor that binds lipopolysaccaride (LPS), and initiates the host response to bacterial infection. Recently, it has been shown that the fusion protein of RSV also interacts with, and up-regulates the expression of, the TLR4 receptor.

Background: Urinary tract infections caused by indwelling urinary catheters causes unneccesay suffering among those it affects. These infections are also financially straining on the health care services. It is therefore of importance to gain knowledge about which evidence based preventive interventions that have the possibility to reduce the risk for bacteriuria and urinary tract infections among patients with indwelling urinary catheters. Aim: This study aimed to compile available knowledge concerning i) if silver alloy catheters does reduce bacteriuria in this patient group, ii) if aseptic catheterization does reduce bacteriuria in this patientgroup, iii) which routines for changing the urinary drainage bag reduces the risk of bacteriuria, iv) which routine genital hygenic care reduces the risk of bacteriuria? Method: Litterature was searched for in the data bases Cinahl, Medline and The Cochrane Library using the data bases? thesaurius combined with OR/AND.

Drinking water from drilled wells has a high content of iron and other minerals in many places in Sweden. Questions about the association between the quality of drinking water and the health of dairy cows are regulary asked both by advisers and dairy farmers. There are so far not many studies published about the relevance for high iron content in water and dairy cow health and production. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate if there is a connection between the iron content in water and the health of dairy cows. Initially a literature study was made about iron and it´s function in ruminants.

The Bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) causes bronchiolitis and interstitial pneumonia, predominantly in calves, and is a major cause of bovine respiratory disease worldwide. In humans, BRSV is paralleled by the closely related Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV), an important cause of respiratory disease, most severe in infants.The clinical signs and pathology during RSV infection is caused, not only by the direct effects of viral replication, but also by the response of the host immune system. The immunopathology of RSV has long obfuscated our understanding of the disease, and development of effective treatment and vaccines will be very difficult until greater knowledge is gained.One of the components of the immune system that has come into focus in RSV research the last few years, is the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4). The TLR4 receptor is well known as the receptor that binds lipopolysaccaride (LPS), and initiates the host response to bacterial infection. Recently, it has been shown that the fusion protein of RSV also interacts with, and up-regulates the expression of, the TLR4 receptor.

Background: Urinary tract infections caused by indwelling urinary catheters causes unneccesay suffering among those it affects. These infections are also financially straining on the health care services. It is therefore of importance to gain knowledge about which evidence based preventive interventions that have the possibility to reduce the risk for bacteriuria and urinary tract infections among patients with indwelling urinary catheters. Aim: This study aimed to compile available knowledge concerning i) if silver alloy catheters does reduce bacteriuria in this patient group, ii) if aseptic catheterization does reduce bacteriuria in this patientgroup, iii) which routines for changing the urinary drainage bag reduces the risk of bacteriuria, iv) which routine genital hygenic care reduces the risk of bacteriuria? Method: Litterature was searched for in the data bases Cinahl, Medline and The Cochrane Library using the data bases? thesaurius combined with OR/AND.

Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV) is a common cause of respiratory disease among young cattle. The virus causes severe losses; the herd mortality rate can sometimes be as high as 20 %. In this study the avidity (i.e the antigen binding force) of BRSV specific antibodies was measured to see if there was a difference between antibodies produced during an acute phase of infection and antibodies produced by earlier infected animals. A commercially available ELISA-testkit against BRSV-specific antibodies was used and an incubation step with 6M urea was added. The effect of the urea is that it breaks the weak bonds between antibodies and antigen while the stronger bonds remain intact. Four different groups of animals were included in this study; seven calves that were naturally infected, three acutely infected calves with known time of infection, five cows that were seropositive during several years and four experimentally infected calves that had been a part of a vaccine trial. The results of this study showed that antibodies produced during the acute phase of an infection had a low avidity and that the avidity increased with time after infection.

Every year begomovirus infections cause severe constraints to the tomato production in Nicaragua. Extensive yield losses are followed by large economical losses, both for the country and the single farmer. During recent years the use of begomovirus resistant or tolerant tomato cultivars has increased in Nicaragua as an effort to improve yields. Still, begomovirus infection is a large threat to the tomato production. Therefore, ongoing work in Nicaragua is focusing on finding new, better, begomovirus tolerant or resistant tomato cultivars.

AbstractIntroductionOccurrence of bacteraemia and fungemia is a serious condition with high mortality and the incidence is increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to survey the occurrence of bacteria and fungi in blood cultures from adult patients domiciled in the county of Gävleborg during one year and also to calculate the incidence and mortality in the same geographical area.MethodThis is a descriptive epidemiologic study, based on all episodes of blood cultures analyzed at the Microbiology laboratory, Gävle hospital during 2005. Patients from 20 years of age, domiciled in the county of Gävleborg at the date of drawing the blood culture, where included in the study. Criteria of exclusion were negative blood cultures and cultures which were classified as contaminants.ResultsAltogether there were 4 564 blood cultures analyzed, resulting in 524 (11 %) positive cultures for further study. There were 442 patients (48 % women) involved in 499 episodes with confirmed bacteraemia or fungemia.

Artificial insemination (AI) has had a great influence on the development of pig production and is today widely practiced (Gerrit et al., 2005). With AI, genetic progress can at a short period of time be spread worldwide compared with using natural service and the best boars can be intensively used. This is also one of the biggest risks with AI; the impact of semen containing a genetic disease or contamination of pathogens can be enormous. Fortunately, it is a small risk of disease transmission due to many tests of the boars and the semen before use (Maes et al, 2008). It is important that the boars used for insemination have good breeding values along with good reproduction features and have good fertility results (Robinson et al., 2005).

Artificial insemination (AI) has had a great influence on the development of pig production and is today widely practiced (Gerrit et al., 2005). With AI, genetic progress can at a short period of time be spread worldwide compared with using natural service and the best boars can be intensively used. This is also one of the biggest risks with AI; the impact of semen containing a genetic disease or contamination of pathogens can be enormous. Fortunately, it is a small risk of disease transmission due to many tests of the boars and the semen before use (Maes et al, 2008). It is important that the boars used for insemination have good breeding values along with good reproduction features and have good fertility results (Robinson et al., 2005).

SAMMANFATTNINGSjukhusinfektioner förlänger vårdtiden och fördyrar vården samt innebär ett ökat lidande för patienten. Urinvägsinfektion (UVI) är den vanligaste vårdrelaterade infektionen. Behandling med kateter à démeur (KAD) är omfattande inom akutsjukvården. KAD anses vara den främsta orsaken till vårdrelaterad UVI.Syftet med litteraturstudien var att beskriva faktorer i sjuksköterskans arbete som påverkar incidensen för utvecklandet av kateterassocierad UVI.Underlaget för resultatet utgörs av 24 vetenskapliga artiklar som på manuell och systematisk väg söktes i databaser. Analysen av artiklarna resulterade i sju ämnesområden som utgör delarna i resultatet.

Infection with the bovine lungworm - Dictyocaulus viviparus - is occasionally a problem in Swedish cattle herds. The infection could act in synergism with other infections such as Corona virus to create a poorer welfare and productivity in cattle. Studies have shown that a diagnosis can be made with both the Baermann method and with an ELISA. In Norway diagnosis of BVDV on a herd level is attained through pooled serum samples. The question was raised whether pooled serum samples could be used in a similar fashion to attain status on a herd level for lungworm.

Bakground: Puerperal fever caused by group A Streptococcus is in a global context seen as a common cause of death in childbirth.Aim: To examine the consequences of group A streptococcus infections in women postpartum and to see what a nurse can do to stop the infection with adequate nursing interventions.Method: This is a review built on 15 articles. These articles were read in full and audited with a suitable template.Result: Women postpartum has 20 times higher risk to get group A stretococcus infection as compared to non pregnant. The consequences of Group A Streptococcus infection can lead to high fever, abscesses around the uterus, sepsis, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), hysterectomy and death. Patients who share room with infected patients carries an increased risk to be infected. Curtains between patient beds can be colonized by Group A Streptococcus.