African swine fever, ASF, was first described 1921, in Kenya. The virus has thereafter spread through many African countries as well as in Europe, Asia, South- and Central America. The virus is spread via three different cycles, of which one is sylvatic and includes warthogs and soft ticks. The other two are between domestic pigs and the one most common one is caused by humans, who not always realize the seriousness of precautions. The infection manifests as hemorrhagic fever, but can also be more or less unnoticed. The aim of this study was to use molecular tools to detect and partly genetically characterize ASFV both in soft ticks and in serum from domestic pigs in Uganda. Comparing viruses detected in ticks with those detected in domestic pigs I also wanted to investigate possible links between the sylvatic and domestic cycle.

?Tollarsjuka? is a disease with a suspected immunopathological background seen in Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers. Pyrexia, lameness, stiffness and joint- or musclepain are typical clinical signs. The purpose of this study is to describe case histories from dogs with a possible evidence of ?tollarsjuka?. 18 private dogs were included in this report. Generalised stiffness, lameness and fatigue were the most frequent manifestations of the disease.

In Uganda, small scale pig production plays a major role for households to earn a living and to secure their access to meat. Piglet mortality due to diar-rhoea-related dieseases is high. In an attempt to understand the underlying causes for this high mortality this study aims to investigate the role of trans-missible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) and is a part of a larger project con-ducted at Makerere university in Uganda. A complicating factor in this investigation is the porcine respiratory corona-virus (PRCV), a stabile mutant form of the TGE virus. The occurrence of this virus had shown to alter the impact of TGEV in e.g. Europe and North Amer-ica.

Itraconazole is a third generation azol, a fungicide which acts by inhibiting ergerosterol synthesis in the fungal cell membrane, and thereby disturbing fungal regeneration. It has proven to be less toxic, to have a broader spectrum of activity and to be more potent than its predecessor ketoconazole. Itraconazole is only available in therapheutics approved for human use. Pharmacokinetic studies has been performed in humans, dogs, cats and laboratory animals. Although itraconazole has been used tentatively with good effect against fungal infections in horses, no pharmacokinetic studies have yet been done.

Protein is an important component in various milk products and has a crucial role in the final quality. Excluding non-protein nitrogen, bovine milk contains about 3.3% protein whereas about 80% of this fraction consists of casein. There are four major members in the casein family: ?s1-casein, ?s2- casein, ?-casein and ?-casein. Proteolytic enzymes are the cause of degradation of the economically important milk proteins.

Uganda has the largest pig population in east Africa, and most of the animals are owned by smallholders. Infectious diseases among pigs have a devastating impact on the livelihood of these farmers, which are dependent on the proceeds from pig rearing. In a metagenomics study of the wild pig species bushpig (Potamochoerus larvatus), the porcine viruses Torque teno sus virus (TTSuV) 1and 2 and Porcine parvovirus 4 (PPV4) were detected. TTSuV1 and 2 are ubiquitous in the world?s swine population, and PPV4 has been found in USA and China, but neither of them has been studied in Africa previously.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva riskfaktorer som påverkade uppkomsten av trycksår samt de vanligaste förekommande preventiva åtgärderna. Vidare var syftet att beskriva sjuksköterskans roll vid förebyggandet samt behandlingen av trycksår. De vetenskapliga artiklar (n=21) som ingick i studien söktes manuellt samt datoriserat via databaserna Blackwell Synergy, CHINAL, Elin@Dalarna och Elsiever. Inklusionskriterierna var att de skulle vara vetenskapliga samt av kvalitativ och kvantitativ design. Även litteraturstudier inkluderades.

The aim of the project was to study the effect of oral administration of glucose and leucin on the resynthesis of muscle glycogen after intense exercise in Standardbred trotters. In a crossover design, 11 Standardbred trotters performed a standardized exercise test on two occasions in order to deplete muscle glycogen. The exercise test comprised a warm up period, 7 repeated bouts of exercise on an uphill 500 m slope, and a recovery period. After the exercise test horses received: 1) a solution of glucose and leucine via a nasogastric tube at 0 minutes and at 240 minutes post exercise and a single bout of glucose at 120 minutes post exercise or 2) water (placebo) at 0, 120 and 240 minutes. Blood samples for measurement of glucose and insulin concentrations were collected at rest, when the horses returned to the stables directly after exercise and throughout the 6 hour recovery phase. During the first recovery hour, samples were collected every 15 minutes and then every 30 minutes over the next 5 hours.

This thesis has been performed at Clinical Chemistry at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg. The purpose of the project was to investigate new and alternative ways to determinate synthetic cannabinoids by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Currently, the possibilities to quantify synthetic cannabinoids are very limited. This can lead to an increased use of synthetic cannabinoids as the risk of detection is low, which may be known by drug users. The synthetic cannabinoids are sold mixed with different herbs and have varying names like Spice Gold, Spice Silver, K2, Smoke and Pot-pourri.The synthetic cannabinoids analyzed were JWH-018 and JWH-073, which are commonly found in seized Spice material.

Sweden's drinking water quality is considered to be high partly due to a high quality of the raw water and a well developed sewage infrastructure. Despite this, there is water contamination that could be prevented by installation of a sophisticated early warning system. Some of the major players in the production of drinking water have already invested in different types of early warning systems to ensure drinking water of high quality. There are various forms of early warning systems where automatic monitoring of E. Coli is an interesting alternative.

Schmallenberg virus (SBV) is a novel arthropod-borne orthobunyavirus emerging in Europe in 2011 to 2012. Acute SBV infection causes diarrhoea, fever and reduced milk production in dairy cattle, but it is mainly the reproductive disorders (abortions, malformed foetuses and stillborn animals) in ruminants that have caused substantial economical losses. The prevalence of the virus outside of Europe is poorly investigated. SBV or SBV-like antibodies were detected in Mozambique in 2013, which raised interest for a similar study in Tanzania. In this study in Tanzania, blood samples were collected from 478 sheep and goats from 39 herds in 15 different villages in three districts, covering areas in the north, south and east of Tanzania. The epidemiology of the virus was investigated by tracing antibodies by ELISA and mapping of the virus by PCR was started.

Diabetes mellitus is characterised by persistent hyperglycemia in all species. Fructosamine is a glycated protein reflecting blood glucose concentration during the preceding weeks. It has become a valuable analysis to differentiate persistent hyperglycemia from transient stress induced hyperglycemia in cats. It is also used to evaluate current therapy in diabetic patients. Although fructosamine is a well accepted analysis, it is sometimes regarded with scepticism.

Mast cells have for a long time been known to accumulate around tumors (Maltby et al., 2009). Studies show that they may be important and sometimes essential in tumor angiogenesis, tumor growth and metastasis of tumors (Soucek, et al., 2007; Xiang et al., 2010). In an expression array study (Wensman et al, submitted manuscript) performed on mouse mast cells exposed to tumor conditioned medium, the gene 4-1BB was among the most up-regulated genes compared to control medium. 4-1BB codes for a membrane receptor protein of the tumor necrosis factor superfamily and has been shown to be important in T cell regulation in tumor diseases. This study was performed to investigate if human mast cells up-regulate 4-1BB when they get exposed to tumor conditioned medium.

To date, the genus Helicobacter consist of 26 different species and even more species are yet to be characterized. Helicobacter has been detected in connection with diseases in the liver and pancreas in humans and animals. Helicobacter spp. are gram negative, curved, S-shaped or spiral shaped bacteria. They are microaerophilic and have flagella that make them motile. Helicobacter, present in the gastric mucosa neutralize the gastric acid through production of urease that hydrolyses urea to ammonia and bicarbonate.

Försämrat immunförsvar och ökad risk att drabbas av bakterie- och virusinfektioner förekommer hos patienter med blodsjukdomarna multipelt myelom, Waldenströms makroglobulinemi samt hos vissa patienter med blodsjukdomen monoklonal gammopati av oklar signifikans. Infektionerna kräver ofta antibiotikabehandling och behandling med antivirala medel. I dagsläget är det svårt att förutsäga vilka av patienterna som kommer att drabbas av svåra och ibland livshotande infektioner. Därför ges många av patienterna förebyggande antibiotikabehandling.I studiens början sattes en enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) för detektion av antikroppar mot Moraxella catarrhalis upp. I studien undersöktes om antikroppstitrar i serum mot bakterien Moraxella catarrhalis var lägre hos patientgrupperna än hos friska kontrollpersoner i samma ålder och om variationer förekom mellan patientgrupperna samt hur kontrollgrupper i olika åldrar skiljde sig från varandra.