In the latest edition of NRC (2007) the feeding recommendations for Ca and P to growing horses were increased with 35 and 25 %, respectively, based on results from a Canadian study showing that daily endogenous fecal losses of Ca and P were greater than previously suggested. A Ca absorption efficiency of 50 % is used for all horses. However, the true absorption efficiency might be as high as 70 % in young horses. P absorption efficiency is assumed to be higher for growing horses because their diets are often supplemented with inorganic P. Thus, an efficiency of 45 % is used for growing horses as compared to 35 % for mature horses.

Decomposition of organic matter is a critical process in the ecosystem, which involves many essential biotic and physical parts. Decomposition is therefore an important process both above and below ground. The rate of decomposition is dependent of many environmental factors for example: pH, moisture and supply of oxygen. The decomposition can therefore be affected by large scaled environmental influences, such as acidification and climatic changes. The root litter in the forest is in different ways affected by acidification, liming and manuering.

This thesis aims to present the essential background on how to perform climate changeimpact assessments, and to present the results from a climate impact assessment on waterbalance and nitrate leaching for an arable Swedish soil. The soil is a sandy soil in southwesternSweden, grown with spring cereals. This study is meant to be a benchmark example,and cannot be seen as a regional or national assessment for Sweden, rather as an approachto present and analyze the most important parts of these kinds of assessments.A dynamical simulation model (COUP, Jansson and Karlberg, 2004) was used for thisstudy. The model was parameterized and calibrated against data from an experimental site,located in Mellby in Hallands county, south western Sweden. Measurements were carriedout between 1st of April 1988 and 1st of April 1991.

This thesis aims to present the essential background on how to perform climate changeimpact assessments, and to present the results from a climate impact assessment on waterbalance and nitrate leaching for an arable Swedish soil. The soil is a sandy soil in southwesternSweden, grown with spring cereals. This study is meant to be a benchmark example,and cannot be seen as a regional or national assessment for Sweden, rather as an approachto present and analyze the most important parts of these kinds of assessments.A dynamical simulation model (COUP, Jansson and Karlberg, 2004) was used for thisstudy. The model was parameterized and calibrated against data from an experimental site,located in Mellby in Hallands county, south western Sweden. Measurements were carriedout between 1st of April 1988 and 1st of April 1991.

The eutrophication of inshore seas, lakes and watercourses is mainly due to leaching of nitrogen and phosphorus (P) from agriculture. Many efforts are made to reduce the lea-kage of phosphorus in Sweden and the Baltic Sea countries. Phosphorus is also a finite resource and the mining of good quality raw material gets more and more difficult. Se-dimentation dams in combination with filters is one relatively new method to separate P from run-off and drainage water from agricultural land. This study was a part of an IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute?s project which tests the capacity and func-tion for separation of phosphorus in four phosphorus filters.

The objective of this thesis is to explore opportunities to enhance the phosphorus use efficiencyof inorganic fertilizers in crop production, with techniques available today and in thefuture. Phosphorus is a finite resource of declining quality; therefore a phosphorus use efficiencyin crop production of only 15-30 % is unacceptable. The main reason for low efficiencyis the retention by Ca and Mg in calcareous soils and Fe and Al in non-calcareoussoils. Due to the low mobility of phosphorus, plant uptake is mainly dependent on root growthrather than diffusion. Therefore, measurements need to be taken that benefit contact betweenroot and fertilizer, before fertilizer phosphorus becomes unavailable to the plant.

The following study aims to investigate the environmental conditions of the harbor of Sk?rhamn, a small fishing community on the west coast of Sweden. The interest to do so rose as a newly built apartment residence failed to connect the sewage pipes of 18 apartments, causing the untreated sewage running into the sea. The parameters accounted for are the C/N ratio, total organic carbon (TOC) as well as total nitrogen present (TN) and ?13C in the top ten centimeters of a sediment core retrieved in the Sk?rhamn harbour.

In the last years people has become more aware of issues regarding corporate social responsibility. This has led to a more thorough control of big multinational companies, which are often held account of violating social, ethical and environmental values. The term most often used for this is corporate social responsibility (CSR). H&M is a Swedish multinational company and the concept of H&M is fashion to a low price. The material most often used in producing clothes is cotton.

Dietary patterns has varied throughout history, both due to resource and cultural limitations. In this thesis, a study was conducted to establish the dietary patterns of eight individuals from an early Midieaval gravesite in Rambodal, Östergötland, in order to explain why they were buried there. This was done through stable isotope analysis on collagen extracted from bone and tooth on the buried individuals. The analysis showed that these indviduals had a diet that was mainly based on freshwater fish. This suggests that these people may have been christians, due to the fact that fish was not regarded as meat and therefore you did not have to abstain from it during periods of fasting.

The aim of the literature review was to illuminate the importance of nutritional management to patients who have sustained a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and describe nurses responsibility and meaningful function in the nutritional support. TBI patients tend to be associated with hypermetabolism and hypercatabolism, resulting in negative nitrogen balances. The results reveal increased energy expenditure and assessments of needs energy requirements at the TBI patients. This study determining the route of feeding: enteral versus parenteral nutrition. Furthermore describes complications associated with enteral feeding.

This thesis calculates and compares the values of improved environmental quality due to future possible investment alternatives in biogas production facilities at Käppalaförbundets Reningsverk (Käppala Sewage Treatment Works) in an attempt to determine which alternative yields the highest such value. Käppala faces three investment alternatives for the usage of biogas. The alternatives are production of vehicle fuel, district heating and thirdly, heat and power production. Estimates of the value of environmental change are calculated for each of the three investment alternatives, and these estimates are then compared. The environmental change in question is the change in discharge levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particle matter.

The aim of this thesis was to examine if it is possible to keep nitrogen in the form of nitrate(NO3-) in ponds from one season to another by keeping a high concentration of oxygen in thepond water. This hypothesis was tested by doing a lab experiment where two systems werecompared according to nitrate concentration. One system had high concentration of oxygen inthe water and one had low concentration of oxygen. Before the main experiment wasconducted I did a pilot study to test the system setup and included parameters. The result fromthis study and the main study did not show the same result.

The aim of the study was to investigate if methane emission in a constructed wetland changed in a diurnal pattern correlating to temperature, humidity or light conditions. The gas measurements were carried out with a static chamber technique. The wetland (in Nykvarn outside of Linköping, Sweden) takes care of wastewater to reduce the nitrogen loads. Measurements were carried out at three different occasions in the summer of 1998 on two sites in the wetland. One site was close to the inflow, inhabited by Lemnaceae, and another site was located further downstream inhabited by the emergent macrophyte Typha latifolia.

Selenium (Se) is an essential trace element that is involved in several physiological functions in mammals. Mostly, Se is bound to proteins, many of them with enzymatic functions. A group of seleno-depending enzymes, glutathione peroxidases (GSH-Px?s), are important as antioxidants and protects against free radicals. The activity of GSH-Px is strongly regulated by Se storage in the liver.

Eutrophication of the Baltic Sea and Swedish lakes remains a major problem despite many years of effort to reduce the emissions of nutrients. One major source is waste water systems, especially private sewage systems. These sewages accounts for a very large share of nutrients per capita in comparison with citizens connected to larger sewage treatment plants. Norrtälje community has the greatest number of private sewage systems in Sweden. Discharges of nutrients, especially phosphorus, to the Baltic Sea from these sewage systems are significant.