Recording and analyses of superovulation results and fertility records at the nucleus herd Viken The development of different reproductive technologies aim at increasing the number of progeny per individual parent, and in that improving the possibility of genetic progress. One technique, embryo transfer, have facilitated genetic dissemination and shortened the generation interval also in females. Nötcenter Viken is a company that run embryo collection and embryo transfer in the breeds Swedish Red and Swedish Holstein. It is located outside Falköping. Information is continuously gathered about cows tested at the nucleus herd.

Farmers? main reason for crossbreeding dairy cows is that they have seen a decline in functional traits, especially in the Holstein breed. Throughout crossbreeding, the farmers can combine functional and production traits of different dairy breeds and utilize the heterosis effects which emerge when two or more breeds are crossed. Results from different studies with Holstein crossed with Jersey, Brown Swiss, Normande and Scandinavian Red have shown that the crosses had higher fertility, longer productive life, had fewer stillborn calves and had easier calvings than purebred Holstein. The Holstein crosses have shown very good results and sometimes even better than the purebred Holstein for fat production, which gave higher amount of energy corrected milk (ECM) and higher income for the farmers.

AbstractThe main purpose of this study is to examine which essential traits floorball coaches for men?s and women?s team require. One issue was to see if there was any distinction between which leader traits and behaviors the players and the coaches regarded as essential. Another issue was to see if the coaches? behaviors differed whether he was coaching men or women.

Genomic selection (GS) is used for selection of breeding animals of dairy cattle. GS is though not as extensively used within the beef industry. One reason for that is the low accuracy (rTI) of the breeding value that is of great importance for the final genetic gain. Causes to the low accuracy are high effective population size, a small reference population and a genetically differentiated population. There is however a market for genomic selection with High Density (HD) tests for beef cattle.

In today?s genetic evaluation of Swedish beef cattle, mainly traits that are directly related to productivity are measured. However, other traits, such as temperament and mature cow weight affect the economy of the farmer, as well as the welfare of the animals. This thesis evaluates possible ways of measuring new traits, with focus on temperament and mature weight of suckler cows. The goal is to examine the possible benefits of including these traits in the Swedish breeding scheme.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to examine if there is any gender role stereotyping conveyed in recent children?s picture books. The picture books examined are the ten most popular which are selected by a combination of Bokjuryn in Sweden, 2005, and children voting. Furthermore there is a winner each year. The investigation concerns how protagonists, girls and boys, are portrayed and, moreover, if there are any breaches of traditional gender patterns.

Genetic parameters for four leg conformation traits in dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are in this literature review summarized to investigate whether selective breeding could be useful to improve purebred dogs´ health and welfare. The four traits are leg length, leg weakness, hip joint and elbow joint conformation. When summarized, the genetic parameters are compared with genetic parameters affecting in pigs (Sus scrofa). Of the four traits, hip and elbow conformations were mostly studied in dogs. However, these traits were not widely studied in pigs.

The purpose of this study was to examine how five mothers experience and cope with theloss of their adult children and also how this loss affect the mothers. We chose a qualitativemethod using semistructured interviews. We used Lazarus and Folkman?s coping theoryand Folkman?s revised coping theory in our analysis. The results showed that the mothers?experiences were very individual.

The purposes of this study were to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for conformation traits in Swedish Ardenner, a heavy draught horse, and to investigate the inbreeding status of the population. Additionally, a breeding scheme proposal was created, based on the results achieved in the study. The data studied were obtained from the Swedish Horse Board and from the Swedish Ardenner Association. The data included 1632 three-year-old horses, mainly mares, and 356 stallions, judged between 1986 and 2005 at conformation shows. The traits studied were type, head-neck-body, legs, walk and trot at hand, total score and height at withers.

For centuries inbreeding has been used to refine traits in dogs, making desired traits more hereditary and thereby, different breeds have been invented. Breed standards have been written for each of these breeds, describing in detail the different characteristics of each breed. When humans start to choose which animal to breed from, so called artificial selection, taste is put before function and the laws of nature, the natural selection, cease to apply. During this development, pedigree dogs have gone towards more and more extreme exterior characteristics and the dogs may have inherited various, more or less, severe problems for example compromised vision, impaired ability to move and difficulties to breathe. However they can still survive and reproduce because humans provide them with the conditions to do so.

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study was to give an overview of the evidence for genomic imprinting in livestock and other mammals as well as outline the potential use of gene imprinting in livestock breeding. Epigenetics is the mitotical and meiotical partial hereditary variation in genomic activity without any alterations of the DNA sequence. An example of epigenetic regulation is genomic imprinting where one allele?s expression differs depending on which parent it was inherited from. These parent-of-origin effects are currently overlooked in livestock production.

The pig industry suffers economical loss due to stillbirths, piglet mortality and low birth weight. This is due to breeding programs that have resulted in larger litters. It has been suggested that these problems are due to the metabolic state of the sow during gestation and the fact that she might not be able to supply her foetuses with enough nutrients for survival and a high and even birth weight. A lot of research has been done to investigate whether body weight and back fat thickness of the sow has any impact on her reproductive traits and if there are any special feed components that improve reproduction. Fibers and unsaturated fatty acids have a positive impact on reproductive traits as long as the sow is fed a sufficient amount of energy and protein during gestation and lactation.

Some children develop externalizing and internalizing behavior problems at an early age. Previous research has often treated these children as a homogeneous group, the purpose of this study is to show that this group of children is in fact heterogeneous. Data from theSOFIAstudy was used and preschool pedagogues were informants. The sample contained 2121 boys and girls between 3-5 years. Groups of children with the behavior problems and the risk factors AD/HD symptoms, fearlessness and callous-unemotional traits were created.

En majoritet bland ledare i olika organisationer har en bakgrund som storasyskon eller ensambarn (Hudson, 1990). Denna studie genomfördes för att få svar på om personer med ledaransvar skiljer sig åt gällande syskonplats och locus of control jämfört med de personer som inte har ledaransvar. Ledare och medarbetare på en statlig myndighet svarade på en enkät gällande plats i syskonskara, erfarenhet av ledarskap och locus of control. Resultatet visade att sistfödda i detta urval hade en högre grad av intern locus of control än förstfödda vilket kan tyda på en annan typ av sistfödd på denna myndighet. Urvalet var dock bristfälligt (N = 48) och slutsats kunde inte dras utan att riskera ett felaktigt resultat..

In order to get a better understanding of the interaction between employees and their technical work tools one needs to know what factors influence the interaction. The purpose of this study was to examine if there is a correlation between the personality traits Extraversion (E) and Neuroticism (N), tested with Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI), and experience of the new Intranet among employees at The Swedish National Transport Administration (SNTA), and also to gather information of employees? opinions about the new Intranet. A survey, containing questions about the Intranet and a personality test (EPI), was posted on SNTA?s Intranet for eight workdays (N = 88, females = 53, males = 35).