Horses are made to eat mainly roughage and it is essential for optimal health to offer them an appropriate amount of roughage with good hygienic and nutritional qualities. To produce good hay at the right time and be able to keep the hygienic quality until next summer is a problem. This has the effect that horse owners today choose haylage and silage to a larger extent. Science in this area is scarce, i.e. if the change from hay to silage has any effect on the horse.

St. John?s wort extract is composed of a large number of components, about 150, but the most studied and interesting substance are hyperforin and hypericin. The herb is very popular and it is known for its pharmacological efficacy in numerous disorders. It is used for treatment of mild to moderated depression as an alternative to synthetic antidepressants.

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between sleep, photoperiod, milk yield and hormones connected to milk formation. Variations of prolactin (PRL) and Insulin-Like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) in Plasma were measured during two different light programs. The light programs consisted of either 24 hours of light (L24:D0) or four hours of light and 20 hours of darkness (L4:D20). Five cows of the Swedish Red breed were used in a cross-over experiment and each light program consisted of five days. Milk yield was measured at every milking and milk samples were analyzed with regard to fat, lactose and protein.

The research work performed in this thesis has been carried out at the Production Tech-nology Centre where the Thermal Spray research group of University West has its work-shop and labs.This research work has been performed in collaboration with the International Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy and New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, India.First of all, I would like to express my sincere thanks and gratitude to my supervisors Dr. Nicolaie Markocsan and Dr. Nicholas Curry for their guidance, great support and valuable suggestions without which this work could not have been possible. I would also like to thanks Prof. Per Nylén for keeping faith in me and providing me an opportunity to work at PTC, which is a great place to perform research.

The calcium homeostasis in the body is normally strict regulated to be kept within very narrow limits. This regulation is due to the action of parathyroid hormone (PTH) which is synthesized in the chief cells of the parathyroid glands. In different diseases, the calcium homeostasis is disturbed and this could either be due to a dysfunction of the parathyroid gland itself, or it could have a completely different explanation. To investigate disturbed calciumhomeostasis, ionized calcium and PTH can be analyzed from a blood sample. There are a lot of different assays to measure PTH in humans.

Establishing a reference interval for Plasma fibrinogen in foals Fibrinogen concentrations were analysed in EDTA preserved blood Plasma samples from 34 thoroughbred foals born in 2001 and 2002 at one stud farm. The foals were between 0 and 240 days old at the time of the sampling, and there were 19 fillies and 12 stallions in the group. The foals were examined for clinical symptoms of disease and their body temperature was measured before blood was sampled from the jugular vein. From totally 156 blood samples, 31 were selected as originating from clinically healthy foals, and used to determine a reference range for thoroughbred foals. Samples originating from foals showing clinical symptoms of disease or an abnormal body temperature at the time of sampling, were classified as coming from unhealthy animals.

Future emission legislation puts great emphasis on increasing the efficiency of the engine, thereby reducing fuel consumption. The tribological contact between cylinder liner and piston ring is where an great amount of energy is lost due to friction, and by reducing these losses an reduction in fuel consumption can be achieved.The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the tested piston ring coatings against a Plasma sprayed cylinder liner and rank these combinations of materials for friction and wear resistance. The coatings that were tested was Cr + Al2O3, (Al,Cr)N, two types of CrN and WC / C.The experimental tests were performed with a so-called pin-plate, where used oil with addition of an acidic mixture of sulfuric and nitric acid to mimic the acidic condensate formed when exhausts recirculate, were added with a continuous flow. The results were then analyzed by weighing, studies by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and profile measurements.The results from each material combination were that the Plasma coated cylinder liner wears too aggressively in order to yield a ranking of the piston ring coatings based on the parameters of friction and wear resistance. It is therefore proposed that an alternative coating on the cylinder liner should be developed, lacking the large abrasive wear on piston rings and that can withstand the corrosive environment resulting in engines equipped with EGR.

Future emission legislation puts great emphasis on increasing the efficiency of the engine, thereby reducing fuel consumption. The tribological contact between cylinder liner and piston ring is where an great amount of energy is lost due to friction, and by reducing these losses an reduction in fuel consumption can be achieved.The aim of this thesis was to evaluate the tested piston ring coatings against a Plasma sprayed cylinder liner and rank these combinations of materials for friction and wear resistance. The coatings that were tested was Cr + Al2O3, (Al,Cr)N, two types of CrN and WC / C.The experimental tests were performed with a so-called pin-plate, where used oil with addition of an acidic mixture of sulfuric and nitric acid to mimic the acidic condensate formed when exhausts recirculate, were added with a continuous flow. The results were then analyzed by weighing, studies by optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and profile measurements.The results from each material combination were that the Plasma coated cylinder liner wears too aggressively in order to yield a ranking of the piston ring coatings based on the parameters of friction and wear resistance. It is therefore proposed that an alternative coating on the cylinder liner should be developed, lacking the large abrasive wear on piston rings and that can withstand the corrosive environment resulting in engines equipped with EGR.

I detta arbete presenteras en metod för bestämning av fri kotinin och totala mängden kotinin i urin och serum. Metoden bygger på hydrolys av prov (för total bestämning av kotinin) och extraktion i metylenklorid. Bestämning av kotinin har gjorts med HILIC-MS/MS..

In studies of serum, in the early 1930s, from patients with pneumonia, a factor was found. It could agglutinate certain pneumococcal species. This factor, which later became known as C-reactive protein (CRP), increased sharply during the early and middle stages of the disease. CRP was identified as an acute phase protein and found especially in bacterial infections. CRP is synthesized in the liver by stimulation of interleukin 6 (IL-6), which is produced by the monocytes, and consists of five non-covalently bound subunits.The aim of this study was to compare two different analytical instruments (Vitros 5.1 FS Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics and QuikRead CRP Orion Diagnostica) for CRP analysis.

Det finns en direkt koppling mellan den allt högre mjölkavkastningen hos våra mjölkraser SRB och SLB och vissa reproduktionsstörningar. Posten fruktsamhet är idag den största utslagsorsaken i kokontrollen. Högre produktionsnivåer leder till kortare och mer svårupptäckta brunster eller t o m till att brunst helt uteblir. Det tar också längre tid för kon att komma i brunst efter kalvning. Allra tydligast ses detta hos gruppen förstakalvare.

Det finns en direkt koppling mellan den allt högre mjölkavkastningen hos våra mjölkraser SRB och SLB och vissa reproduktionsstörningar. Posten fruktsamhet är idag den största utslagsorsaken i kokontrollen. Högre produktionsnivåer leder till kortare och mer svårupptäckta brunster eller t o m till att brunst helt uteblir. Det tar också längre tid för kon att komma i brunst efter kalvning. Allra tydligast ses detta hos gruppen förstakalvare.

Det fanns från 2000 ett förbud i Sverige mot att tillföra syntetiskt framställda vitaminer till foderstaten för ekologiska idisslare enligt EU-förordning 1804/1999. Efter förbudet har en generell dispens varit gällande för att kunna tillgodose vitaminbehovet. Vitaminbrist och hälsa har ett starkt samband och det finns därför ett stort intresse av ytterligare forskning om behovet av vitaminer till idisslaren. Från den 1 januari 2006 är det tillåtet enligt ny lag att ge syntetiska vitaminer till ekologiska idisslare (SJVFS 2005:92). En av de viktigaste vitaminerna för kor är vitamin D.

This study was a degree in Master of Science in agriculture with specialization in animal science for the Department of animal nutrition and management at SLU. The subject was created by AS-Faktor, a small company for science and development within the company Lantmännen AB. It was a test of the effect of SPC (Special Processed Cereals) on induction of the endogenous protein AF (an antisecretory factor) in Plasma and intestinal lumen in broilers. Previous results have shown positive effects on different intestinal diseases in pigs, horses, dogs as well as in humans. Beside the induction we also studied the effects on results in a conventional slaughter chicken production, including the ability of SPC to compete with or be affected by the coccidiostat, Salinomax.When diarrhoea occurs, it's because there is an imbalance between the secretion and the absorption and it can be caused by for example toxins.

Arbetet handlar om blodbank för hund och katt, det innehåller information om bloddonator, blodtappning, rutiner vid hantering av blodprodukter, vad det finns för blodprodukter och deras användningsområden, samt blodtransfusion och transfusionsreaktioner. För att bli bloddonator ska vissa kriterier uppfyllas, donatorn ska vara frisk, ha bra temperament, uppnå en viss vikt, ha bra blodvärden, inte bära på smittsamma sjukdomar med mera. Vid blodtappning på hund används oftast slutna humansystem, medans man på katt använder små specialanpassade system. Antikoagulantia och näringslösningar används i systemen så att blodet inte ska koagulera samt att blodprodukten ska få längre hållbarhets tid. Det är viktigt att blodtappningen sker med hög aseptik så risken för bakteriekontamination blir så liten som möjligt.