Heat stress negatively influences the performance of dairy cattle such as lactation and reproduction. Heat stress can cause production losses as well as welfare problems. Years of research have shown that heat stress is a huge problem for dairy cattle in both the tropics and temperate zones but no such research have so far been done in northern European countries. It seems like shade is an important tool when improving pasture conditions and therefore deserves more attention. The aim with this study was to investigate whether there is a need of providing shade for grazing dairy cows during the summer in Sweden. Two groups of lactating Swedish Red dairy cows (n=15 per group) were kept on pasture.

Organic material used for biogas production can also undergo other treatments. The emissions and impact from the different treatments are evaluated in this environmental assessment, with a focus on energy and climate. The materials included in the study are organic household waste, slaughterhouse waste and liquid manure. Other than biogas production, the possible treatments for organic household waste and slaughterhouse waste are incineration and composting, and for liquid manure storing and spreading. The analysis is based on data and information from current and relevant literature, and relates to the conditions in the Swedish energy system.

Biogas is a renewable energy produced through anaerobic digestion, which means that organic matter is degraded by microorganisms under anaerobic conditions. The produced biogas can then be used for cogeneration, electricity, heat or upgraded to vehicle gas. Eskilstuna Energy & Environment AB has four digesters at Ekeby water sewage treatment plant, Eskilstuna. One of the biogas reactor (RK4) is equipped with a jet-mixing system while the remaining digester uses top-mixing. The mixing system is an important parameter to achieve optimum operating conditions for the process regarding gas production and degree of digestion.

Projektarbete har blivit en alltmer vanlig företeelse inom moderna organisationer. Nästintill alla organisationer arbetar idag med projekt som ett komplement till den dagliga linjeverksamheten. I dagens samhälle sker förändringar allt snabbare och traditionella riktlinjer inom projektledning visar på brister i hanteringen av denna föränderliga omvärld och den osäkerhet som uppstår på grund av förändringarna. I denna uppsats har vi valt att intervjua ett urval erfarna projektledare inom IT/Telecombranschen. Detta för att utreda hur en föränderlig omvärld och osäkerhet påverkar planering, som traditionellt sker genom att bryta ner projektet i olika faser.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate which the main determinants of capital structure in Swedish listed firms are and to identify which incentives lies behind managers choice of capital structure determinants. Further, the study investigates whether the Post Keynesian theory and theories which incorporate behavioral aspects can be used to explain the capital structure decisions or if the traditional Neoclassical theory give an better explanation. We have used a qualitative method to analyze the determinants of capital structure and the managers incentives behind capital structure decision. We conducted a survey which was sent to 83 Chief Financial Managers and financial executives in Swedish firms listed on Mid Cap or Large Cap. The questionnaire was on-line which enabled for the respondents to quickly and convenient respond.

The Swedish dairy sector is facing several challenges the coming years. One big challenge is how they will secure the access of their raw material milk in the future. The number of milk producers has decreased for an extended period of time, but was for a long time partly compensated by an increased productivity among the remaining milk producers. From year 2000 that trend was broken and also the quantity of milk produced started to fall quickly. Milko is a dairy company with members from Dalsland in the south to Jämtland in the north. During the first seven moths 2007, their number of members decreased by almost a fourth, from 1 272 to 974.

Extreme Production Makeover? fångade vårt intresse för en tid sedan, strax innan vi skulle börja skriva vår C-uppsats. Metoden går ut på att under mycket kort tid förändra och effektivisera en produktionslina för att höja produktiviteten. Vi blev genast nyfikna på om Extreme Production Makeover? skulle gå att omsätta i administrativa flöden och tjänste-flöden med ett informationslogistiskt perspektiv.Inom produktion finns det en lång tradition av att arbeta med effektiviseringar och förbättringar.

The heterosis effect and breed group effect of crossbreds between Swedish Holstein (SH) and Swedish Red (SRB) was estimated in this study. Observations on cows born between 1990 and 2012 were used to estimate the heterosis effect and breed group effect for several traits included in the Nordic breeding goals: production, fertility, udder health, calving performance, survival and other diseases. Breeding within the Holstein dairy breed has earlier been focused on increased milk production and conformation. This, combined with an intensive use of individual animals, has resulted in a radical increase of milk yield in the Holstein dairy cow population all over the world. However, this breeding strategy has resulted in increased inbreeding and several functional traits have impaired.

This report is a thesis work for a B.Sc. in Forestry exam at the School for Forest Engineers, SLU. The work was an assignment from Sydved Energy AB. The aim of the work was to compare the operational productivity between two kinds of forwarders for extraction of harvesting residues, one forwarder with a special compression device and one ordinary, slightly modified forwarder. Two sites were studied for each forwarder. The study shows that the annual production was about 11,000 m3 higher for the traditional forwarder. The cost for the traditional forwarder was SEK 0.9 lower per m3.

This report is a literature review that aims to describe marketing contexts for mango production in Kenya. The institutional conditions in the country are not well developed for marketing purposes, which causes many difficulties and problems for the society. In Kenya most mango producers are poor small-scale farmers with limited resources. Mango is a perishable commodity and to keep its value and quality it is essential to have the opportunity to sell the mangos in the right time. Inefficient and undeveloped infrastructure and marketing systems hinders the mangos to reach the market in time though, which causes large losses of produce.The Kenyan mango production has increased during the last decade but due to market losses for the producer, the small-scale farmers? profits have not improved.

Optimizing energy systems is, in Sweden, as in many other countries, of growing interest. District heating systems are no exception. In 2012, 285 out of 290 municipals in Sweden had district heating in use and the majority of these systems have a higher return temperature than that which is possible with an error-free substation of day current technology. To, when possible, lower the return temperature is a way of increasing the effectiveness of the district heating system.This study means to investigate, through simulations and calculations, how big of a reduction in production cost a lower temperature in the city of Ystad?s district heating system would correspond to.

?Development of methods for the planning and implementation of ditch clearing with modern methods?, is a long title for an exam work but that is what this report describes. In Sweden, we have a limited area available, and with the present development with increasing market oil prices, and enormous forces on the renewable energy sources, we need every hectare possible to protect the output of the forests. So with this in mind, many people are now considering how to increase the production of the forests that are already available. A part of production increases is to manage the existing forests, and not to allow this area to go to cultivation or become marshland. We manage our forests in a way that benefits the environment, and we consider that our working practice over the years has shown us to be correct and well functioning. A part of our way of producing forests is to ensure that we have functioning drainage systems in the forest holdings which we administer. The responsible at Holmen Skog requested a good method to make inventories of the drainage systems of Holmen forests. This Degree Project is about ways to identify and implement drainage systems with modern methods. It deals with authorities regulations, and how they operate in different counties.

This study deals with the technical and economic feasibility of replacing the nuclear power plant reactor Ringhals 3 with a biofuel power plant. A technical investigation has been executed to determine which of the systems and components that could be reused and which ones would need to be replaced. The investment costs of the reconstruction have also been estimated. The cost of the electricity production has been calculated as well as the emissions of the new biofuel power plant. Based on the established rate of return, the lowest average spot price of electricity that makes the investment profitable has been calculated.

During 2007 the City of Stockholm installed five grid connected photovoltaic systems. The aim of this master thesis is to quantify the amount of produced energy and recommend routines to collect and analyse production data, to make production data accessible by the public and to gain experience for future installations.The total amount of produced energy until March 2009 is 227 000 kWh, with an annual rate of 150 000 kWh. The expected annual rate was 148 000 kWh.All system owners are positive about their plants and see economical benefits in scaling up such systems.The installations need very little attendance and maintenance, however it is recommended that an alarm function is installed for automatic feedback in case of a system failure. All future systems should be inspected during full operation to determine if the actual capacity is matching the installed capacity..

The main aim of this thesis is to introduce a normative perspective to surveillance studies. I examine how the use of videocameras or CCTV-systems can create a social sorting and, then, try to answer why it ought to be reconstructed based on a normative study.For the empirical analysis I use Foucaults theory about the panopticon, maintained by the psychological subjection of the common citizen in the modern world, together with Lianos theory of a more socio-cultural surveillance in the post-modern world. The empirical examination is, furthermore, guided by a theory that describes the construction of the stranger, which today, is not explicitly excluded, because everyone is a stranger in some way, but rather depicted as the other due to institutionalization.The post-modern society today can no longer be built upon a common or divine moral or norm. Thus, I have chosen a normative method, using a deliberative democracy derived from Habermas, focusing on the communicative practice, that can engage and include every citizen in a democratic process. This is necessary for both deciding whether videocameras should be installed and whom and why some should be under surveillance ? to avoid a social sorting that both can constitute and undermine social trust and increase the gap between the governing and the governed..