Perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) are ubiquitous in the environment today and they have been detected even in remote areas such as the Arctic. PFASs can be transported by the atmosphere and ocean currents but the transport mechanism is not fully understood. PFASs may be harmful to organisms due to their persistence in the environment, bio-accumulation potential and toxicity. Studies have shown that PFASs can cause adverse effects on the metabolism as well as the endocrine- and reproduction systems in organisms. In this study, PFASs were investigated in glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus) (n=5) and black guillemot (Cepphus grylle) (n=4) from Svalbard.

AbstractThis thesis is the final part of the Innovation and Design Engineering Programme (180 ECTS credits)at the Faculty of Health, Nature and Engineering Science at Karlstad University. The extent of thisthesis is 22.5 ECTS credits and has been performed independently by Hannes Jernberg during thespring of 2013. Metso Paper Karlstad AB is the task maker of this project, and Arvid Johansson is thecompany Representative. Metso Paper Karlstad AB is one of the world leading developer andmanufacturer of tissue paper machines.In the current situation, the company has developed and patented a power management systembased on a Cross Flow Turbine. The current construction is limited to a paper width of 2.9 meters.The company wants to take advantage of all the opportunities provided by the patents, to develop aturbine solution paper machine with a paper width that is wider than 5.5 meters, and give the abilityto manufacture paper for lower energy consumption which is an important part of the production asit is very energy intensive.Problems arise with the increasing length of the turbine, ultimately resulting in that the deflectionbecomes too big and that the momentums, due to the increased torque the turbine blades breaks.By applying the design process, this work has resulted in a number of potential solutions to theproblem.

Peat  lands  are  a  great  potential  resource  for  increased  forest  growth  in  Sweden, there  are  approximately  6.5  million  hectares  of  peat  lands,  whereof  around  70% produce less wood than one m3sk/ha and year and are therefore classed as forest waste  land.  There  are  over  200  000  hectares  of  peat  land  that  is  already  drained and  wooded,  and  that may  be  suitable  for  fertilization.  Forest  production  on  peat soils  usually  requires  drainage  and  fertilization.  Dewatering  requires  ditching  the area, so that the roots can have access to oxygen. Nitrogen is often abundant in the peat but other nutrients; especially potassium is in short supply. The  purpose  of  this  work  was  to examine  the effects  of  potassium  fertilization  on the  growth  of  spruces  that  were  planted  on  drained  peat  land  and  how  different amount of fertilizers affects the growth. Potassium deficiency is strongly growth inhibiting, since potassium is important for substance  transport  in  the  tree.  Potassium  is  also  important  for  the  carbohydrate formation, and because increasing the sugar content of the cells constitutes a lower freezing temperature does potassium availability in the soil play a major role in the winter  resistance  of  many  species.  Potassium  is  not  found  in  any  organic compounds in the tree, but is present in cell and tissue fluids. A fertilization trial was started in 1978 in Siljansfors Experimental Forest. The plots in the experiment were fertilized with different amounts of potassium and one plot was  left  without  fertilization.  All  plots  that  were  fertilized  with  potassium  grew considerably better than the unfertilized plot. The difference in production between the unfertilized plot and the plot that received the most potassium was 7.2 m3sk/ha and year. The unfertilized plot can still be classified as waste land. The theoretical production capacity was estimated using a Swedish system for site quality  estimation  of  wetlands  after  ditching  (dikningsbonitering).  The  plot  with most  potassium  produced  after  fertilizationaproximately  in  level  with  theoretical estimations.  Key  words:  Peat  land,  Fertilization,  Ditching,  Growth,  site  quality..

Obesity is the most common nutritional disorder, and is defined as an accumulation of excessive amounts of adipose tissue in the body. Obesity is a condition where an animal exceeds its optimum body weight by more than 10-25%. Risk factors associated with obesity may include breed, age, castration or high energy intake relative to energy consumption. The consequences of obesity are believed to be metabolic and hormonal changes, as well as cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, orthopedic problems, tumors and premature death. Prevention and early detection of obesity leads to better health care.

Knowledge in reproduction in the Swedish lynx (Lynx lynx) is important forseveral reasons. Situated on top of the food chain, lynxes may be at risk of beingexposed to environmental toxins that could have adverse effect on reproduction.The population of lynxes is today managed by restricted hunting which demandsknowledge about both the lynxes numbers and their reproduction. In addition,lynxes may function as indicators of climate change for instance if their season ofheat would be earlier or prolonged due to a warmer climate. Today?s knowledgein reproduction in Swedish lynx is mainly based on information gathered fromradio collared animals.

Functioning reproductive organs are essential for the survival of a species. The reproductive system is very sensitive to exposure of chemical substances of anthropogenic origin. Humans release great amounts of chemical substances to the environment by our means of life and these substances have been proved to have a negative effect on the reproductive ability of different vertebral classes. In the polar bear (Ursus maritimus) a declined reproductive ability as an effect of decreased testosterone levels and decreased testicular size has been connected to the presence of high levels of organohalogenic compounds like PCBs. Although the Swedish brown bear (Ursus arctos) is not as carnivorous as its close relative the polar bear it is still exposed to environmental.

The project ?Investment proposal for grinding station for service work of screw feeders? has been performed during the spring semester 2014 for the course Bachelor?s thesis for degree of  Bachelor of science in machine engineering at Karlstad?s University. The project has been performed in cooperation with Fiber Workshop which is a service department in the company Valmet AB. Valmet AB is a company that develops and manufacture soft paper tissue machines. The screw feeder is a part that is used to feed, and squeeze out the water out of woodchips.

Canine parvovirus is associated with two disorders: enteritis, which is common, and myocarditis, which is rare. Prominent clinical signs of parvovirus enteritis are vomiting, diarrhea and rapid dehydration. Canine parvovirus type 2 (CPV-2) is very contagious. When CPV-2 first emerged it had high rates of mortality, but later studies have shown that most infections are self-limiting and do not require veterinary care. Mortality rates vary greatly, and therefore it is important to determine risk factors for developing severe canine parvovirus enteritis.

Sårskador är en vanlig orsak till att hästägare kontaktar veterinär. Sårbehandlingen har utvecklats mycket de senaste åren och det tillkommer löpande fler och fler typer av olika kompresser och förband på marknaden. Jag har studerat bandagens inverkan på 15 sårs läkning. Sårskadorna har varit av både akut och subakut karaktär och läkning har skett antingen primärt, sekundärt eller kombinerat primärt och sekundärt. Alla sårbehandling hat utförts i hästarnas hemmiljö.

Canine dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a disease with high morbidity and mortality and with a high prevalence in certain breeds. Predominatly large breeds are affected, such as Great danes, Newfoundlands, Deerhounds and Dobermanns. One exception is Cocker spaniels, where both American and English Cocker spaniels are affected in a quite high frequency. Cardiomyopathy is characterised as a disease that affects the myocardium and gives an impaired heart function. To diagnose DCM following criteria have to be observed: 1. Dilation of the left ventricle. 2. Reduced systolic heart function. 3. Increased sphericity of the left ventricle. To be certain of the diagnosis, alternative reasons for the symptoms such as lung- and heart diseases with other etiologies have to be excluded Two different types of DCM have been found upon histological examination.

The artic fox is under threat of extermination in Europe. The population decreased strongly at the beginning of the twentieth century because of intensive hunting. The artic fox was placed under protection by law 1928 in Sweden but despite this the population has had difficultly to recover. This can depend on several reasons, but the main threats are shortage of food and competition from the red fox. Along with Norway and Finland, Sweden has carried out a project called SEFALO (Saving the Endangered Fennoscandian Alopex lagopus), whose objectives were to prevent continued decreased populationnumbers and through, for example supplementary feeding, help the population to recover.

Rapporten avser ett examensarbete inom maskiningenjörsprogrammet vid Karlstad universitet, uppdragsgivaren är Metso Paper Karlstad AB.Metso Paper tillverkar tissuemaskiner för pappersindustrin och utför även service samt utveckling av dessa produkter. Tissue är mjukpapper och med detta avses hygienpapper och servetter. Fokus i uppgiften var att kostnadseffektivisera bärcylindern, vilken är en ingående komponent i tissuemaskinen. Bärcylindern är en vals som sitter monterad i slutet på maskinen, i det område där det färdiga papperet rullas upp på spolar. De analyserade objekten har dimensionerna; diameter 900mm med längden 2825mm samt diameter1100mm med längden 5550mm.Inledningsvis analyserades bärcylinderns huvudfunktioner, vilka kan sammanfattas:? Att med vakuum transportera spetsen (smal pappersbana) från spetsblåsningsrännan till anläggningsytan mellan bärcylinder och upprullningsspole.? Att stödja pappersbanan under upprullning på spole.? Att skapa ett anläggningstryck mot upprullningsspolen så att ett drivande moment uppstår.

Wounds on horses are common and sometimes difficult to treat. The wounds are often big and could be discovered too late for primary sutures, which have to be applied within 8 hours from time of accident, before bacteria has been able to infiltrate the surrounding tissue. The healing is often complicated by delayed healing and wound infection with consequences like phlegmone, fistulation and proud flesh formation.To avoid these consequences, the traditional practice has been to administer systemic antibiotics alone, systemic antibiotics in combination with topical antibiotics or topical antibiotics alone. Because few antibiotics can be used in horses, is it important to household with the few substances that are available. In veterinary medicine today, the increasing resistance amongst pathogenic microbes such as MRSA presents a growing problem.

Bakgrund: Aktuell forskning har exempelvis visat att patienter som drabbats av en stroke och fått massage under tiden på sjukhuset förbättrat sin förmåga att genomföra aktiviteter i det dagliga livet snabbare än kontrollgruppen.Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva patienters upplevelser av mjuk massage inom sjukvården.Metod: Litteraturöversikten baseras på tio kvalitativa och en kvantitativ artikel vilka har funnits i databasen Cinahl. Fribergs analysmetod har använts i analysdelen. Sökorden var: touch, experience, care, touching, patient, nursing, nurs*, massage, tactile, tactile massage, soft tissue massage och aromatherapy. I diskussionen kopplas resultatet till den teoretiska utgångspunkten som är Katie Erikssons omvårdnadsteori, samt det vårdvetenskapliga konsensusbegreppet vårda.Resultat: I resultatet framkom fyra teman varav ett har två underteman. I första temat, Relationen till massören, beskrivs patientens relation och känslor gentemot massören.

Matrix metalloproteinaser (MMPs) är en grupp proteolytiska enzymer som degraderar komponenter i vävnaders extracellulära matrix (ECM). Dessa proteiner spelar en viktig roll i många fysiologiska och patologiska processer. Enzymerna anses vara delaktiga vid olika typer av hjärtsjukdomar där de genom att utöva sin effekt påverkar sammansättningen hos ECM. Aktiviteten hos MMPs hämmas av TIMPs (tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases) som är enzymernas specifika inhibitorer. Balans mellan nedbrytning och uppbyggnad av ECM är nödvändigt för att bibehålla hjärtvävnadens normala struktur och funktion.