In times of increased flooding, enhanced by climate change, polluted stormwater poses an increased threat to the environment through contaminated water entering waterways. Bioretention utilizes natural processes in soil and vegetation to treat pollutants and combat this threat. Biochar produced through pyrolysis, has a high cation exchange capacity (CEC) and could therefore increase treatment in bioretention systems. This research applies a literature review, interview, and a model to explore the benefits and disadvantages of biochar in order to specify a soil-mix through an understanding of the production process and preferred application rate. High purification through CEC, increased water holding capacity, and carbon sequestration being the benefits discussed.

AbstractThe purpose of this study was to see if there is a connection between smolt length from Brattfors salmon cultivation and temperature. Climate changes are expected to give a higher temperature that could result in a longer growing season for the fish.Cultivated smolt is today bigger than it was before, it is also bigger than the wild salmon. The growth season of salmonids depend on the water temperature, salmonids need 6-80C to grow. Water temperature has been surveyd since the late 50´s in Brattfors. The result shows that it?s now considerable more days per year with higher temperature.

The purpose of this thesis was to investigate whether accounting quality is a priced factor by investors. The event studied is the release of year-end result and the release of the annual report. To assess accounting quality a sample of 30 companies listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during 2003 to 2007 are studied. We assess accounting quality by the absolute size of discretionary accruals using the modified Jones model developed by Dechow et al. (1995).

Background: The most common reason for veterinary care in horses is lameness. Lameness in riding horses is often difficult to evaluate and in many cases may require riding to come to a diagnosis. Evaluation of lameness has proven to be very subjective and depends on the examiner. There is a need to evaluate ridden horses in an objective way.

The aim: was to describe and compare a group of experts and critical care nurses' agreement in detecting delirium in intubated, ventilator treated patients with sedation / analgesia, before and after an in house training intervention with the instrument Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU).Method: A quasi-experimental study, one group pretest - posttest design. A convenience sample of 17 critical care nurses in a general intensive care unit included. To detect delirium the instrument CAM-ICU was used, 21 paired tests before and 22 after an educational intervention.Main Results: The results showed that after an in house training intervention sensitivity and kappa coefficient improved of the characteristic 1 "acute onset and fluctuating course," an improvement that was significant. In other features, and overall values were signs of numerical improvement and deterioration in sensitivity, specificity and kappa coefficient but no significant change.Conclusion: Implementing a new instrument for detecting delirium in clinical practice requires education and follow-up. A small sample of critical care nurses with varying ability to use the new instrument and the fact that patients' status may change rapidly making it difficult to draw any conclusions from this study.

Inbreeding has become a problem in some horse breeds. Studies show that it may lead to inbreeding depression which affects e.g. reproduction traits. In the wild there are mechanisms that make horses avoid mating with close relatives. When selection is done by humans this mechanism is removed and intensive breeding for a few traits, for example good racing results, can become a problem.

In this report the importance of irrigation scheduling in dry climate is shown, how it can save water and energy; how this method can improve crop yield by supplying the right amount of water at the right time. It is shown how irrigation scheduling and irri-gation technology together increase the irrigation efficiency..

A Monte Carlo simulation of the ELECTRA reactor using (U,Zr)N fuel and a liquid lithium coolant is performed using the Serpent simulation code. The results show a reactor with a total reactivity coefficient of the coolant, fuel and material expansion that is strongly negative. These properties make the ELECTRA reactor a good candidate for a safe space reactor that could be used for propulsion of manned and unmanned space vehicles to Mars and other parts of our solar system..

The eutrophication of lakes and seas with the algal bloom and deficiency inoxygen that follow, has been given priority by the Swedish government as oneof 16 environmental objectives. The purpose of this project was to develop a toolbased on a simple model, limited amount of data and geographic informationsystem (GIS) to identify areas with risk for phosphorus losses due to surfacerunoff. This tool can act as a decision support to decide where appropriatemeasures should be applied with the aim of reducing phosphorus losses and bythat the eutrophication.The method that has been used is a combination of two models, one calculatingthe potential erosion while the other one identifies areas of erosion (net erosion)or deposition. This ability is of great importance because potential erosionshould be calculated on areas with net erosion. Areas with high potential erosionhave an increased risk for phosphorus losses due to surface runoff.The potential erosion was calculated based on factors which describe how topography(LS), land use (C), soil type (K) and precipitation (R) effect the erosion.All of them have been modified to a greater or lesser extent.

The aim: was to describe and compare a group of experts and critical care nurses' agreement in detecting delirium in intubated, ventilator treated patients with sedation / analgesia, before and after an in house training intervention with the instrument Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU).Method: A quasi-experimental study, one group pretest - posttest design. A convenience sample of 17 critical care nurses in a general intensive care unit included. To detect delirium the instrument CAM-ICU was used, 21 paired tests before and 22 after an educational intervention.Main Results: The results showed that after an in house training intervention sensitivity and kappa coefficient improved of the characteristic 1 "acute onset and fluctuating course," an improvement that was significant. In other features, and overall values were signs of numerical improvement and deterioration in sensitivity, specificity and kappa coefficient but no significant change.Conclusion: Implementing a new instrument for detecting delirium in clinical practice requires education and follow-up. A small sample of critical care nurses with varying ability to use the new instrument and the fact that patients' status may change rapidly making it difficult to draw any conclusions from this study.

The price of farmland has risen sharply in the last 20 years. This has led to discussions about what creates the value of farmland. The aim in this study was to try and find what factors are affecting the price on farmland. The area that is studied is the counties around Mälardalen during the period 2005 to 2009.The method chosen to achieve the objective is the hedonic price model. The variables are chosen after a preliminary study where a literature search has been made and a number of interviews with people in the industry.

Floor surface in pig facilities can have an impact on animal welfare and pig health, as it can cause the pig physical damage and thereby increased risk of infectious diseases and lameness. The development of pig housing systems has resulted in a decreased use of bedding. It seems hard to find the optimal floor in farrowing pens, as it must suit both the sow and piglets. The floor friction needs to be adequate to avoid slips and at the same time should the floor be non-abrasive. Abrasions and lesions caused by the floor are not only causing the animal suffering, but are also negative from an economical aspect.

The aim: was to describe and compare a group of experts and critical care nurses' agreement in detecting delirium in intubated, ventilator treated patients with sedation / analgesia, before and after an in house training intervention with the instrument Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit (CAM-ICU).Method: A quasi-experimental study, one group pretest - posttest design. A convenience sample of 17 critical care nurses in a general intensive care unit included. To detect delirium the instrument CAM-ICU was used, 21 paired tests before and 22 after an educational intervention.Main Results: The results showed that after an in house training intervention sensitivity and kappa coefficient improved of the characteristic 1 "acute onset and fluctuating course," an improvement that was significant. In other features, and overall values were signs of numerical improvement and deterioration in sensitivity, specificity and kappa coefficient but no significant change.Conclusion: Implementing a new instrument for detecting delirium in clinical practice requires education and follow-up. A small sample of critical care nurses with varying ability to use the new instrument and the fact that patients' status may change rapidly making it difficult to draw any conclusions from this study.

In this study a multiple linear regression was carried out in the interest of analysing a number of variables effect on the final prices of apartments in Stockholm?s inner districts. The result may be employed to predict and observe percentage changes on the final price of apartments in Stockholm in the future. Five models were constructed after which they were analysed and compared. The construction of these models were supported by data from the real estate agency Erik Olsson.

The guest harbor on Utö, Utö Gästhamn, is currently using electricity for heating all of the water used in the showers and taps. Because of the large amount of visitors, especially during the summer months, the hot water usage gets very high and that is also the case for the electrical bills. During the year of 2011 the cost of electricity for Utö Gästhamn reached a total of 257 500 kr. Out of these 257 500 kr approximately 142 000 kr, 55 % of the total cost, were because of the water heating.The report is the result of a cooperation with Skärgårdsstiftelsen, the Green Islands-project and Utö Gästhamn where the mutual goal is to dimension a solar energy system, to promote the sustainable development.Initially the different techniques for the solar energy system are researched. The techniques are plane solar collectors, evacuated tube collectors, pool collectors and photovoltaic cells.