This study was conducted in autumn 2008 on the Company AB, which is currently in a growth phase. The company manufactures hydraulic systems for the heavy vehicle industry and has annual sales of approximately 250 MSEK with 165 employees.The rapid growth and unchanged planning is the starting point for this report. It all began in 2005 when the company received an unusually large order. During this period, the first priority was to satisfy customers and all other focus was disregarded. This has primarily resulted in a messy production and long throughput times.

Sköldkörteln (tyroidea) är ett endokrint organ som påverkar ämnesomsättningen. Tyreoidea stimulerande hormon (TSH) frisätts från hypofysen och stimulerar syntes och frisättning av tyreoideahormonerna trijodtyronin (T3) och tyroxin (T4). Tyreoidea hormonerna har i sin tur en negativ påverkan på frisättningen av TSH. TSH, T3 fritt och T4 fritt analyseras på serum med immunokemiska metoder. Becton Dickinson (BD) har tagit fram ett snabbkoagulerande provrör för analys av serum.

Vid nuvarande framställning av kontroller och kalibratorer för läkemedelsanalys med LC-MS/MS-teknik används idag serum där fibrinogenet har fällts ut med kalciumklorid. Eftersom detta tros ge upphov till ökad jonsuppression skulle plasma där fibrinogen istället tagits bort genom frysning/tining kunna användas. Denna studie har utförts för att undersöka om och hur dessa två olika matriser skiljer sig vad gäller bland annat jonsuppression och enhancement, och studien innefattar även obehandlad plasma. Studien har utförts i samband med analys av två olika metoder för läkemedel, som bland annat utgörs av neuroleptika och bensodiazepiner. Postkolonn-infusion utfördes för båda metoderna och ingen nämnvärd jonsuppression eller enhancement kunde påvisas för någon av de tre olika matriserna.

Background: As a part of a national health control program, Statens VeterinärmedicinskaAnstalt performs diagnostics to screen flocks for certain pathogens causing high mortality,morbidity and/or serious economical losses. There are several viruses in the programincluding IBDV (infectious bursal disease virus), IBV (infectious bronchitis virus) and NDV(Newcastle disease virus). Method: 96 serum samples were collected from different poultryflocks in Sweden and analyzed by ELISA, which are currently used in the health controlprogram as well as by a commercial prototype of a multiplex immunoassay manufactured byLuminex Corp., which is currently under evaluation at the United States Department ofAgriculture USDA. This 4-plex assay detects antibodies for the three above-mentionedviruses as well as antibodies of avian reovirus. In the context of this study the ELISAs run inroutine diagnostics as well as a REO ELISA were used as the standard for comparison.Result: The antibody concentration in serum from vaccinated chickens was high while theantibody concentration level in serum from not vaccinated chickens was low.

Background: As a part of a national health control program, Statens VeterinärmedicinskaAnstalt performs diagnostics to screen flocks for certain pathogens causing high mortality,morbidity and/or serious economical losses. There are several viruses in the programincluding IBDV (infectious bursal disease virus), IBV (infectious bronchitis virus) and NDV(Newcastle disease virus). Method: 96 serum samples were collected from different poultryflocks in Sweden and analyzed by ELISA, which are currently used in the health controlprogram as well as by a commercial prototype of a multiplex immunoassay manufactured byLuminex Corp., which is currently under evaluation at the United States Department ofAgriculture USDA. This 4-plex assay detects antibodies for the three above-mentionedviruses as well as antibodies of avian reovirus. In the context of this study the ELISAs run inroutine diagnostics as well as a REO ELISA were used as the standard for comparison.Result: The antibody concentration in serum from vaccinated chickens was high while theantibody concentration level in serum from not vaccinated chickens was low.

When rubber equipment in a milking system ages, physical and chemical deterioration occurs and cracks, crevices, as well as deposits of organic and inorganic material is formed on the surface. Bacterial colonization can accumulate, especially on ageing rubber equipment and if the cleaning procedure is not functioning properly. Formation of biofilm in milking equipment could in turn cause bacterial contamination of bulk tank milk. ATP bioluminescence is a fast and easy way to determine the hygienic status of a surface based on its ATP content, and results are given in relative light units (RLU). The method measures both bacterial contamination as well as residues from other organic material.

Clinical signs of hypocalcaemia in dairy cows are easily recognized, and a rapid response to treatment generally confirms the diagnosis in the field. However, clinical signs of other disorders in cows, such as toxemia, calving paralysis, or muscoskeletal injury, may mimic those associated with hypocalcaemia. Therefore, making a diagnosis of hypocalcaemia on the basis of clinical signs alone may be difficult. In ambulatory veterinary practices, cow-side tests are useful to make the diagnosis and prognosis easier. Kruuse?s Kalcium Test is a cow-side test based on the principle that calcium ions are necessary for coagulation of blood, and that chelation with EDTA prevent coagulation.

One of the most serious and economically important defects caused by clostridia in milk products is the late blowing of semi-hard cheeses.Clostridia occur naturally in soil and can contaminate milk through crops contaminated by dung and soil followed by a less successful silage process, that give them opportunity to grow unaerobically. When anaerobic conditions occur, such as storage of semi-hard cheese, they ferment lactic acid to butyric acid and the gases CO2 and H2.At the fusion of Arla and MD Foods, a series of changes were conducted on the MPN method for lactic acid fermentation for clostridia in milk. These changes resulted in an increased accuracy due to an increased number of test tubes and the change of media from MRCM to BBB, Bryant & Burkey Broth, that was thought to be more selective for Cl. tyrobutyricum, the organism mostly found in hard cheese. When the number of dairy farmers that were given quality reduction fines increased, the new method was suspected and a validation was conducted.The validation included inoculation of different clostridia and bacillus strains into BBB substrate and enzymatic testing of positive samples with Rapid ID 32A.

The analysis of acute phase protein serum amyloid A (SAA) has recently been brought into clinical use in veterinary medicine. Some of the difficulties with incorporating the SAA method in clinical practice have been the expensive and rather large equipment required for the method. Due to these difficulties only larger clinics can afford to use the SAA analysis.The company Equinostic has recently developed a smaller instrument that costs one-tenth of a larger instrument. The instrument is named EVA1 and has so far only been used to analyze SAA in horses.The aim of this study was to investigate if the EVA1 instrument could be used to analyze SAA in cats. This study included 24 serum samples from cat, which were first analyzed twice on the EVA1 instrument and then sent to the Strömsholm Referral Animal Hospital in Sweden where they reanalyzed the samples using a validated reference method.

Equine metabolic syndrome (EMS) it?s a clinical condition that includes obesity, regional adiposity, insulin resistance (IR) and laminitis. A similar syndrome exists in human medi-cine, the metabolic syndrome (MS), were systemic hypertension also is a prominent fea-ture. The systemic hypertension seen in humans with MS is partly due to a vascular endo-thelial dysfunction with an enhanced endothelin-1 (ET-1) mediated vasoconstriction. There are indications that systemic hypertension might be a feature in EMS as well but if ET-1 is involved in the development of the systemic hypertension in horses is not known.

Problemställning och syfte: Bromerade flamskyddsmedel (BFR) används i många varor och produkter. Polybromerade difenyletrar (PBDEs) är en av dessa och deras kemiska struktur liknar den i miljögiftet PCB och kan på samma sätt lagras upp i miljön samt skada människor och djur. På arbetsplatser där BFR förekommer riskerar medarbetarna att exponeras. I den här studien har olika BFR undersökts i samband med servicearbete på flygplan. Målet har varit att jämföra förekomsten i damm och luft, samt blod (serum) med resultat från tidi­gare studier.Metod: Damm- och luftprovtagning har genomförts vid olika faser av service­arbetet.

The veterinary handling of wildlife, both in zoos and in the wild, commonly requires that the patients need to be captured and immobilized for examination or treatment. This emphasises the need for quick, on-site, laboratory equipment, in order to minimize the analysis time and thus the stress for the animal and also in order to increase the possibility of starting relevant treatment early on. The aim of this pilot study was to determine whether Serum Amyloid A (SAA) could be a measured in blood samples from bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus), Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) and South American tapirs (Tapirus terrestris). SAA rises to its maximum about 24 hours after the introduction of an inflammatory agent in companion animals. This also correlates with the estimated time it takes for animals at Kolmården Wildlife Park to be examined and having blood samples collected after being observed as sick. The study also evaluated whether the Eurolyser SOLO, using a turbidometric immunoassay (TIA) developed for human diagnostics, could be used for such analysis. This pilot study was a retrospective analysis of SAA in convenience sampled frozen serum, collected from dolphins, elephants and tapirs.

Platelet aggregation is a major and common problem in blood samples from cats. This greatly affects the accuracy of counting of the platelets. Because of the difficulties in counting feline platelets, results for patients and reliable reference values for cat platelets are currently so inaccurate as to be almost useless in diagnosis of thrombocytopenia. In this study we used an effective method to prevent platelet aggregation. Blood was collected in CTAD test tubes and prostaglandin E1 was added to the blood sample.

Both serum creatinine and measuring GFR can be used to evaluate renal function in dogs suspected to have chronic kidney disease (CKD). Although high creatinine levels usually indicate renal disease, normal creatinine levels can be present in dogs with decreased renal filtration. Measuring GFR is generally believed to be the most accurate way of detecting decreased renal filtration and scintigraphy GFR using 99mTc-DTPA has been found to correlate well with the ?gold standard? inulin clearance method.When measuring GFR by scintigraphy, 99mTc-DTPA is injected intravenously and radioactive decay of technetium gives rise to gamma radiation, which is registered by a gamma camera. Pictures and curves of radioactivity in the kidneys are generated by means of a computer program.

The purpose of this degree-project was to investigate the possibilities for primary air preheating into the two smallest waste incineration boilers of Halmstad Energy and Environment. The investigation is a pre-study which has the primary goal to evaluate technical and financial offers from companies that manufacture primary air preheater, and investigate if it is technically and financially profitable to do a purchase on primary air preheaters in the future.In the pre-study it is proposed that it is most efficient to have individual primary air preheater, one for each incineration boiler and the primary air are also proposed to be preheated by hot water in the pre-study. Further in the pre-study it is proposed that the heat-exchanger should have plain tubes instead of finned tubes, to avoid getting dirty fast. The space in the boiler-room is limited, and therefore the major problem was to fit in the primary air preheaters into the boiler-room. By comparing the different offers from the companies, the result in the pre-study shows that the offer from the company C.A.