Hyperthyroidism has become the most commonly diagnosed endocrine disorder in cats. The recommended treatment of choice in the literature is administration of radioactive iodine. This treatment has been available at a few veterinary clinics in Sweden since 1999. Forty-six cats treated with a standard dose (80 MBq) of radioactive iodine (131I) at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in the period 2000-2004 were followed for a median of 13 months (range 3-42 months) by means of a retrospective cohort study design. Tables predicting time of survival after treatment were made. At final follow-up thirty-nine cats (85%) were euthyroid, six cats (13%) remained hyperthyroid and one cat (2%) was hypothyroid.

Feline infectious peritonitis (FIP) is a feline viral disease with high mortality. There is no cure or any effective vaccine available today. Many questions are yet to be answered about this disease and the immune response in affected cats. The aim of the study is to evaluate two different techniques for the study of cytokine profiles in cats vaccinated with a vaccine concept against FIPV. More information about the immune response in these cats could give valuable information to better understand the pathogenesis of the disease and the development of an effective vaccine.

Laminitis is a debilitating disease causing much suffering to horses and ponies all over the world. It is manifested in the hooves as a mechanical failure of the suspensory apparatus between the hoof capsule and the distal phalanx. Due to the weight of the horse the disease may result in a dislocation of third phalanx. Six healthy standardbred trotters were used in this study on whether standardbreds tolerate forced recumbency as well as Shetland ponies. Recumbency was induced pharmacologically but maintained only by lowering the ceiling height of the box to a height of approximately 125 ? 140 % of the horse´s thoracic height.

Apart from recognizing and neutralizing threats, antibodies also have the ability to regulate immune responses against their specific antigen. IgG administered together with erythrocytes is well known to induce >99% suppression. This has been used to prevent haemolytic disease in new-borns since the 1960's, but the mechanism behind it is still not completely understood. The effect on the primary response is well established, but its influence on induction of immunological memory is still heavily debated. In this study adoptive cell transfer of splenocytes to irradiated mice was used to survey the effect IgG has on induction of immunological memory without disturbance from the primary IgG response.

Det saknas idag metoder för att med säkerhet fastställa diagnosen Bornasjuka intra vitum. För att få en så säker diagnos som möjligt krävs fortfarande histopatologiska belägg och påvisande av virus i material från centrala nervsystemet, vilket ej kan tas från levande djur. Trots det finns det en risk att det intracellulära viruset undgår detektion då infekterade celler ej är jämt fördelade i hjärnan. De kliniska symtomen är specifika enbart för infektion i centrala nervsystemet och inte för Bornasjuka. Att förlita sig på antikroppar är osäkert på grund av låg titer som kan göra testen mindre tillförlitliga.

Thermia Värme AB is one of the market leading manufactures of heat pumps. In order tomaintain this position, the company wants to improve the vibration characteristics of theirproducts. The aim of this thesis is to develop product design changes that lead to a reductionof vibrations in the heat pump Thermia Diplomat 8.The main cause for vibrations in the system is flow pulsation and mechanical forces inducedby the scroll compressor. Vibration is transmitted through the compressor piping and receivedby the heat exchangers, from where it is further transmitted to the connection points for theradiator and heat source circuits.A number of design changes in order to improve the vibration characteristics have beenevaluated through calculations and practical experiments. The changes have included thecompressor and heat exchanger mountings, the compressor suction and discharge line pipingand also pulsation dampening.The results of the experiments show that the vibration levels in the connections for the heatingand brine circuits can be decreased strikingly through changes in suction and discharge linepiping.

I denna studie har förekomst av progesteronreceptorer i olika typer av primära juvertumörer undersökts med hjälp av immunohistokemi. Dessutom har tumörceller från carcinomcellinjen CMT-U27 odlats i olika cellodlingsmedium och exponerats för olika testsubstanser som binder till progesteronreceptorn (progesteron och RU486/mifepristone). Cellernas receptoruttryck och progesteroninnehåll utvärderades med hjälp av ELISA och tumörcellernas viabilitet analyserades med Colorimetric Cell Viability Test. Av resultaten framgår att samtliga undersökta primära juvertumörer uttryckte progesteronreceptorer. De odlade cellerna hade högre cellviabilitet när de odlades utan fetalt bovint serum (FBS). Efter exponering med progesteron minskade tumörcellernas uttryck av progesteronreceptorer, vilket hämmades av mifepristone.

The genus Borrelia is a widespread, pathogenic pest and the causative of among others borreliosis or Lyme disease. The vector for the bacteria is the hard tick, Ixodes ricinus and the infection is transferred through a bite. Untreated, Borrelia may cause arthritis, heart damage or neuroborreliosis. Infection is made possible through different strategies for avoiding the body?s complement system.

Bakgrund:Den dominerande cancerformen hos män över 75 år är prostatacancer. Kosten har en påverkan på många sjukdomstillstånd och på senare tid har man undersökt misstankarna kring om höga nivåer av IGF-1 kan öka risken för att utveckla prostatacancer. IGF-1 finns naturligt i kroppen men hormonet finns bland annat också i vissa livsmedel så som mejeriprodukter. Syfte:Att granska tillgänglig evidens gällande samband mellan höga nivåer av IGF-1 och prostatacancer, samt att om ett samband går att finna, undersöka om en kostrekommendation kan göras för att sänka nivåerna av detta hormon i kroppen och på så vis minska risken för utveckling av prostatacancer. Metod:Systematisk litteraturstudie.

African swine fever, ASF, was first described 1921, in Kenya. The virus has thereafter spread through many African countries as well as in Europe, Asia, South- and Central America. The virus is spread via three different cycles, of which one is sylvatic and includes warthogs and soft ticks. The other two are between domestic pigs and the one most common one is caused by humans, who not always realize the seriousness of precautions. The infection manifests as hemorrhagic fever, but can also be more or less unnoticed. The aim of this study was to use molecular tools to detect and partly genetically characterize ASFV both in soft ticks and in serum from domestic pigs in Uganda. Comparing viruses detected in ticks with those detected in domestic pigs I also wanted to investigate possible links between the sylvatic and domestic cycle.

The company Bergteamet, Boliden, Sweden, is installing ventilation shafts of the Garpenberg mine. For such work a platform is needed which you can stand on and work from. The Shaft Reinforcement Team at Bergteamet performs the installation work and is the sponsor of the platform. The project described in this report is performed at the department MEC, Mining Equipment Construction, which has been given the task to design and construct the platform, customized for the current shaft. After this the platform is manufactured and inspected at the workshop at Bergteamet.The design work was carried out as follows:- After an initial meeting a requirement specification was worked out, describing the problem and previous experiences of platforms and requirements for the design and equipment.- A concept sketch was developed with consideration of surrounding factors.- A constructed 3D model was presented along with the choice of materials.

Background Calprotectin is a protein expressed in the cytoplasm inside the neutrophile granulocytes. During inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), the neutrophile granulocytes are involved in a complex interaction at the inflammatory area where they die and release their content into the intestinal lumen. Therefore, calprotectin in stool is a suitable marker for diagnosis and measurement of the disease-activity in patients with IBD. The most commonly used method to detect calprotectin in stool is ELISA, but the process of manual preparation of stool samples is time-consuming.Aim The objective of the study was to evaluate an extraction method that could replace manual preparation of fecal samples and to compare different methods for measuring Calprotectin in stool using two ELISA-methods from two manufacturers and one rapidtest.Methods For extraction of calprotectin from stool samples we used sample collector tubes from Epitope Diagnostics and fecal preparation kits from Roche. Two different ELISA-kits for measuring calprotectin concentration in stool were compared.

?Tollarsjuka? is a disease with a suspected immunopathological background seen in Nova Scotia duck tolling retrievers. Pyrexia, lameness, stiffness and joint- or musclepain are typical clinical signs. The purpose of this study is to describe case histories from dogs with a possible evidence of ?tollarsjuka?. 18 private dogs were included in this report. Generalised stiffness, lameness and fatigue were the most frequent manifestations of the disease.

GBD-Storage Systems is a company that provides the industries with products for efficient storage.The company produces pallet racks and accessories like cassettes and extending units. The companyhas also supplied tire racks for a number of tire companies. The company's CEO Gunnar Berglund hasfor some time had an idea to improve the working situation of the workers on tire firms by allowingthe wheels to be handled by a counterbalance truck. The current situation poses numerous heavy liftswhen the tires are handled and therefore is hurting the workers.This thesis has been aiming at helping the GBD-Storage Systems by developing a concept of howan accessory to counterbalanced trucks can be designed to cope with the wheels. This concept willthen be produced as prototype by the company.

Every year, KTH participates in the Shell Eco Marathon, a competition whose goal is to design a vehicle that can go as far as possible using only the equivalent energy of one liter of petrol fuel. This year, one of KTH?s contributions to this race is the Agilis prototype; a car powered by a uniquely configured HCCI-engine developed at the university. The engine is dependent of several subsystems in order to work properly, among other, systems for cooling and lubrication.Combustion engines are in need of a cooling system that reduces the heat developed during the combustion. In general, two main types of cooling systems are employed; either air cooling, where the outside of the cylinder is exposed to a flow of the surrounding air, ore water cooling, where water flows in tubes around the engine, and the heat are transferred by the water to the surrounding air through a heat exchanger.The purpose of the lubrication system is to prevent the friction that builds up in the interference between moving parts in the engine.