The estate of Rydboholm is situated in the municipality of Österåker, north of Stockholm, Sweden, and has a long history dating back to the 14th century. Rydboholm was the home of several families of great national importance, such as the Finsta and Vasa clans. However, since the 1500s, the noble family Brahe was the most influential; leaving its mark on the castle and surroundings. The gardens of Rydboholm consist of two parts; The first is from the baroque era, dating back to the 1660s, and the second is an immense landscape park completed around the year 1800 by Magnus Fredrik Brahe. During his travels through Europe, Magnus Fredrik Brahe was influenced by the new English-style gardens and he brought a large collection of literature on the subject back to Sweden, still kept in the library of Rydboholm.

Almost for as long as there has been breeding on bovine species, there has been a wish to have a higher proportion of offspring of either one or the other gender. In dairy cattle, heifers are more valuable, while in beef stock bulls are preferred. Semen is sorted based on the difference in DNA content between the X- and Y-chromosome in the genome of the sperm. X-chromosomes contain on average between 3,70 to 4,22% more genetic material than the Y-chromosome. Commercially it is the method of flow cytometry that is being used, which is always under improvement.

This master thesis was conducted in order to investigate the effects of the browsing species Yeheb on animal tissues in Swedish landrace goats and to make a literature review in order to increase the knowledge of the importance of this plant for livestock production in Somalia. The evergreen Yeheb bush is a very important feeding source for grazing and browsing animals in Somalia during the dry period. Yeheb contains cordeauxiaquinone that stains the bones of the animals red/pink, which has been an increasing problem when exporting meat to foreign countries. In an experiment, two goats were fed dry and fresh leaves from the Yeheb bush for one and two months, respectively. The goats did not feed the intended amount of dry leaves, since the supply and palatability was not as high as estimated.

This master thesis was conducted in order to investigate the effects of the browsing species Yeheb on animal tissues in Swedish landrace goats and to make a literature review in order to increase the knowledge of the importance of this plant for livestock production in Somalia. The evergreen Yeheb bush is a very important feeding source for grazing and browsing animals in Somalia during the dry period. Yeheb contains cordeauxiaquinone that stains the bones of the animals red/pink, which has been an increasing problem when exporting meat to foreign countries. In an experiment, two goats were fed dry and fresh leaves from the Yeheb bush for one and two months, respectively. The goats did not feed the intended amount of dry leaves, since the supply and palatability was not as high as estimated.

Interior window shutters can be found in historical buildings, but they are an uncommon occurrence in modern buildings. In modern contemporary construction, large glass panels are often the ideal because of increased light inflow and for architectural purposes. However, this can generate several negative effects, such as increased energy loss, lack of privacy and high sunlight penetration. Problems that window shutters could have accommodated historically. This thesis identifies a lack of knowledge about interior window shutters in the Swedish building stock.

The purpose of this study was to investigate produced laser data from the new national height model's airborne laser scanning in Sweden, what quality it has and whether it can be used for forest management planning. From airborne laser scanning one can obtain information on forest variables such as tree species, height, diameter and basal area. Norra skogsägarna is the principal employer of this project and they wanted know to the quality of the laser data which needs to cope with their standards. If the laser data the quality required it can replace some of the operations performed by field planners. To examine the quality of the produced laser data a control tax assessment has been performed in 30 forest departments. This was done in an objective manner.

Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis) is not considered to be a native species to Swedish forests. It´s origin is the pacific coast of Northern America, an area that is dominated by a coastal climate which makes it likely to believe that it would be well suited for growing in the south-west of Sweden. This study aims to investigate the gain in production that can be reached by growing sitka spruce instead of Norway spruce (Picea abies) in the county of Halland. A regression model based on data from forest experiments was produced to explain the gain in production. This model was based on elevation and annual precipitation. The model was then used to create a map layer in arcGIS that shows the gain of volume in comparison to Norway spruce in percent. An analysis was carried out to find what share of the forestland in Halland county that fell into four different classes of production gain.

During the last ten years the cultivation of maize in Sweden has increased and is expected to grow further. Most of the maize in Sweden becomes silage which is used to feed animals at farms. Maize has in other countries been shown to be a substrate for growth of mould and especially Aspergillus spp., Fusarium spp. and Pencillium spp. has been reported.

Urban trees have very little in common with trees on natural sites, such as forests or pastures. Trees in urban environments are often planted in packed soil and in small volumes. This can lead to decreased availability of water and oxygen, as well as deteriorated ability for the soil to store nutritional elements. Also above ground the tree usually have limited space in cities. Regulations on free height over roads and cycle tracks demands high stems at an early stage of their development.

This thesis concerns to investigate renovations of existing buildings aiming at enabling energy efficiency, from a conservation and restoration perspective. This includes performing case studies of three projects in the Gothenburg area where renovations has been done and an analysis of directives raised by the EU and later implemented by the Swedish National Board of Housing, Building and Planning, Boverket. In addition to these, regulations enforced by the Swedish law, related to the topic, have been considered.The investigated projects in this case were the housing cooperative Välten in Brämaregården, the Solar Buildings in Järnbrott and Gårdsten as well as Katjas Gata 119 at Backa Röd. In order to measure and compare the results of these projects a comparison between the pre- and post-restoration energy consumption have been performed. To capture additional perspectives the grading system Operation Kungsörn has been applied.Regarding the comparison of energy consumption the renovation of Katjas Gata 119 was found preferable but showed in my view lacking attention to the cultural heritage of the area.

This thesis was performed as assignment from Fazer Food Services. The aim was to survey which food additives that were present in the products in the quotation list of one of their suppliers to the Education and Nursing segment. The aim also was to perform a theoretical analysis of these food additives and to make recommendations which food additives are acceptable and which should be excluded from the products in the future. The recommendations are not published in this report, for more information Fazer Food Services can be contacted. Food additives which have already been approved are regarded as safe according to the safety evaluation methods available at the time of approval.

India is home to every sixth person in the world, some 30 million dogs and a quarter of the total world cattle population. A vast majority of Indians are Hindus, and even though the Hindu religion proclaims love, nurturing and worshipping of animals, sometimes the same religion constitutes an obstacle for animal welfare in practice. This paper investigates the significance of historic and religious symbols to the way animals are perceived in modern Indian society, as well as the different social factors which underlie attitudes to animals. The concept of karma, as well as that of good versus bad deaths, is probably the foundation of the general Hindu reluctance to euthanasia in any form. Although in theory all species are generally regarded as equal in Hinduism, in practice there seems to be a differentiation; for cultural, religious, medical and financial reasons.

The aim of this study is to describe and analyze the history and the current situation of the Church of Sweden. The renovation of Skalljö church in Lerum municipality has been used as an example to enlighten the common changes in the church buildings. The long history of the Church of Sweden as the state church has resulted in the fact that it carries a remarkable part of the Swedish cultural heritage. The reason why the Heritage Conservation Act (1988:950) was altered in January 2000 was due to the change of relations between the State and the Church of Sweden. According to the Act, all church sites owned or managed by the Church of Sweden shall be maintained in such a way that their cultural historic value is not diminished and their appearance and character are not violated.Sweden is today considered to be a secularised country where religion is an individuals? private matter.

Under det senaste årtiondet har 97 % av den totala folkökningen tillkommit inom fem kilometer från kusten, främst kring storstadsregionerna. Tyresö kommun är en av Stockholms förorter. Kommunen har under åren köpt loss tomter i ett kustnära område vid Tyresö strand. Ekologigruppen ab har på uppdrag av kommunen gjort bedömningar av områdets naturvärden såväl som rekreativa värden. Bedömningarna är tänkta att kunna vila som beslutsunderlag för planering såväl som byggnationer i området.

During the last few years the presence of high arsenic (As) concentrations in ground water has been of major concern both internationally and in Sweden. Much evidence has been reported about toxic effects caused by arsenic. The carcinogenic effects and the possibility to measure the toxic impacts at low concentrations made the World Health Organisation (WHO) to reduce the guideline value from 50 to 10 ?g l-1 in 1993. In Sweden the corresponding reduction was implemented in 2003. Several surveys in Sweden have shown that high arsenic concentrations may occur in ground water.