Evaluations of open Ditch status and function, with an assessment of suitability of a conversion to a two stage ditch as a low maintenance alternative. To illustrate Swedish drainage problems this work focused on two agricultural drainage associations assessed in detail with a new method called MADRAS (Minnesota Agricultural Ditch Reach Assessment for Stability). With the assessment of the MADRAS method estimates were made to conclude the ditches operating problems. This was made through measurements of sediment depths, mass bank failures etc. in order to quantify ditch problems and propose practical actions for improved ditch stability and water quality. The MADRAS surveys were conducted in two main ditches that drains 2900 hectares of land on the northern shores of Mälaren. In the study measurements of the ditch cross-sections were also conducted to compare actual profiles with the original map profiles. The evaluation showed that parts of the studied ditch sections were operatively poor; main reason was mass bank failure, undercut channel banks, sediment aggregations and narrowed ditches. The profile survey shows that a majority of the profiles 80 % has sediment accumulations there remains only 64 % of the original profile from the map.

This study was made on former agricultural areas that had been planted with spruce or pine, in the county of Västerbotten. The goal of the project was to investigate suspected deficiency of boron in these areas. Several objects have been reported for possible deficiency and some of these have the characteristic symptoms of boron-deficiency. The hypotheses are that 1) Boron deficiency is present at several of the investigated objects. 2) Planting of forest on cultivated postglacial sediments leads to a successive podzolisation with a decreasing content of organic matter in the mineral soil, due to decomposition, and a decreasing pH in the soil, even on locations that have been added lime. To be able to confirm or reject the hypotheses a number of tests were performed.

This study was made to compare and distinguish any differences in olfactory recognition and host plant adaptation between two strains of cotton leaf worm, Spodoptera littoralis. The populations used were established in Egypt and Benin, Africa. The documentation consisted of information about (1) each of the strains development through the larval stage up to pupation on diets of cotton, clover and cowpea. (2) Their oviposition preferences as adults between cotton, clover, cowpea, maize and cabbage. (3) Electroantennographic recordings to quantify any possible responses to plant volatiles. Throughout the diet experiments the larvae from the Benin strain showed significantly a better development between artificial, clover, cowpea and cotton respectively, while the Egypt strain had significance between artificial, cotton and cowpea/clover as diet. Also noted was how the strains substantial development of weight differentiated if fed the cotton diet, followed by the cowpea diet showing that the Benin strain would develop a higher body mass on a cotton diet as well as on a cowpea diet. This trend was however switched once the pupal stage was reached, where the Egyptian strain contained a significantly greater body mass than the Benin strain on the artificial and the Benin strain a greater on cowpea, which suggests that in the end, the Benin strain develops significantly better on cowpea while the Egypt strain develops better on an artificial diet. During the oviposition experiment that both stains showed a clear difference in hierarchy of host plants considered suitable for oviposition, where the Egyptian strain is significantly more attracted to clover than the Benin strain. Also showed with electroantennographic recordings and significant values was the higher sensitivity the Egypt strain had towards (E)2-hexenal, (E/Z)-b-ocimene, (Z)-3-hexenyl acetate, Nonanal, (-)-linalool and ?-myrcene when compared to the responses from the Benin strain..

Milkability or ease of milking, has higher importance today for Swedish dairy cattle producers after the introduction of milking parlours and automatic milking systems. Milkability is the cow?s ability to quickly milk out and be completely milked. There are several measures of milkability available. Today the farmer measures the traits subjectively in relation to the conformation scoring of the cow 30-270 days after her first calving.

Ethanol produced from lignocellulosic biomass has the potential to become a promisingalternative to gasoline. In this work the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF)technology was applied for ethanol production from hardwood with focus on cell growth,ethanol production and contamination.The SSF was performed at PH 5.5 and 35°C for different suspended solid concentrations(8%, 10% and 12%) of pretreated birch slurry which contained 16 % total suspended solids.Two different hexose fermenting yeast strain (Ethanol Red) and pentose fermenting yeaststrain were used.Quantifying the concentration of chemical components and metabolites in the fermentationmedium demonstrated that glucose and xylose are the major fermentable sugars in the slurry.The higher load of slurry (12%) represents a higher content of carbohydrates and potentiallyhigher end concentration of ethanol. Moreover, more lactic acid is produced with the lowerload of slurry (8 % or 10 %), presumably due to a result of a less inhibitory environment forbacterial growth. In this context, acetic acid sticks out as the most important inhibitor withconcentrations of 15.2 and 12.5 and 9.7 g/l respectively in the 12 %, 10 % and 8 % (ofsuspended solids) trials. Using pentose fermenting yeast may lead to higher ethanolproduction, lower xylose uptake and lower lactic acid formation.

Läpp-, käk och gomspalt (LKG) kan medföra svårigheter med tal, artikulation och röst. Enligt tidigare forskning har vuxna individer behandlade för LKG liknande förekomst av röstavvikelser som kontrollpersoner utan spalt. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka grad av röstavvikelser hos vuxna patienter behandlade för enkelsidig LKG och kartlägga eventuella samband mellan röstavvikelser och kirurgiska metoder för gomslutning, kön och operation med eller utan svalglambå samt jämföra röstresultat med data från individer utan LKG. Sjuttio patienter behandlade för enkelsidig genomgående LKG deltog i studien, varav 45 patienter hade opererats med gomslutning i en seans och 25 patienter hade opererats i två seanser. Elva av patienterna i patientgruppen hade genomgått svalglambåoperation.

I work on a lighting design for a dance performance to be on tour. A lighting design adapted for three different conditions was made: - One comprehensive where I allow myself a great deal of creative freedom, adapted for the stages with major technical conditions. - One smaller version for stages with less equipment and with less time for preparation on site. - One design for very simple conditions. I also examine the specific differences between typical theatrical lighting design and typical dance lighting design, and the best way to prepare for the hands-on stage design phase..

Rotskärsskolan is located in Skutskär, Älvkarleby municipality and the school conducted today consists of lower secondary. The school was built in the early 1960s and contains three buildings. Today there is a great need for reconstruction of Rotskärsskolan, when the premises are worn out and not suitable for today's education. It must therefore be a phased change involving all the school buildings, starting in the winter of 2008/2009.Our degree project involves one of these buildings, called house F. This building will, by a recent decision, be adjusted for classes from preschool up to grade five, special school and leisure activities when some of the municipality's schools will consolidate.

 The aim and scope of this study is to describe the coordination of joint efforts concerning chemicals and hazardous substances in the Baltic Sea region, between the Swedish Chemicals Agency (KemI) and the land-based pollution group of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM LAND). Based on the description of the coordination, the second aim is to discuss the consequences for the Swedish Chemicals Agency in its policy shaping work towards a nontoxic environment. A qualitative and descriptive case study method is used for this purpose. Theories of coordination and achievement-inducing criteria for environmental goals are applied to the case. Components and related processes of coordination are applied to the descriptive part of the study, whilst the achievement-inducing criteria are applied in the discussion.

In the production of pulp, paper and cardboard, a large amount of water is used daily. The water has to be purified in the internal purifying plant before it reaches the receiving body of water. In the biological purifying stage at the Stora Enso Skoghall mill, an aerated basin is used where the microorganisms, using oxygen, oxidize the organic material to carbon dioxide. The air is pumped from the bottom of the basin and the oxygen can then be transported from the air bubbles to the water through diffusion. The problem with aeration of waste water from the forest industry is that wood residues, such as fatty acids, are making the transport of oxygen in water more difficult.

Abstract In order to make the modern agriculture less dependent on non-renewable external inputs, it has to rely more on ecosystem services. The agricultural system produce not only food, fiber and fuel, it also generates other ecosystem services such as e.g. photosynthesis, recycling of nutrients, influencing local microclimate, pollination, biological control and detoxification of noxious chemicals. This study is an attempt to get a better understanding about the interaction among different ecosystem services and different habitats capacity to generate them. An evaluation of eight different methods is done. The ecosystem services studied are the ability to absorb solar energy, biomass production, botanical diversity, decomposition and natural predation of aphids.

There have been changes in Earth?s climate system on both global and regional scale since the pre-industrial era and some of these changes are due to human activities such as the combustion of fossil fuels. This calls for the development of engines with a higher efficiency and less harmful emissions. One interesting concept is the Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition (HCCI) engine, which has the advantages of potentially low emissions combined with high efficiency. However, HCCI with diesel fuel requires a relatively long fuel/air mixing time to ensure a "homogenous" charge.

The Kverneland Ecomat and The Ecomat Seeder has been tested in three different field studies. All the studies were conducted on soils with different clay content during 2005 in Säby outside Uppsala. In one of the trial spring ploughing with the Ecomat and spring ploughing and seeding with Ecomat Seeder were compared with conventional autumn mouldboard ploughing and spring mouldboard ploughing to conventional depth (22-23 cm). In this study the quality of the seedbed, the number of emerged plants and weeds, the pentration resistance and the yield were examined. Shallow spring ploughing (10 cm) with the Kverneland Ecomat has shown to be a good alternative to conventional autumn ploughing when growing spring crops. During the season 2005 tilling with the Ecomat resulted in a higher yield than conventional ploughing. In 2002-2005 the average yield for shallow spring ploughing was 4 percent higher than after conventional autumn mouldboard ploughing and 10 percent higher than after spring mouldboard ploughing to conventional depth (22-23 cm). In the other two studies, ploughing to different depth in the autumn with the Ecomat was compared with conventional mouldboard ploughing and stubble discing.

There are about 3 500 churches protected under the Heritage Conservation Act in Sweden today. These churches still belong to living congregations that want to be able to adapt them to the needs of today, just like people have done throughout history. But since the churches are protected, the congregations have to apply for a permit and that is not always given. This can lead to frustration, and you can sometimes hear representatives of the church express the view that antiquarian authorities are enemies that oppose the church. On the other hand we have the antiquarian authorities that, in a way, have to act as advocates for generations to come and make sure that there is a cultural heritage preserved for them when they grow up.

SAMMANFATTNINGDilaterad kardiomyopati (DCM) är en ärftlig, primär hjärtmuskelsjukdom som är mycket vanligt förekommande hos dobermann. Sjukdomens förlopp har tre stadier. Det första stadiet innebär att sjukdomen föreligger men kan enbart påvisas vid histologisk undersökning av hjärtmuskelvävnad. Det prekliniska stadiet innebär att inga sjukdomstecken ses hos hunden, men förändringar, såsom hög förekomst av kammarextraslag och dilatation av vänster kammare, kan hittas med hjälp av elektrokardiografi (EKG) och ekokardiografi. I det overta (kliniska stadiet) uppvisar hunden sjukdomstecken som nedsatt arbetsförmåga, trötthet, hosta samt kachexi.