Swedish farmers have the possibility to be subsidized by EU rural development programme for grazing animals on pastures to promote the biodiversity of flora and fauna. The environmental remedy sometimes does not allow supplementary feed and at the same time the Swedish Animal Welfare Act and the Swedish Agricultural Board?s regulations for animal welfare and protection states that animals, in this case horses, shall be fed with food of good quality and adapted for the species. The regulations also state that they should have an individual feeding regime that enables them to maintain a normal body condition. The aim with this master thesis has been to investigate if it is possible to keep Gotland ponies on extensive pastures, during late spring and summer and still maintain animal welfare. The horses were assessed every fourth week using a welfare assessment protocol developed in line with the Welfare Quality® project (submitted, Viksten et al) where physical, behavioural and resourcebased parameters were observed. Twelve one-year old stallions of the breed Gotland ponies purchased from different breeders were used in the study.

A reward cycle for investigating the emotional status in animals has been developed and it requires that animals go through three main phases, i.e. anticipation, consumption and relaxation. The reward cycle has not been tested previously for access to play in pigs. Therefore, the aim of this Master thesis was to investigate if growing pigs showed more behaviours indicative of excitement than pigs that were not allowed to play, performed play in a play arena and showed more behaviours indicative of relaxation after play when they were back to their home pen than pigs that were in their home pen the whole time. Forty undocked piglets (10 litters of Specific Pathogen Free half pure-bred Yorkshire and half hybrids of Yorkshire x Landrace balanced for breed between two treatments were used.

Equine cutaneous melanomas arise much more often in horses with a grey coat color than in horses of other colors. Some scientists have in different studies come to the conclusion that the melanomas are neoplasms which can be classified by examining their histological and macroscopic features. The more defined and demarcated a tumor is, the more benign it tends to be. Other scientists believe that the skin lesions are the result of a pigmentation disorder that is linked to the greying of the coat color. According to this theory, the lesions are not malignant although they have the ability to metastasize.

Hos grisar finner man flera stereotypiska beteenden, som rörbitning och svansbitning. Dessa beteenden är relativt vanliga hos grisar. En miljöberikning definieras som förbättring av ett djurs välfärd, både psykologisk och fysiologiskt, genom förändringar hos djurets omgivning.Denna studie har undersökt om miljöberikningar kan minska stereotypiska beteenden hos grisar. De två olika miljöberikningar som har använts är en jutesäck fylld med halm och en Jolly Ball?.

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of how nursing home staff at dementia care facilities interpret, treat and manages sexual behavior of patients. Four group interviews were made with a total of thirteen participants from three different dementia care facilities. The collected material was processed and thematized in pursuance of the research questions of the study. The results were analysed using three concepts from queer theory; heteronormativity, the heterosexual matrix and power, as well as an article about how nursing home staff constructs actions of patients. The results showed that staff member?s assessments about the patient?s sexual behaviours depended on their posture towards the norm of what is considered to be acceptable.

Syftet med den här studien är att, genom en komparativ fallstudie tillsammans med befintlig strategiteori, förklara vilka konkurrensfördelar som är viktiga för strategisk positionering för e-handelsbolag inom hemelektronikbranschen. Vi har valt att använda oss av en kvalitativ ansats vid insamlandet av empiriska data för den här uppsatsen. Vår huvudsakliga metod för datainsamling är personliga intervjuer samt, i ett fall, en telefonintervju. Vårt teoretiska perspektiv utgörs av Porters generiska strategier, Porters teori om strategisk positionering, kompromisser och passform, Porters värdekedja, Kim och Mauborgnes värdekurva och strategiska kanvas samt Andersons teori om long tail. Grunden för vår empiri ligger i intervjuer med personer med insyn i sina respektive företags strategiska beslut.

Internet and the digital channels for distribution have meant big changes for the musicindustry. The physical record that has been symbolising this market for a long time is slowlybeing replaced by digital based music. The technical progress during the last ten years has ledto a democratization of music production. The amateur musicians of today can produce highquality music on their laptops and later distribute it via free music sites. MySpace andYouTube are two of the biggest sites for this free distribution and is therefore my main choiseof study.The purpose of this essay was to find out how and if these changes have made a difference formusicians without a record deal to reach an audience by themselves.

The Swedish business cycle is in a strong position at the moment, leading to great results and larger profits. This strong business posture has encouraged companies to increase both their liquidity and revenue. Now there is a dilemma, what actions should or could a respectable business take on these newfound liquid assets.The purpose of this paper is to deliver a clear picture of what options there are for such companies listed on the Swedish stock-market, and how the market wants them to act. To these means we have studied the basic theories linked to this subject and reviewed the cause and effects that motivates them. We have also conducted interviews with the people representing the market through their line of business.In the theory we found several options on what companies in similar situations tend to do.

Choir singing is one of the most popular national movements in Sweden but the knowledge of the meaning of this activity for health and well being from the choir singers? own experiences is limited. The purpose of this study was therefore to develop useful knowledge about the meaning of choir singing for participating persons from a health perspective. The data was collected through qualitative interviews with six different choir singers and went after that through a comprehensive analysis which resulted in four main categories: an oasis in the existence; possibilities of meetings and solidarity; goals and musical development; and physical and emotional well-being. The results showed that the choir activity represents a place where the singers can escape the demands and the stress factors of everyday life and where they get the opportunity of meaningful relations with other people.

Under 2000-talet har medie- och musikklimatet varit i omstöpning. Förutsättningar för att dela, distribuera och upptäcka musik har förändrats i grunden. Soundcloud, en digital musikplattform som startade sin verksamhet hösten 2008, står på många sätt i centrum för denna utveckling.Det övergripande syftet med föreliggande uppsats är att utifrån ett antal ämnesområden kopplade till teknik och musik, sociala funktioner och relationer, ett förändrat musiklandskap samt Soundclouds samarbete med Audible Magic tematiskt analysera och problematisera den digitala musikplattformen Soundcloud med utgångspunkt i kvalitativa intervjuer med artister/producenter/DJ:s verkandes inom den elektroniska scenen. Mer specifikt behandlas användarnas förhållning till upplevelsen av musik genom den särskilda teknologi och grafiska inramning som Soundcloud tillhandahåller samt de sociala funktioner som implementerats. Vidare problematiseras synen på Soundcloud som ett community, förhållandet mellan global och lokal tillhörighet samt hur artister respektive lyssnare förhåller sig till ett nytt medie- och musikklimat.

Svansbitning är ett stort problem i slaktsvinsproduktionen ur såväl djurvälfärdsmässig som ekonomisk synvinkel. Etiologin bakom problemet anses vara multifaktoriell och är ej helt utredd. Man kan dela in faktorerna i interna riskfaktorer och externa riskfaktorer. De interna riskfaktorerna avser genetiska egenskaper med avseende på ras och härstamning, beteende, rangordning, kön, exteriör, vikt, ålder och allmän hälsostatus. De externa riskfaktorerna avser faktorer i miljön, som beläggningsgrad, möjlighet att böka, berikning i miljön, strömaterial, temperatur, ventilation, ljus, säsong på året, boxens utformning, utfodringssystem och fodrets sammansättning. Detta är en retrospektiv studie där prevalensen svansbitningar i en slaktsvinsbesättning har jämförts före och efter en ändring i utfodringsrutiner.

Studiens syfte var att analysera effekten av psykodynamiskt inriktad psykoterapi på självbilden för patienter vid S:t Lukas tre mottagningar i Stockholm. De frågor som undersöktes var om självbilden förändrades, hur sådana förändringar samvarierade med bakgrundsfaktorer, om behandlingsländen påverkade utfallet, samt i vilken tsträckning eventuella förändringar hade samband med förändringar i patienternas symtom och med psykoterapeuternas bedömning av besvär.Metoden som användes var kvantitativ och det empiriska underlaget för analys/bearbetning av självbilden utgjordes av SASB självskattningsmaterial samt  CL-90 (GSI).Resultatet av självskattningssvaren visade att patienternas självbild i genomsnitt hade förbättrats i önskvärd riktning för att mer motsvara en normal självbild. De faktorer som kunde predicera förändring i självbild var ålder, civilstånd, boende och barn. Det var de yngre, ensamstående, med eget boende, utan barn som mest förändrade sin självbild i positiv riktning. De samband som konstaterades mellan självbild och symtom pekade på en minskning av symtom med en mer positiv självbild som resultat vid avslutad terapi.

Assessing and measuring post-operative pain in all animals is a challenge, but doing it in small mammals, for example guinea pigs, presents an even larger difficulty. Validated pain scales developed for use in dogs in clinical practice are currently available, but no such scale has been widely accepted for use in guinea pigs in the veterinary setting. In this experimental study, six guinea pigs that had undergone surgery and anaesthesia were observed for behavioural changes that could be associated with pain. The six guinea pigs were also given pain scores with the use of Colorado State University Feline Acute Pain Scale (CSU-APSF), a scale which uses both behaviour when not handled, body tension and response to palpation to evaluate pain intensity. The six guinea pigs showed a number of different behaviours, for example rigid posture, fixed stare and ?wet dog response? (the body is vigourosly shaken), that could be associated with pain.

Ankyloserande spondylit är en systematisk, inflammatorisk och kronisk sjukdom med ett progressivt förlopp. Typiska symptom är inflammatorisk ryggsmärta, morgonstelhet, perifera artriter, entesiter och extraartikulära symptom. Sjukgymnastik är en viktig del av behandlingen och består till stor del av träning. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka effekterna av sjukgymnastiska behandlingsmetoder som finns dokumenterade vid Ankyloserande spondylit samt att undersöka vilken evidens som finns för dessa. Studien gjordes som en litteraturstudie och sökningar skedde i databaserna PubMed, Cinahl med fulltext, AMED och PEDro.

In support to a decision to be made by the Swedish central competent authority on a minimal amount of straw for conventional growing-finishing pigs, a study using 168 pigs provided 7 different amounts of straw (20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 200 or 300 grams/pig/day) was performed. The straw was provided either once or four times per day. Detailed behaviour observations were made using focal animal sampling and continuous recording for one hour between 9 and 10 am and again between 3 and 4 pm. The data analysis is presented in three ways: broken stick model, polynomial trend line and logarithmic trend line. No method was suitable on its own but the use of all the methods simultaneously was found to portray the data in the best way.No significant differences were found when comparing pens provided with straw once or four times per day.