ABSTRACT: Commercial swab transport systems are used for collection and transporting of fecal and other microbiological samples. This system must maintain viability and contribute to survival of microorganisms during transport to the laboratory. Four swab transport systems have been compared, eSwab, ?- Transwab and fecalSwab, all three with flocked swabs, and Copan Venturi Transystem with rayon swabs. The study followed the recommendations from the Clinical Laboratory Standard Institute; document M40-A for recovery of Samonella, Shigella, Yersinia and Neisseria gonorrhoeae after storage for 0, 6, 24, 48 and 72 h at room- (22-25°C) and refrigerated (2-8ºC) temperature.

Composting is a process in which organic matter is mineralized by microorganisms. In January 2005 landfilling of organic waste was prohibited in Sweden. With this prohibition composting has become an important alternative to handle the produced organic wastes. One problem with continuous small-scale composting is the production of organic acids that will inhibit a further composting process. The aim of these theses was to study what effects temperature and dry matter content had on the production of organics acids, and what effect the organic acids had on the mineralisation of the substrate as well as the stability during storage of the product.

AbstractElectricity consumption is a globally increasing problem caused by the high share of electricity produced in coal power plants. These contribute to high carbon emissions when only about 1/3 of the heat generate electricity and the remaining 2/3 of the heat cools off. Combined heat and power plants (CHP) have high efficiency because they use the residual heat for domestic heating. The CHP plant often use fuels from renewable resources, giving them a lower carbon footprint, but are also depending on the heat demand. If electric powered products such as drying cabinets convert to heat powered products more environmentally friendly electricity will be produced by CHP plants, which can supplant electricity, produced from coal power plants and reduce carbon emissions.

Deep litter is a system for animals kept in separate stalls, loafing and bedding in wind shelters. The litter can consist of different bedding, like straw and peat. The system is allowed to build over and to ensure optimal proportions it is necessary to add new straw regularly and to have good conditions. Important conditions are aerobic state, humidity, amount of organic substance and acceptable temperatures in the litter. The micro organisms are depending on temperature for their living conditions and to get the bottom layer in the litter to start burning.

This thesis is performed at Saab Bofors Dynamics in Karlskoga and investigates a technique for ranging with laser pulses. The investigated technique is called Constant Fraction Detection (CFD). Described briefly, the received laser pulse is split into two equal parts, where one part is delayed half the pulse width and inverted. This signal is added to the original pulse. The resulting curve has the shape of a laying S and the detection of the zero level is used to stop the time measurement.

In the farrowing pens the amount of bedding material and the quality of the concrete floor has a huge impact on both the sow and the piglets. In this study imbedding of rubber flooring on the solid area in the farrowing pen was used to see if it had any effects on the sows lying behaviour when compared to concrete. Another important aspect was to evaluate if the rubber floorings had a high enough durability to resist the normal wear in a farrowing pen. Concrete flooring is assumed to have a higher thermally conductive effect then rubber which can affect the sow?s chance to cool down.

There is two dairy farms in Sweden with ability to be opened on both long sides, one outside Hjo and the other one, Brandstadholm, north of Sjöbo. When there is no measures and results or not enough literature about natural ventilation and especially on this kind of air inlet, makes my tests very interesting not only on Alnarp, but among other companies. I would like to find out if there is any air movements direct on the cows, how high/low temperature, air humidity, light intensity and noise standard inside the barn. Does Brandstadholm fulfil the rules and regulations when it comes to climate inside the barn? Could this system become the new dairy barn instead of the conventional barns in Sweden? I am going to focus on the animals environment, after all they are the one who is going to spend the most of the time in the barn. I used five electrical loggers distributed inside the barn to measure the temperature and one of the loggers measured the air humidity, every 15th minute. One logger were placed on the outside which measured both temperature and air humidity.

The aim of this project was to quantify the total sleep time in modern dairy cows during24-hour periods and to investigate whether the total amount of sleep as well as timespent in different sleep stages varies between the dry period, early- and peak lactation.The distribution of sleep time between night and day was also examined. Furthermore,correlations between sleep and lying time, fluctuations in body temperature and heartbeat were included in the aim. Eight dairy cows of the Swedish Red breed were used inthis study, which was carried out between June and September 2010. In order toquantify sleep non-invasive electrophysiological recordings were performed.Simultaneously with collecting sleep data, body position and body temperature werealso recorded. No heart rate data was obtained due to difficulties of maintainingelectrodes for heart beat measurements attached to the skin.

The objective of the essay was to identify the nursing care required by a dog suffering from heat stroke and how to educate and advice the owners how to start treating their dog and prevent the condition from occurring in the first place. The essay is based on a literature study. Several databases were searched for scientific research to try find answers to the issues. Keywords concerning the subject were used and mixed in different combinations to sort out the suitable studies. The results of the study indicate that the dog should be cooled by the owner directly after detection. The most crucial issue is to reduce the body temperature as quickly as possible or the morbidity will worsen.

Helsingborg has the intention to build a train tunnel south of Knutpunkten. This report investigates the hydro geological aspects of the project. Questions at issue that will be answered: 1. Which parameters affect the groundwater level? 2. How will these parameters change within 100 years considering climate changes and what will be the consequences on the groundwater level. According to SMHI climate analysis the climate can change causing increasing precipitation, temperature, and a rising sea level.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate the possibility to make small, cheap and ultra low power sensor platforms, connected in wireless networks for monitoring of home and industrial environments. The concept is based on ideas from our supervisor, Jerry Lindblom. The developed system consists of a generic platform for different sensors, a receiver and software. A GPRS module from RO Rollytech AB and a database from Gema Industri AB have been modified and used to demonstrate an example of a complete system. To the platform, it is possible to connect any resistive sensor and any sensor that can act as a switch.

The company Olofsfors AB manufactures drive belts for forest machinery, known as ECO-Tracks, and abrasion-resistant steel and cutting edges for graders, excavators and tractors, known as Bruxite and SharqEdges. Manufacturing these products requires the steel to be heated and molded, then submerged in water and hardened. The water used in the hardening of steel is pumped to the process from pits below the floor and then pumped back to the pit after it?s been used. Since the temperature of this water rises after being used to harden the steel the temperature of the pumping pit needs to be adjusted to maintain its setpoint of 21°C.

This thesis describes the planning and development of a volume meter of pine and spruce cones. The product was designed and developed for Stigsjö Skog och Frö AB in Härnösand. It was developed taking into account a number of requirements set by the supervisor David Zetterlund. The main requirements were that the volume measurement would be fast and give accurate results. These are two requirements that are missing in today's volume measuring method which is very problematic for the company.The plant was visited several times in Härnösand, mainly to discuss the generated concepts with the supervisor and perform tests on the prototype.

When grains of wheat and rye are conventionally milled, large quantities of bran classified as by-products are left and are mainly used for animal feed. Bran is a complex material composed of the aleurone layer, nucellar epidermis, a seed coat, a fruit coat and a small proportion of the germ and endosperm depending on extraction rate. The bran fraction consists of approximately 40-50 % dietary fibre which can contribute to increase the nutritional quality of human cereal food. It would also be valuable for the food industry to convert by-products as bran to products with higher commercial values. The aim of this thesis was to analyse the content and composition of dietary fibre of heat treated wheat and rye bran according to the Uppsala method with some modifications in order to analyse soluble and insoluble dietary fibre separately. Half of the bran samples were precooked, dried and roasted and the other half dried and roasted (uncooked).

This is a literature review of how the climate change affects the forest growth innorthern Sweden. The temperature will rise about 5 °C with the largest increase in thewinter season (December - February) and the CO2level in the atmosphere is expected tobe doubled. Precipitation patterns will change and increase with 25-35 % and theprecipitation will be in form of rain rather than snow. Today the forests in northernSweden are entirely dominated by coniferous stands. This may shift with the climatechange and results in a larger number of deciduous trees, preferably birch will becomestronger and grow better and faster.