The purpose of this report is to find out which crops, that are good for strawfuel, and can be grown i the area around the city of Lund. The background of this report it that Lunds energy is planning to bild a biofuelheated thermal power station in Örtofta outside of Lund. I have in the report limited me to the crops hemp, whole crop (triticale), reed canary grass, elephant grass and jerusalem artichoke. I have through a documentary research checked the crops, cultivabillity in the south of Sweden, and how they should fit, in the Scanian crop sequence. Hemp is an annual crop which probably could manage in the Scanian crop sequence. Whole crop often triticale because of it´s high yield and low rate of shed seed. Could also fit into the crop sequence of crop in Scanian. Triticale is annual, and could be grown at the same kind of fields as used to wheat, whith is why it would be possible to grow it in Scania. Reed canary grass is a reedlike grass that is easy grown at most soils.

The alpaca is a camelid that originate from the South American highland. During recent years it?s been possible to keep alpacas in other parts of the world. Today there is a world-wide interest in alpacas, but there is still limited knowledge about this fascinating animal. There are approximately 350-400 alpacas in Sweden in 2007.

Background: As a part of a national health control program, Statens VeterinärmedicinskaAnstalt performs diagnostics to screen flocks for certain pathogens causing high mortality,morbidity and/or serious economical losses. There are several viruses in the programincluding IBDV (infectious bursal disease virus), IBV (infectious bronchitis virus) and NDV(Newcastle disease virus). Method: 96 serum samples were collected from different poultryflocks in Sweden and analyzed by ELISA, which are currently used in the health controlprogram as well as by a commercial prototype of a multiplex immunoassay manufactured byLuminex Corp., which is currently under evaluation at the United States Department ofAgriculture USDA. This 4-plex assay detects antibodies for the three above-mentionedviruses as well as antibodies of avian reovirus. In the context of this study the ELISAs run inroutine diagnostics as well as a REO ELISA were used as the standard for comparison.Result: The antibody concentration in serum from vaccinated chickens was high while theantibody concentration level in serum from not vaccinated chickens was low.

This master thesis consists of the creation of shock absorber models for percussive rock drills. A model of the rock was also developed. These models were connected to existing models of the rock drill to create a complete simulation of the rock drilling process.When the models had been created the rock model was evaluated by comparison with measured values from lab tests. The verified rock model was then used to evaluate the shock absorber models.Four new shock absorber concepts have been developed. Three of these have been modelled, while the fourth have only been sketched and described.The evaluation of the models showed the following:? Simulations of the single shock absorber don?t correlate to reality very well.

Oilseed rape is an important crop in Sweden and is grown on about 90000 ha today. The interest in oil seed pro-duction is increasing because of growing demand and high prices for oil seed both in Sweden and Europe. However, an increased intensity in the oil seed production can bring higher risk of yield losses due to fungal diseases. The purpose of this study was to investigate what different fungi are associated with oilseed rape under field conditions and if their incidence is correlated to crop establishment problems. This study was carried out in three parts: 1) investigations on fungal community structure in roots and rhizosphere soils from young spring- and winter rape plants sampled in failed respectively good establishment patches in four fields, 2) investigations on the pathogenicity of fungi isolated from oilseed rape in controlled environment and 3) investigations on the effect of different fungicide seed treatments on germination and early plant development in a field soil naturally infested with damping off- and Verticillium wilt pathogens. The studies on community structure using a combined approach of standard fungal isolation techniques and DNA based methods revealed a high fungal diversity in three out of four studied fields of spring rape and winter rape. For some unknown reason, very few fungal species were identified from the fourth field.

In 2010, Airwatergreen AB started testing their new technology, the Airwaterwell, an atmospherical water generator of their own design that is running on solar heat, with a production capacity of three litres of water per day and m2. The purpose was to focus on foreign aid organizations as main purchasers for project investments towards rural communities in developing countries that suffer from lack of, or compromised quality of drinking water. In order to further understand if this technology would bring a positive impact in the developing countries, the company contacted the Swedish University of Agriculture for a socio-economic study of the Airwaterwells? potential. The authors elected Cost benefit analysis as the appropriate method for conducting the study and India became the study region because of its many problems with water related issues such as diseases as well as insufficient water supply for households. The regions that this study is based on are Gujarat, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh given their differences in income, health situation and poverty rate.

Structural rationalizations and regionalization of the agricultural sector in Sweden has lead to unevenness in thedistribution of plant nutrients. Nutrients are lost from crop producing farms as harvest products are sold, whilefarms with animal production often have manure in excess of their needs. In addition to this the retention ofwater and nutrients in naturally occurring wetlands has decreased due to a reduction of wetlands in number andsize in the agricultural landscape. This increases nutrient levels in agricultural run-off and causes eutrophicationas well as nutrient losses from arable soils. One potential solution to both problems would be to store nutrientrichsurface water from agricultural areas and use it for irrigation of agricultural crops.

Mould is a common contamination in cereals. The growth of mould can stimulate mycotoxins production andsome of which at critical concentrations cause health problems in humans and animals. Fusarium is one of thefungus species that has been found in crops and can cause major problems for farmers such as reduced harvestand economic losses. A group of Fusarium species, Fusarium avenaceum, Fusarium poae and Fusariumtricinctum express a mycotoxin, enniatin. The limited information available today about enniatin-forming fungiis that they grow out on fields of wheat in colder climates.

The main project Dry preservation of food waste from households includes a new technique concerning drying and storage of dried biowaste as well as a study of the sorting of household waste and further usage of the dried biowaste. A question asked in the project is, can the dried biowaste be used as a soil amendment? If organic waste is used as a soil amendment, precaution concerning hygienic safety risks has to be accounted for. The objective of this M. Sc.

Given that the oil prices have risen and the environmental regulations has become more stringent, the interest in operating efficiency has increased. The project has investigated the possibility of producing electricity from waste heat generated in the diesel process. One technique to utilize and convert energy into electricity is the ORC (Organic Rankine Cycle). This process is based on the Rankine process (the steam process), the difference from the traditional Rankine process is that instead of water as a working medium, an organic substance is used. The main component used in the process is a evaporator, a turbine, a condenser and a pump.

This report will examine various solar energy technologies in order to decide if they could be applied in the Royal Seaport. The Royal Seaport is a Swedish urban district under development in Stockholm, with the goal of becoming a sustainable district. Two main techniques, solar collectors and solar cells, including sub-categories, are addressed in this report. Another sub-category, a hybrid system, will also be mentioned. The main difference between solar collectors and solar cells is the type of energy produced by the system.

Results have shown that flow batteries may be a solution in the future as an effective and environmental friendly method to an energy storage system (ESS). The technology is reliable and has a high efficiency that comes with low energy losses and a long lifetime. The range of possible fields is suitable for cutting energy peaks in the power grid, by always have a ready and available energy storage that balances the production. By comparing the advantages of flow batteries with conventional batteries it is mainly the fact that they can conserve energy for a long time without being self-discharged thanks to that the storage capacity is in principle endless and limited by the size of the electrolytes tanks that makes them a great energy storage system. The batteries won?t take any damage or decrease in performance when charging or discharging it or if you exhausts it to 100 % and leave it discharged for a long time.

One of the most common ways to produce heat and electricity in Europe today is by the incineration of waste or combustion of coal. These materials can be very sulfurous and during combustion sulfur dioxide is produced. This is an environmental and health related toxic substance which is why power plants have strict regulations on removing it from the flue gas. Sulfur dioxide is removed from the flue gas by adding a limestone reagent. The sulfur dioxide reacts with the limestone and the synthetic product obtained is ?Flue Gas Desulfurization gypsum?.

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.

Psykisk ohälsa är ett samhällsproblem som kräver mer uppmärksamhet från sjukvårdens sida. En kronisk sjukdom drabbar både patienter och deras livskamrater och präglas av olika förluster som förändrar livet. Förlusterna skapar en klyfta mellan det liv patienter och livskamrater lever och de liv de egentligen vill leva. Det är i denna klyfta som den kroniska sorgen skapas. Kronisk sorg skiljer sig från vanlig sorg då den återkommer i perioder och växlar i intensitet.