The cat is one of our most common pets. Understanding the reproductive physiology of the queen is important, not only for the knowledge of our domestic cats but also for wild undomesticated feline species, many of which have been reported endangered. Understanding the mechanisms behind the estrous cycle, ovulation and pregnancy is also important for handling the feral cat populations that are a problem in several countries. The purpose of this literature study is to look into the hormonal patterns of the reproductive physiology of the female cat, with focus on ovulation, pregnancy and pseudo-pregnancy, and from this information determine in which fields more research would be needed. The female cat is seasonally polyestrous in Sweden, meaning that she can have several estrous cycles during the breeding season but goes through a long period of reproductive dormancy during the darker months of the year. The queen is considered an induced ovulator, with copulation triggering the release of luteinizing hormone (LH) from the pituitary gland needed for ovulation.

Forestry supply chains are a significant part of the Swedish economy. These supply chains are highly susceptible to storms damage. In late 2013 Sweden was hit by multiple storms. This leads to the possibility to research how supply chains react to the shocks that storms cause. The aim of this thesis is to research the costs that storms increase, the actions that are taken within the forestry supply chain, as well as possible benefactors from storms. This thesis bases on previous work on supply chain mapping and cost theories.

The Swedish ostrich production started about thirteen years ago and still there are no Swedish recommendations regarding ostriches? space requirements. The European Council give recommendations and the Swedish Board of Agriculture (SJV) has a proposal, but so far the producers follow Danish regulations regarding space requirements. The Swedish Animal Welfare Agency are about to set standards for the ostriches? space requirements, and therefore the Swedish ostrich producers, together with The Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF) ask for a scientific background to these decisions. This thesis is a preliminary study at the prospect of a future experiment on which factors important for ostriches? space requirements and welfare will be examined more thouroughly.

Horseracing is frequently referred to as the engine behind all horse activity in Sweden and it can be divided in to two main branches: harness racing and thoroughbred racing (HNS, 2008). Jump racing is a part of the thoroughbred racing and the jump racing is characterised by jumps on the racing track. Jump racing has been a part of the Swedish horseracing for over hundred years, but it has in recent years suffered from low economic profitability and been threatened by discontinuance (ATG & SG, 2008). Svensk Galopp, who is governing the horseracing in Sweden, has decided to increase the importance of jump racing. A workgroup was created for this purpose, and as a result of their work a strategy for the jump racing is supposed to be delivered in April 2009 (pers.

Individual trees can act as carriers of meaning. When a person attributes deep meanings to a specific tree, a relationship between the person and the tree is created. To avoid conflicts between users and planners, increased awareness is required of how important individual trees may be to a person. The objective of this study was to elucidate persons? relationships with individual urban trees.

The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is the first species ever domesticated. They can develop a close bond towards other dogs, almost like a relationship among siblings, which can be a high valuable resource for good relations and cooperation?s. Dominance in dogs is sometimes used to explain undesired behaviors and explained as a personality trait. Dominance though, is not a trait in a dog or a source for undesired behaviors, but can rather be explained as a relationship between individuals, were one of them receives more submissive signals from the other.

Staphylococcus aureus is the most clinically important Staphylococcus species and is associated with high mortality in patients with positive blood cultures. S. aureus bacteria may cause a variety of disease manifestations ranging from minor skin infections to life-threatening conditions such as pneumonia, meningitis, osteomyelitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome (TSS) and sepsis. This microorganism belonging to the gram positive cocci may also be part of the normal flora. In Sweden, penicillinase-stable penicillins are the primary alternatives to treat S.

Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is one of the leading causes of acute encephalitis in humans. The virus is spread by mosquitoes, mainly belonging to the Culex species. The main reservoirs are considered to be birds and pigs, with pigs constituting the most important reservoir in regard to human infection. During the last few decades the production of pork has increased significantly in Vietnam. With 90% of pigs being kept in households owning 10 pigs or less, pigs are widely spread across most parts of the country.

The pathogenic fungus Rhizoctonia solani causes major economic losses for potato producers in Sweden. The producers, as well as advisors, have reported possible increases in severity of R. solani when free-living plant parasitic nematodes are present and active. There are several examples in the literature of interactions between pathogens where one, or both species, support or increase the damage made by the other organism. These complexes are important to investigate and to be able to forecast, since even low incidences of fungi or nematodes may result in an interaction of significance.

The loss of habitat is one of the greatest threats to global biodiversity today. Consequences to a species inhabiting fragmented habitats include: group size changes, altered diets and altered foraging behaviours. In my study I observed Colobus anlgolensis palliatus troops living in the forests of Diani, a highly developed area on the Kenyan coast. I looked for differences in behaviours between three troops inhabiting pristine forest patches and three troops inhabiting highly degraded forest areas. I used focal animal sampling with instantaneous sample points.

This diploma work was performed at the department for radiation physics at the Health University in Linköping. Its aim was to develop a method to retrospectively quantify the absorbed dose in coral. Coral is a material which suites well as a retrospective dosimeter because when exposed to radioactivity its induced free radicals are stable in time. The number of radicals is proportional to the accumulated dose so the dose can be calculated by quantifying the radicals. Therefore, coral can tell us something about the past environment and also be used in dating purposes.A young, modern coral from the Red Sea was studied and also a fossil one which I was given from the Natural History Museum in Stockholm.

In October 2009, a new decision was made concerning the administration of predators which resulted in a new wolf policy in Sweden. This meant that the wolf population now should be limited to 210 individuals by harvest. The new policy also recognized that the public acceptance of this species must increase and the genetic status improved. In the 17th of December a decision was taken by the Swedish parliament that it should become legal to hunt wolves in Sweden. The wolf hunt resulted in debate on a large scale amongst people, some thought of it as a good decision while others thought it was wrong.

This survey was made during the autumn of 2002 and the beginning of 2003, on commission from the National Board of Forestry. The purpose with the survey was to gather experience and knowledge in the organisation about fencing and this was made through interviews. The ambition was also to get knowledge from people outside the organisation that have great experience of forestry and fencing. The interviews were based on questions that have been composed by the author with help from the supervisors. The questions were the same to both the personal from the National Board of Forestry and to the foresters. Interviews were also made with private landowners, gamekeepers, game researcher, the County Administrative Board, the National Road Administration, pole and net retailers and contractors. The target group for this work is the National Board of Forestry to be forwarded to persons interested in forestry with the ambition to spread knowledge about how to prevent damage on the forest by browsing animals. The deer populations are big in the south of Sweden and growing populations have increased the damage on plantations of broadleaves of the most species.

AbstractIntroductionOccurrence of bacteraemia and fungemia is a serious condition with high mortality and the incidence is increasing worldwide. The aim of this study was to survey the occurrence of bacteria and fungi in blood cultures from adult patients domiciled in the county of Gävleborg during one year and also to calculate the incidence and mortality in the same geographical area.MethodThis is a descriptive epidemiologic study, based on all episodes of blood cultures analyzed at the Microbiology laboratory, Gävle hospital during 2005. Patients from 20 years of age, domiciled in the county of Gävleborg at the date of drawing the blood culture, where included in the study. Criteria of exclusion were negative blood cultures and cultures which were classified as contaminants.ResultsAltogether there were 4 564 blood cultures analyzed, resulting in 524 (11 %) positive cultures for further study. There were 442 patients (48 % women) involved in 499 episodes with confirmed bacteraemia or fungemia.

This MSc thesis is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the need for information from forest campartments selected for clear cutting, in connection with planning in an integrated forest- and sawmill enterprise. A review of literature is followed by a case stud y, where present conditions in a Swedish forest company are compared with current research in the area. The seeond part consists of a simulation stud y, which aims at camparing the accuracy of inventory estimates using different methods. The estimates are delivery forecasts, covering one month consumptian of timber in a large sawmill.