The resting area is the most important place in the barn for the dairy cow, sometimes called the heart of the free stall system. Inadequate design of the lying area, and lack of or poor quality of bedding materials may reduce the hygiene of the stall. Poor management regarding the cleanliness of the resting area may lead to poor animal hygiene and increased bacterial growth. This in turn will lead to increased risk for environmental mastitis as well as impairing milk quality through contamination with spores. In this literature study the most commonly used bedding materials; straw, sawdust, wood shavings, clean sand, recycled sand, peat and recycled manure solids, are compared to one another with regards to their ability to resist bacterial growth. Effects of adding hydrated lime to bedding materials have also been studied. Most bacteria need humidity and prefer a quite high water activity to be able to grow.

In a column experiment the effect of three different biochars on nitrous gas emissions, nitrogenretention and water filled pore space (WFPS) were studied in a Swedish sandy soil, classified as aCryopsamment. Ammonium retention was positively correlated, while KCl-extractable ammoniumwas negatively correlated, with the specific area of the biochars. The question was raised whether thenegative correlation between extractable ammonium and biochar specific area reflects the amount ofammonium present in the soil or its extractability from the biochar, and whether methods forextracting soil mineral nitrogen, like KCl-extractions, have to be modified for application on biocharamended soils. There was a tendency of increased nitrate retention and KCl-extractable nitrate withbiochar and KCl-extractable nitrate was positively correlated with the specific area of the biochar. pHwas higher for all biochars compared with control, although the differences were not significant, andWFPS was lowered by biochar addition, significantly in one case.

Det pågår idag arbete på många håll för att göra våra bostäder mer energieffektiva, ofta genom tekniska förbättringar av till exempel klimatskärm och värmesystem. En post i energianvändningen som inte alltid får lika mycket fokus är varmvattenanvändningen. Varmvattenanvändningen mäts sällan i flerbostadshus, vilket gör att kunskapen kring den är relativt låg. På senare år har dock allt fler bostadsbolag börjat arbeta för att minska vattenanvändningen och en metod som har blivit allt vanligare är individuell mätning och debitering.I denna rapport redovisas ett examensarbete kring olika aspekter på vattenanvändning i flerbostadshus. Vattenanvändningen i ett bostadsbolag som överväger att införa individuell mätning och debitering undersöktes och jämfördes med statistik från ca 2000 lägenheter i två bostadsbolag som redan infört individuell mätning.

It is a difficult task to define the little word ?modernity?. One may argue quite a lot about what modernity is as well as when modernity breaks trough. The burgess class was the group who initiated modernity in most cases. Since these people mainly dwelled in the cities it was in the cities were modernity started.

 With the increases in fuel costs due to the depletion of the world oil reserves and the increase of greenhouse gasses as a consequence to using oil as a fuel many companies are looking to new and innovative ways to power their aircraft. One of these new ways to power an aircraft is using fuel cells powered using hydrogen and oxygen, thus producing nothing but water vapour and small amounts of nitrogen dioxide as well as trace amounts of other emissions. Both Boeing (1) and Politecnico di Torino (2) have shown that it is possible to build an all-electric aircraft powered by fuel cells. Both flights used small, two-seater aircraft and a constant between them was the loss of the co-pilot seat due to weight and lack of space. As this paper will deal with a commercial aircraft a primary concern is the cargo and passenger capacity and whatever impact switching propulsion system has on these.

In the current situation a big part ofthe settlements that exist in Sweden isin need of renovation and energyefficiency in order to survive.Therefore, also many of the older houseswith a wooden structure are in a need ofenergy efficiency, which can be done ina variety of ways, including addinginsulation.This project deals with whether the useof a diffusion barrier or a vaporbarrier affects a wall structure byadding insulation to an older house witha timber frame. The insulation materialswhich are concidered in thisinvestigation are mineral wool and woodfiber insulation. Efforts are focused onthe effects of moisture on theseinsulation materials.To demonstrate the differences thatarise the moisture measurement programWUFI have been used to simulate avariety of wall designs. These designsare developed in consultation with theconstruction carers who are active inthe industry.Using WUFI graphs illustrating themoisture levels of the wall structureswere obtained and from these conclusionsvould be drawn. The work demonstratesthe differences that arise when using adiffusion barrier or vapor barrier inwall construction.

Today many industrial companies invest a lot of resources on research and development to resist the tough competition on the global market. This leads to a high risk game when the companies start many development projects, with uncertain outcome where some of the projects have to be terminated prematurely. The main purpose with this study is to identify factors, both internal and external, that influence the decision to terminate projects prematurely in Swedish development projects. Factors mentioned in the literature will be compared with case studies on three Swedish industrial companies to demonstrate the most important ones when taking such decisions. First a literature study was made to identify basic terms, a general project model and factors affecting the decision.

In Lake Vänern, Sweden, there is an endemic population of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.) that lives its entire life in fresh water. The salmon is hindered from migrating to its natural spawning sites in the northern part of the River Klarälven by nine hydro-electric power plants. None of the hydro-electric power plants have fishways so that salmon migrating upstream or downstream may pass. In the current situation, the upward migrating salmon are caught in a fish trap at the most downstream located power plant in Forshaga. From there, the salmon are driven in a truck, past eight power plants and released a few kilometers upstream of the eighth power plant at Edsforsen.

Electrolux Laundry Systems is the world leader in manufacturing professional laundry equipment.The machines are used in the hotel sector, elderly care, in multifamily houses, laundry bars, and incommercial and institutional laundries.If there is oil or grease left in the clothes after washing may the heat from the dryer cause a chemicalreaction. This reaction may, under certain circumstances cause a fire inside the drum. Competitors toElectrolux has developed its own systems that extinguishes fire inside a tumble dryer and customershave expressed desire to purchase a fire-extinguishing system. Therefore, the project team receivedthe task by Electrolux to develop a fire-extinguishing system that extinguishes a fire in a tumbledryer.The purpose of the project has been to develop a system that both detects and responds to fire in anindustrial tumble dryer to meet the competitors and to satisfy customers' requirements.The goal was to develop a fire-extinguishing system for Electrolux Laundry Systems and develop afully functioning prototype.The project began with information searches on a variety of methods to both detect and extinguish afire. Subsequently, a number of different methods were used to develop a final solution and make aprototype.The result of the project is a fire-extinguishing system that extinguishes a fire inside a dryer.

The new information society has revolutionised almost the entire world. But the new technique does not only bring good. That which was before only available on paper may today only be available on a computer system. This makes it possible to send data electronically. In the wrong hands that information can become a threat against the security of an individual, a company or even a nation. The possibility to protect oneself against attacks from the outside becomes increasingly difficult.

Finnhamn is a small group of islands in the Stockholm archipelago. At Stora Jolpan, the biggest island, there is a hostel. The main building was built in 1915 and is called Utsikten. The purpose of this project is to on behalf of the Archipelago Foundation (Skärgårdsstiftelsen) find alternative systems that can replace the existing heating system of Utsikten (an oil-fired boiler and electricity heaters) to a system with renewable energy. The alternative system that this project focuses on is a system of solar collectors combined with a wood chip boiler.

Pharmaceuticals are environmental pollutants that are a major threat to aquatic ecosystems and very little is known about their ecological consequences. In this study growth, survival and behaviour (sociability, activity and boldness) of perch fry (Perca fluviatilis) were examined in order to study the possible effects of exposure to a benzodiazepine anxiolytic drug, Oxazepam, during embryonic development. The study tested following hypotheses: (1) perch growth is affected positively by exposure during embryonic development; (2) early perch survival is affected positively by exposure during embryonic development; and (3) boldness and activity increases while sociability decreases in perch fry exposed during embryonic development. Embryos of naturally spawned perch were exposed to water with two different concentrations of Oxazepam. The embryos were exposed during different parts (24-hour periods) of the embryonic development, because embryos may be more vulnerable at certain times during embryonic development and/or because the exposure at different times can produce different effects.

An increasing number of heat pump producers have developed heat pumps that can be connected to solar panels. In this thesis we have examined the possibilities of connecting solar panels to existing ground source- and geothermal heat pumps that has not been adapted to solar panels. During the work process, a prototype plant has been built to compare our theory with the practical results and with our designed sizing tool. The work has rendered in knowledge that will be used to build a sun module that can be easily connect to the existing heat pump system. The existing heat pump, our test plant, has been supplemented by an advanced storage tank used to allow different operating modes.

ABSTRACTOverweight and obesity is an increasing problem worldwide although high-income countries take a leed. High BMI during pregnancy and delivery constitute to many risks for both the mother and her outcome. Intervention programmes with the purpose to get the pregnant women to eat healthier and to excercise more are now working out in many different shapes. The effect of these activities varies. The aim of this study was to investigate if interventions during pregnancy, with women who?s BMI are 25 or more, affects health of the mother and her expected child, delivery outcome and self estimated health.

The division of Electricity at Uppsala University is developing a wave energy converter(WEC) consisting of a linear generator connected to a bouy at the water surfacethrough a wire cable called the connection line.During extreme conditions, the wave power plant will experience forces up to 500kN, which lead to unnecessary wear and will ultimately cause the failure of theconverter. To prevent this there is a need for a damper.The wave energy converter works at a maximum efficiency when the translator?sare centered with respect to the stator. Due to tidal movements the position of thetranslator can deviate. There for a mechanical divice that will compensate for this isneeded.This report describes the further development of an earlier project where a tidalwave compensator for a wave energy converter of Seabased AB was developed.