Increasing attention is being given to acid sulphate soils wherever they occur. The problems that leaching sulphate soils gives with significant lowerings of pH and mobilization of heavy metals influence large spectra of our society from fisheries to agriculture to construction. Mapping these soils is consequently of great importance and the methods of doing this is very much lacking in function and precision. This study was therefore carried out to investigate whether conductivity in running water can be used as a simple instrument to identify acid sulphate soils in the catchment. 31 coastal streams in the county of Västerbotten were analyzed for different catchment properties such as occurence of marine sediments and basic water chemistry including conductivity and sulphate.

During an endurance riding competition the onset of metabolic disorders leading up to elimination from the race are common. As many as 8,7 % of the horses participating in international endurance riding competitions are eliminated due to metabolic causes such as tachycardia, absence of borborygmi, hyperthermia and dehydration. To prevent the onset of metabolic disorders in the horse the rider must be able to determine the physiological and physical status of his or her horse. This requires good knowledge in nutrition, physiology and performance training. The risk of developing metabolic problems is reduced through the right feeding management and training.

Phosphorus (P) is an essential nutrient but a surplus could lead to eutrophication. Furthermore, the minerals used to produce the mineral phosphate is a non renewable resource. There are in other words several reasons to reduce the leakage of P and the agriculture is one important area to attend. The aim of this work has been to investigate if carbon-rich arable soils content contain more P than arable soils with low carbon content. Moreover it has been calculated if the carbon-rich soils could pose a risk of P leakage by comparing their delivery of P with the plant uptake. The work has consisted of compiling the results from former gathered and analysed soil samples of 130 Swedish arable soils. The fractions of P considered are water soluble P (Pw), ammonium lactate-extractable P (P-AL), hydrochloric acid-soluble P (P-HCl), organic ammonium lactate-extractable P (Porg-AL) and inorganic ammonium lactate-extractable P (Porg-HCl).

This study examines how farmers certified by KRAV face proposed regulations on organic soils put forward by KRAV economic association among others, and how they are affected economically. These soils are, from an environmental perspective, interesting as a target for production regulations as they cause greenhouse gas emissions through decomposition of organic material when cultivated. The regulations advocate that organic soils should be grown with pasture where soil cultivation is only allowed every fith year which implies that possible adjustments of cultivation have to be made in order to fulfill the regualtions. Collection of data have been made through a questionnaire sent out to 574 farmers certified by KRAV. The answers have been analysed using a decision making model and statistical findings suggest that proportion of organic soils, type of production, economic conditions and farmers? goals and values have an influence on whether the regulations and potential cultivation adjustments have been considered or not.

Working horses in developing countries are mostly used for transportation. They are often owned by people with limited economical resources and lack of knowledge about how to take care of the horses and due to this the horses often suffer from problems such as dehydration, poor body condition, lesions and parasitic infections. The aim of this master thesis was to investigate if free veterinary care improved the health and hydration status of working horses in Nicaragua and it was performed as a part of a project called ?Free veterinary assistance for working horses and training of their owners as veterinary promoters in the Pacific coast of Nicaragua?. Five parameters were used to investigate whether free care improved the health of working horses in six towns along the Pacific Coast of Nicaragua.

Phosphorus is essential to all plants and is taken up from the soil as the ion H2PO4 - (and to some extent HPO42-). Plant availability depends on, among other factors, the soil pH. In order to provide for plant available phosphorus, it is applied as mineral fertilizers and farmyard manure. However, that causes phosphorus leaching from arable land to surrounding surface waters and lakes and contributes to the eutrofication. There are three types of soils in Sweden that are at higher risk of contributing to phosphorus leakage.

Acid sulphate soils is a wide spread problem along the northern coast of Sweden. This is causing great damage through low pH and leaching of metals out into the streams. These soils are estimated to be found in several places in Sweden but also in many other areas in the world. One of these areas in Sweden that are believed to contain these sediments is Mälardalen. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extension of the acid sulphate soils in this area.

When building a house or similar the stress on the ground increases and deformations can arise. The deformations create a foundation that the building is not constructed for and damages on the building arise. The increased stress on the ground can be derived back to the building, but it is possible that the increased stress may well derive from different sources such as other buildings or trees.       The building is an older property, built in the late 19th century alternatively early 20th century, and is today used for rental housing and has suffered severe damages due to subsidence. The goal of the thesis is to find possible causes for these subsidences. The thesis was executed as a combination between literature- and casestudie. After careful studies it has been found that a probable cause for these subsidences is trees. Through field- and lab studies it has been found that the trees has effected the ground through there accumulation of water.

During the last couple of years it has been more important to reduce the driving on the field to prepair the soil after ploughing. The machine costs are high so it is necessary to be effective. To reach a pleasant soilbed directly after ploughing is sometimes possible on easier soils but heavier clay soils always need more tillages. There is a lot of equipment mounted on the ploughs on the market, for example Furrow Cracker and Furrow presses, which makes a pleasant soilbed on easier soils. The last year Överum and Kverneland have presented knives which are mounted on the wing or moulboard.

Following the accident at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in 1986, great volumes of137Cs were distributed over large parts of the former Soviet Union and Europe. Over Scotland,radiocaesium was deposited as wet deposition. Due to the relatively long physical half-life of30 years, there are still measurable activity concentrations in the natural environment. Thisstudy was made on two organic soils, Knockandy Hill and Rora Moss, situated in the easternpart of the central highlands of Scotland. At these two sites, studies on migration and transferbetween soil and plants were conducted.

Following the accident at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in 1986, great volumes of137Cs were distributed over large parts of the former Soviet Union and Europe. Over Scotland,radiocaesium was deposited as wet deposition. Due to the relatively long physical half-life of30 years, there are still measurable activity concentrations in the natural environment. Thisstudy was made on two organic soils, Knockandy Hill and Rora Moss, situated in the easternpart of the central highlands of Scotland. At these two sites, studies on migration and transferbetween soil and plants were conducted.

This report deals with handling and interim storage of soils which are planned tobe reused in construction works. The types of soils that are dealt with are gravel, topsoil and sand. The thesis work has been carried out in collaboration with Skanska Sverige Väg och Anläggning Sydost. The main goal is to find an area for using to store soil in between projects.Studies of laws and regulations regarding exploitation and storage of soil has led to a theoretical background upon which the report is based. Background informationhas also been gathered in meetings with the employees at Tekniska Kontoret and Länsstyrelsen in Jönköping.On the basis of literature studies results, a general template has been developed for which desirable properties a possible location should meet.The model was applied to find a number of possible options in the vicinity of Jönköping.

The field trial Exploatering av höga P-AL-tal (Exploiting P in heavily P dressed soils) started in 1982-1983 and included seventeen study sites placed across Sweden. Each site included three treatments, one unfertilized control (A), one aiming at replenishment of harvest removal, i.e. fertilized with 15 kg P ha-1 year-1 (B) and one over-fertilized (C) with 30 kg P ha-1 year-1. In this thesis data from the five longestrunning study sites are analysed based on four hypotheses. The hypotheses stated that in soils with high P-AL values and a pH over 6.0 P-AL will not decrease over time in the control (A) or in the replenishment treatment (B), that P-AL and P-HCl in the top soil will increase at all sites for the over-fertilized treatment (C) and that yields will not decrease as long as the P-AL is above 12 mg P 100 g-1 soil. My conclusions from the analysis of data from the selected sites are as follows: - A pH above 6.0 cannot guarantee a stable P-AL value in an unfertilized but phosphorus-rich soil. - The P-AL of unfertilized soils decreased faster at lower soil pH than at higher pH. - In the replenishment treatment (B) the rate of P-AL decrease seems to fall at a pH of 6.5. However, the influence of the soil type cannot be ignored. - P-AL and P-HCl did not increase in all over-fertilized treatments.

Rotavirus causes diarrhea in young mammals all over the world, including infant humans. The diarrhea leads to severe dehydration that can be fatal if left untreated. The dehydration can be treated with fluid therapy and the infection heals itself. Despite the relatively easy treatment half a million children under the age of five dies every year due to diarrhea caused by rotavirus. Rotavirus sorts into the family Reoviridae and is a double-stranded RNA virus with a segmented genome.

Rotavirus causes diarrhea in young mammals all over the world, including infant humans. The diarrhea leads to severe dehydration that can be fatal if left untreated. The dehydration can be treated with fluid therapy and the infection heals itself. Despite the relatively easy treatment half a million children under the age of five dies every year due to diarrhea caused by rotavirus. Rotavirus sorts into the family Reoviridae and is a double-stranded RNA virus with a segmented genome.