Det finns många olika typer av bromerade flamskyddsmedel. De är alla stabila i miljön men graden av toxicitet och bioackumulering varierar. Att bromerade flamskyddsmedel är endokrinstörande är känt men min hypotes är att de även är neurotoxiska och att de kan orsaka neurologiska störningar hos människa. Människor exponeras för bromerade flamskyddsmedel via damm och föda. Barn och foster som är känsligare än vuxna kan även exponeras via modersmjölk respektive placenta. Barn har högre serumkoncentrationer av bromerade flamskyddsmedel än vuxna.

EVA, Equine Viral Arteritis, was diagnosed for the first time in 1953 in USA. The disease gained international interest in 1984, when there were several outbreaks of abortion at Thoroughbred studs in USA. EAV, Equine Arteritis Virus, is an RNA virus in the Arteriviridae family. There is only one serotype of EAV but several strains and the strains have different virulence. EAV is transmitted in two different ways: by aerosols, or by venereal transmission.

The Lodgepole pines susceptibility to Heterobasidion spp. was investigated in three parts ofthis study. In the first part, discs from freshly cut stumps were collected and analyzed to seeif the fungi can spread and grow naturally in Lodgepole pine stands. In the second part, rootsamples were collected from Lodgepole pines planted in former infected Norway sprucestands to see if the fungi can spread through root contacts. For the third part, new stumpswas created and artificially infected with spores of both the S?type (H.

The fertility of the North Swedish horse was investigated using a questionnaire. Data concerning altogether 73 North Swedish stallions and 213 mares used for breeding during the season 2005 were collected and analysed. The survey also included the analyses of 305 breeding case books, especially distributed for this study, from 27 stallions. The aim was to collect information on how the breeding was carried out in the North Swedish horse, and to learn what categories of mares that were covered and what routines were used in these farms. Breeding statistics from 1999 to 2004 was also analysed to complete the questionnaire.

Neospora caninum is an intracellular parasite that was first recognized in dogs in 1984. The parasite is now one of the most commonly diagnosed infectious causes of abortion in cattle word wide. N. caninum is transmitted to cattle in two ways. They may be infected from eating food contaminated with oocysts from a definitive host or they may be infected in utero from an infected mother. The infection is transmitted efficiently from cow to her offspring and this can occur for generations.

The purpose of this thesis was to analyze conception and foaling results of Swedish warmblood and Standardbred trotters using breeding statistics during the years 2000-2006. Key issues in this thesis were: Have the conception and foaling results of stallions changed during the period 2000-2006? What is the effect of the use of various breeding methods? Is testicle size correlated with conception and foaling results? How important are age, breed and level of inbreeding of the stallion for conception and foaling results? Breeding statistics were available for 537 Swedish Warmblood stallions and 305 Standardbred trotter stallions. To be included in the analyses, a stallion must have mated at least ten mares in total over the period 2000-2006. This criterion was met by 313 Swedish Warmblood stallions and 272 Standardbred trotter stallions.

The Annexin-V/propidium iodide (AV/PI) assay detects early membrane changes in spermatozoa and viability using flow cytometry. It is an objective method that evaluates a much larger number of single spermatozoa compared with the usual estimation of motility, the most commonly used method for routine sperm evaluation. In the present study four ejaculates from four stallions were used in a split-sample design to investigate whether and how the number of intact spermatozoa is affected over time and after incubation at different temperatures, either those recorded during shipment of stallion semen for AI (9 or 5°C) or room temperature (20°C). The Annexin-V results did not reflect the motility results that were monitored in parallel. While motility decreased over time, the number of spermatozoa with intact membranes (viable) remained unchanged for at least 21 hours following a short period of initial instability.

Breeding-induced endometritis in horses seems to be down-regulated by certain components in the seminal plasma. These components are most likely some of the proteins in the seminal plasma in the stallion ejaculate, the so-called spermadhesins. This study aimed to recognize these proteins and determine their quantities in different fractions of the ejaculate. Fractionated ejaculates from four stallions were used to determine the presence and amount of proteins by way of size-excluding chromatography. All former known proteins, except two, were recognized in this study.

Horses are herbivores that spend almost all day grazing. While grazing they are infected by different endoparasites through ingestion of infective eggs or larvae on pasture. The most significant equine endoparasites in Sweden are the equine roundworm Parascaris equorum, small (Cyathostominae) and large strongyles (Strongylus spp), the tapeworm Anoplocephala perfoliata and the pinworm Oxyuris equi. For many years have horses been dewormed on regularly basis, which has resulted in the development of resistance to many anthelmintic classes. Because of the problems with resistance it is since 2007 necessary to have a prescription on anthelmintics and faecal sampling is also recommended.

Our companion animals can, with or without symptoms, carry infectious agents which have a potential to induce diseases in man, so called zoonoses. An immune compromised person has an increased risk of becoming infected by various agents, and thus also has an increased risk to become infected by one?s own companion animals. A study was carried out within the veterinary program at SLU, Sweden, based on a questionnaire answered by 31 physicians, 31 veterinarians and interviews of 30 immune compromised persons in Sweden. The study investigated the following questions: Which zoonoses do physicians and veterinarians consider to be the most important to inform immunecompromised persons about? How are immunecompromised persons being informed by their physicians about the risk of catching zoonoses from their companion animals? How are the owners of zoonosis-infected animals being informed by their veterinarians about zoonoses? Does veterinary medicine and human medicine communicate about zoonoses, in order to take the best care of immunecompromised persons in contact with animals? The results of our study imply that: - Physicians and veterinarians differ about which zoonoses immunecompromised persons should be informed about. - Only oral information is passed to immunecompromised persons and animal owners.

Bovine Respiratory Syncytial Virus (BRSV) is a common cause of respiratory disease among young cattle. The virus causes severe losses; the herd mortality rate can sometimes be as high as 20 %. In this study the avidity (i.e the antigen binding force) of BRSV specific antibodies was measured to see if there was a difference between antibodies produced during an acute phase of infection and antibodies produced by earlier infected animals. A commercially available ELISA-testkit against BRSV-specific antibodies was used and an incubation step with 6M urea was added. The effect of the urea is that it breaks the weak bonds between antibodies and antigen while the stronger bonds remain intact. Four different groups of animals were included in this study; seven calves that were naturally infected, three acutely infected calves with known time of infection, five cows that were seropositive during several years and four experimentally infected calves that had been a part of a vaccine trial. The results of this study showed that antibodies produced during the acute phase of an infection had a low avidity and that the avidity increased with time after infection.

There is considerable variation between stallions in semen quality and fertility due to the fact that selection of stallions for breeding is not based on fertility or semen quality but on performance. The increasing use of cooled semen for artificial insemination has resulted in decreasing pregnancy rates. Therefore the equine breeding industry needs new methods for evaluation and development of sperm quality and fertility. This study is a part of such a project and is performed by SLU in cooperation with Flyinge AB. Ten stallions at the Flyinge National Stud were used in the study and three ejaculates were collected from each stallion.

The purposes of this study were to estimate genetic and phenotypic parameters for conformation traits in Swedish Ardenner, a heavy draught horse, and to investigate the inbreeding status of the population. Additionally, a breeding scheme proposal was created, based on the results achieved in the study. The data studied were obtained from the Swedish Horse Board and from the Swedish Ardenner Association. The data included 1632 three-year-old horses, mainly mares, and 356 stallions, judged between 1986 and 2005 at conformation shows. The traits studied were type, head-neck-body, legs, walk and trot at hand, total score and height at withers.

Testicular measurements and daily sperm output (DSO) are important factors affecting reproductive capacity of stallions. In the present study testicular measurements of 10 Swedish half-blood stallions were determined (height, length, width and volume). Ejaculates were collected from each stallion once daily for 10 days to evaluate some important seminal characteristics: gel-free ejaculate volume, sperm concentration, percent progressively motile spermatozoa and total number of spermatozoa (TSN). The gel-free ejaculate volume was measured with a graduated cylinder, the sperm concentration was counted in a Bürker chamber, the sperm motility was estimated in a phase-contrast microscope and TSN was determined by multiplying the gel-free seminal volume by the sperm concentration. Testicular measurements were as follows (left and right testis): height 7,5 cm and 7,8 cm, length 10,6 cm and 10,8 cm, width 6,5 cm and 6,6 cm, volume 278,2 cm3 and 293,8 cm3, scrotal width 12,3 cm and total testicular volume 572,0 cm3 .

The effectiveness of Phlebiopsis gigantea to prevent spore infections from Heterobasidionannosum and Heterobasidion parviporum on hybrid larch stumps were investigated in fivestands in southern Sweden. All sites are former forest land and the age of the trees wasbetween 9 and 13 years.The study was implemented in August 2010, a month where spore dispersal should be great.The five sites were located in previously un?thinned monocultures of hybrid larch. The sporeload in the air was studied with the help of spore traps from three different tree species;Norway spruce, Scots pine and hybrid larch. A total of 146 spore traps, evenly distributed inall five sites were analyzed.