We discuss the properties of the differential equation , a.e. on , where , and satisfies the -Carathéodory conditions on for some . A full description of the asymptotic behavior for of functions satisfying the equation a.e. on is given. We also describe the structure of boundary conditions which are necessary and sufficient for to be at least in . As an application of the theory, new existence and/or uniqueness results for solutions of periodic boundary value problems are shown.