Beer is yellow, neither blue nor pink

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate how theories regarding core values and cultural shifts could contribute to the segmentation research field. The aim of this study was further to investigate how to attract an additional segment without loosing the original target audience. To exemplify we did a case study regarding whether it is possible for, an existing brand operating in the beer industry; to develop a marketing strategy to attract women, without discouraging men’s beer consumption Methodology: This paper consist of a combined quantitative and qualitative study taking on an a deductive approach. Primary data has been collected through in-depth interviews with a marketing manager in the beer industry, by a survey with 345 respondents and 10 in-depth interviews with consumers. Empirical foundation: The empirical foundation of this paper consists of theories regarding brands, identity and image, core values, segmentation strategies, cultural shifts, source material and subgroups. Conclusions: Society core values can act as segmentation variables. The result of such an strategy would generate a better fit with the desired audience than many other segmentation variables. The study further indicates that since society is constantly changing it is important for companies to be aware of cultural shifts and trends that are taking place. In order to being able to adapt segmentation strategies to these shifts companies need to have a more open approach to segmentation and more often re-evaluate the importance of the segments. By identifying core values that are appreciated by two segments that the company wish to merge, it is possible for the company to attract two target groups with only minor moderations in the communication. By identifying values that are shared by both sexes we were able to develop a strategy to direct marketing to both sexes. A strategy that would also generate a better fit with the desired target group. By classifying the core values and using source material in the communication, we were able to develop a strategy of implementing the values. In addition to this several industries, where the knowledge obtained in this study could be useful, were identified and hence the results extended. Contributions to theory: The study shows how theories regarding core values and cultural shifts can contribute to the field of segmentation research. This thesis further contributes to the fields of core values, cultural shifts, stereotypes in marketing and gender-based segmentation. In addition to these, the study also contributes to the field of marketing research by using a triangulation method by having one quantitative and two qualitative studies

Järven i Inre Skandinaviens skogslandskap – områdesbruk, födoval och reproduktion

Under lång tid har järvstammen i Skandinavien varit begränsad till nordliga fjälltrakter på gränsen mellan Sverige och Norge. Men de senaste decennierna har den återkoloniserat stora delar av sitt forna utbredningsområde ner till Värmland och södra Dalarna i Sverige och Hedmarks fylke i Norge. Ännu finns lite kunskap om järvars ekologi i denna del av utbredningsområdet och i vilken grad den skiljer sig från områden där mycket forskning bedrivits tidigare. För att förstå hur järvstammen ska förvaltas i sydliga delar av utbredningen behövs kunskap om vad som påverkar täthet och utbredning. Därför har vi inom ramen för projektet GRENSEVILT studerat järvars områdesbruk, reproduktion och vad de lever av och hur det i sin tur påverkar och påverkas av andra arter. Vår studie baserar sig på data från 23 järvar (11 honor och 12 hanar) som följdes med GPS-sändare under totalt 39 perioder. Järvhanarna hade betydligt större hemområden än honorna; 3-10 gånger så stora per säsong (vår, sommar, höst) och månad. Hanarnas hemområden var i medeltal mellan 350 och 1000 km2 stora. Honors hemområden var i medeltal 50-100 km2, de var som minst under vårvintern när honan har ungar, vilket också syntes tydligt på storleken på kärnområden (delen av hemområdet som används mest). Järvarna levde framförallt på rester av älg under både vår, sommar och höst. Födan kom främst från asätande, men järvarna tog även mindre byten själva. Den vanligaste födokällan var rester av klövvilt som järven hämtat från t.ex. slaktgropar (ansamling av slaktrester från jakt), åtlar eller kadaver. Vi följde totalt 5 järvar under försommaren i samband med älgens kalvningstid. Tre av järvarna tog troligtvis älgkalv då vi hittade rester efter totalt 5 älgkalvar under denna period. Vi hittade också rester av andra mindre bytesdjur troligtvis tagna av järv, framförallt tjäder och andra fåglar men även hare och mård. Ungefär hälften av all föda järven nyttjade härrörde från mänsklig aktivitet (framförallt jakt men också en trafikdödad älg). Sannolikt är denna andel högre än så eftersom även en del av klövviltresterna med okänt ursprung kommer från mänsklig aktivitet. Något överraskande var det bara en av järvarna vi följde som nyttjade resterna efter en vargdödad älg. När det gäller reproduktion tyder våra resultat på att järvhonor har en hög reproduktionsframgång i denna del av Skandinavien. Nästan alla honor vi följde födde ungar och två tredjedelar av dessa hade kvar minst en unge i juni. I två fall hittade vi döda ungar, båda var sannolikt ihjälbitna av järv. Precis som i andra områden flyttade honorna sina ungar mellan olika lyplatser, oftare och längre avstånd under senare delen av våren. Vår studie visar att järvars ekologi i skogslandet i stora drag liknar det som beskrivits från andra delar av utbredningsområdet. Något som skiljer ut detta område är att en stor andel av järvarnas föda härrör från mänsklig aktivitet, särskilt som rester från jakt, och inte predation på klövvilt eller tamdjur eller nyttjande av rester från bytesdjur dödade av andra rovdjur. Eftersom järven också lagrar mat kan rester från framförallt älgjakten vara både en riklig och förutsägbar födokälla under stora delar av året, vilket också kan vara en av förklaringarna till den höga reproduktionen som vi observerade. God födotillgång och hög reproduktion talar för att järven kommer att fortsätta återkolonisera södra delarna av sitt forna utbredningsområde

Soluble guanylate cyclase mediates the relaxation of healthy and inflamed bladder smooth muscle by aqueous nitric oxide

Introduction: Due to its chemical properties, functional responses to nitric oxide (NO) are often difficult to examine. In the present study, we established a method to produce NO in an aqueous solution and validated its capacity to evoke functional responses in isolated rat bladders. Furthermore, we compared the NO responses to the commonly used NO donor sodium nitroprusside (SNP). We also investigated the impact of ongoing inflammation on the involvement of soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) dependent signaling in NO relaxation.Methods: A setup to produce an aqueous NO solution was established, allowing the production of an aqueous solution containing a calculated NO concentration of 2 mM. Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats received either no treatment (controls) or cyclophosphamide (CYP; 100 mg*kg−1 i.p., 60 h prior to the experiment) to induce experimental cystitis. Bladder strip preparations were mounted in organ baths and studied at basal tension or pre-contracted with methacholine (3 μM). Aqueous NO solution (40–400 μL; 2 mM corresponding to 4–40 μM) or SNP (1–1,000 μM) was added cumulatively in increasing concentrations. Relaxation to aqueous NO was also studied in the presence of the sGC inhibitor ODQ (0.25–25 μM). The expression of sGC was investigated by immunohistochemical analysis.Results: The NO solution caused functional relaxations in both controls and inflamed bladder preparations. NO-induced relaxations were significantly greater in inflamed bladder strips at basal tension, whereas no differences were seen in methacholine pre-contracted strips. In the presence of the sGC inhibitor ODQ in a high concentration, the NO-evoked relaxations were abolished in both control and inflamed preparations. At a lower concentration of ODQ, only NO relaxations in inflamed preparations were attenuated. Immunohistochemical analysis showed that sGC was expressed in the detrusor and mucosa, with a significantly lower expression in the inflamed detrusor.Conclusion: In the present study, we found that aqueous NO solution induces relaxation of the rat detrusor by activating soluble guanylate cyclase in both control and inflamed bladder strips. Induction of inflammation conceivably leads to decreased sGC expression in the detrusor, which may explain the different susceptibility towards inhibition of sGC in inflamed versus control tissue. The use of an aqueous NO solution should be further considered as a valuable complement to the pharmacological tools currently used

Maternal gluten, cereal, and dietary fiber intake during pregnancy and lactation and the risk of islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes in the child

Background & aims: Maternal gluten intake in relation to child's risk of type 1 diabetes has been studied in few prospective studies considering the diet during pregnancy but none during lactation. Our aim was to study whether gluten, cereals, or dietary fiber in maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation is associated with the risk of islet autoimmunity or type 1 diabetes in the offspring. Methods: We included 4943 children with genetic susceptibility to type 1 diabetes from the Finnish Type 1 Diabetes Prediction and Prevention (DIPP) Study, born between 1996 and 2004. Maternal intake of gluten, different types of cereals, and dietary fiber were derived from a semi-quantitative validated food frequency questionnaire covering the eighth month of pregnancy and the third month of lactation. Children were monitored for islet autoantibodies up to age of 15 years and type 1 diabetes until year 2017. Risk of islet autoimmunity and clinical type 1 diabetes were estimated using Cox regression model, adjusted for energy intake, child's sex, HLA genotype, and familial diabetes. Results: Altogether 312 children (6.4%) developed islet autoimmunity at median age of 3.5 (IQR 1.7, 6.6) years and 178 children (3.6%) developed type 1 diabetes at median age of 7.1 (IQR 4.3, 10.6) years. Gluten intake during pregnancy was not associated with islet autoimmunity (HR 0.96; 95% CI 0.68, 1.35), per 1 g/MJ increase in intake nor type 1 diabetes (HR 0.96; 95% CI 0.62, 1.50) in the offspring. Higher barley consumption during lactation was associated with increased risk of type 1 diabetes (HR 3.25; 95% CI 1.21, 8.70) per 1 g/MJ increase in intake. Maternal intake of other cereals or dietary fiber was not associated with the offspring outcomes. Conclusions: We observed no association between maternal intake of gluten, most consumed cereals, or dietary fiber during pregnancy or lactation and the risk of islet autoimmunity or type 1 diabetes in children from a high-risk population

Röster om BBIC - Barnets Behov I Centrum

Denna C-uppsats är en kvalitativ studie om hur några utvalda socialsekreterare uppfattar och använder sig av utredningssystemet BBIC i arbetet med barnavårdsutredningar. Vi har framförallt undersökt om BBIC har tillfört en stärkt profession för socialsekreterarna och ett synliggörande av barnet i utredningarna. BBIC – Barnets Behov I Centrum är resultatet av ett långsiktigt samarbete mellan socialstyrelsen, kommuner och forskare med syftet att utveckla socialtjänstens arbete med barnavårdsutredningar. Frågeställningarna som valts för uppsatsen är: Kan BBIC tillföra något som tidigare har saknats och hjälpa till att åtgärda de brister som visat sig finnas i barnavårdsutredningarna? Kan BBIC medverka till att socialsekreterarna uppfattar att professionaliseringen av social barnavård har ökat? Framträder barnet som ett aktivt subjekt med hjälp av BBIC? Undersökningen har genomförts i form av kvalitativa, individuella intervjuer med fem socialsekreterare som arbetar med barnavårdsutredningar samt med Kjerstin Bergman som arbetade som projektledare för BBIC på Socialstyrelsen. Undersökningens resultat visar att de utvalda socialsekreterarna uppfattar BBIC som en stor hjälp till att åtgärda de brister som de själva anser finnas i barnavårdsutredningarna och att BBIC bidrar till att göra barnet till ett aktivt subjekt i utredningsarbetet. Resultatet visar också att socialsekreterarna vi intervjuat efterfrågar mer kunskap när det gäller att skriva barnavårdsutredningar och att BBIC har hjälpt till att tillföra ny kunskap till detta område och på så sätt stärkt professionen för socialsekreterarna. Resultaten har analyserats utifrån de teoretiska begreppen professionalisering och barnet som aktör. Till hjälp i vår analys har vi sett på barnet i sitt sammanhang med hjälp av de olika nivåerna som finns i den utvecklingsekologiska teorin

Saltvattenpåverkan i enskilda brunnar i kustnära områden : En undersökning av grundvattenförhållandena och riskerna för saltvattenpåverkan i S:t Annas skärgård, Östergötland

Coastal areas are popular for housing, both for permanent living and holiday houses. At the same time, thin sediments and small storage capacity in the bedrock makes the ground water resources limited. The limited ground water resources combined with too large withdrawals of ground water makes salt water intrusion a problem in many coastal areas. This study examine the risk of salt water intrusion in drinking water supplying wells on the island Södra Finnö in S:t Anna archipelago, Östergötland, Sweden. A calculation of the relation between ground water recharge and withdrawal is obtained to analyze the ground water balance in the area. To investigate the thickness of the freshwater in the aquifer, the Ghyben-Herzberg principle is used, based on measurements of ground water levels in the area. The study also includes a GIS-analyze to investigate the risk of salt water intrusion for specific wells, and water samples analyzed for conductivity and sodium. The results show a positive ground water balance, which indicate the area is not to be seen as a risk area for salt water intrusion. However, the GIS-analyze and the water samples shows that some specific wells are in risk of, or has already been effected from, salt water intrusion.

Saltvattenpåverkan i enskilda brunnar i kustnära områden : En undersökning av grundvattenförhållandena och riskerna för saltvattenpåverkan i S:t Annas skärgård, Östergötland

Coastal areas are popular for housing, both for permanent living and holiday houses. At the same time, thin sediments and small storage capacity in the bedrock makes the ground water resources limited. The limited ground water resources combined with too large withdrawals of ground water makes salt water intrusion a problem in many coastal areas. This study examine the risk of salt water intrusion in drinking water supplying wells on the island Södra Finnö in S:t Anna archipelago, Östergötland, Sweden. A calculation of the relation between ground water recharge and withdrawal is obtained to analyze the ground water balance in the area. To investigate the thickness of the freshwater in the aquifer, the Ghyben-Herzberg principle is used, based on measurements of ground water levels in the area. The study also includes a GIS-analyze to investigate the risk of salt water intrusion for specific wells, and water samples analyzed for conductivity and sodium. The results show a positive ground water balance, which indicate the area is not to be seen as a risk area for salt water intrusion. However, the GIS-analyze and the water samples shows that some specific wells are in risk of, or has already been effected from, salt water intrusion.

Code Switching on Flashback : A Study of Code Switching on an Internet Based Discussion Forum

This essay is a study of how English is used in a Swedish discussion forum called Flashback. The mixing of two languages when speaking or writing is called Code switching. Code switching often occurs in bilingual societies. In Sweden it is possible to say that English is a second language due to the daily encounter with the language through education, but also through different media. The daily encounter with English and the number of English loan words in Swedish might be a reason why code switching exists in Sweden. The material that was analyzed in this essay was collected from Flashback and analyzed with a method based on Sharp’s (2001) study of spoken language. The aim of this study was to see how often and in what way the users on Flashback code switched between Swedish and English. The results showed that even though English was used in the discussion, Swedish was the main language. Most of the code switches that were found in the material occurred in mixed units, in other words English was mixed with Swedish