Prästkulla gård - En historiskt inspirerad trädgård

Prästkulla gård är ett gammalt frälsesäteri från medeltiden och en av de äldsta jordegendomarna i Nyland. Gårdens nuvarande utformning och tillhörande byggnader är uppförda under slutet av 1700-talet och är välbevarade exemplar av såväl arkitektur som trädgårdsuppbyggnad. Gårdscentrumet är planerat efter Karl Wijnblads modellbok men hann aldrig förverkligas i sin helhet p.g.a. att gårdens ägare major J.R.Taube avled i förtid. Trädgården är mäktig och har sedan länge bestått av fyra hektar trädgård och fem hektar engelsk park. Beställaren för arbetet över Prästkulla gård har önskat en trädgårdsplanering vilken förstärker gårdens karaktär. Syftet med arbetet har således varit att utforma ett planeringsförslag för gården som skulle återge trädgården sin forna glans. Beställaren har även önskat en lättskött och barnvänlig trädgård i 1800-tals stil som innehåller gammaldags växter. Examensarbetets teoridel behandlar historien om trädgårdskonsten och gammaldags trädgårdselement. Med litteraturstudierna som grund har gården planerats att efterliknar en trädgård från 1800-talet, med en modern twist.Prästkulla Manor is an old manor from the Middle Ages and one of the oldest estates in Nyland. The manors current design and associated buildings where built in the late 1800s and is well-preserved specimens of architecture and garden constructions. The center of the manor are planned by Karl Wijnblads modeling book but was never implemented in its entirety because manors owner Major J.R.Taube passed away prematurely. The garden is mighty and has long since consisted of four hectares of garden and five hectares of English garden. The ordered for the work of Prästkulla Manor have wished for a garden design witch enhances the manor character. The aim of the work has therefor been to design a planning proposal manor that would restore the garden to its former glory. The ordered also wished for an easily maintained and child-friendly garden in the style of 1900s century which contains old-fashioned plants. The thesis theoretical part tells about the history of gardens and old fashioned elements you can find in them. The literature studies is the basis for how the manor have been planned to imitate a garden from the 1900s, with a modern twist

Enlightenment Ireland and the Concept of World Peace

Ireland’s paradoxical status within the British empire has been thoroughly researched and theorised. Ireland can now be imagined as both a subject nation and a recruiting ground for imperial profiteers. The thin red line emerges as disproportionately green while research into the slave trade reveals heavy Irish investment. Meanwhile eighteenth-century European imperialism flourishes alongside the earliest theorisations of “World Peace”, whether figured spatially as “universally peace” or temporally as “perpetual peace”. The Abbé Saint-Pierre’s influential work Projet pour rendre la paix perpétuelle en Europe (1713) attracted the appreciative attention of Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Immanuel Kant. Scholars debate the credibility of such projects, but their influence was considerable. Saint-Pierre’s notion of a European union which can arbitrate to prevent war fascinates, but it ignores conflicts arising from competitive global colonisation and by freezing pre-existing frontiers it may crush nationalist aspirations. What is Ireland’s place in the imagining of a world without war in the eighteenth century? To what extent is Ireland complicit in the entrenched injustices of a Pax Britannica and to what extent does a projected demilitarised world offer prospects for genuine self-determination? Looking at verse which celebrates the conclusion of various eighteenth-century conflicts, this article considers celebrations of the idea of “Peace” from Irish literary (and sub-literary) sources and attempts to consider the mixture of hopes and fears that animate understandings of how particular conflicts are concluded. The ways and means whereby “peaces” are extended in the literary imagination give a clue to versions of “enlightened” Irish futurity

Cytochrome P450 1 genes in birds : evolutionary relationships and transcription profiles in chicken and Japanese quail embryos

© The Author(s), 2011. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in PLoS One 6 (2011): e28257, doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0028257.Cytochrome P450 1 (CYP1) genes are biomarkers for aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) agonists and may be involved in some of their toxic effects. CYP1s other than the CYP1As are poorly studied in birds. Here we characterize avian CYP1B and CYP1C genes and the expression of the identified CYP1 genes and AHR1, comparing basal and induced levels in chicken and quail embryos. We cloned cDNAs of chicken CYP1C1 and quail CYP1B1 and AHR1. CYP1Cs occur in several bird genomes, but we found no CYP1C gene in quail. The CYP1C genomic region is highly conserved among vertebrates. This region also shares some synteny with the CYP1B region, consistent with CYP1B and CYP1C genes deriving from duplication of a common ancestor gene. Real-time RT-PCR analyses revealed similar tissue distribution patterns for CYP1A4, CYP1A5, CYP1B1, and AHR1 mRNA in chicken and quail embryos, with the highest basal expression of the CYP1As in liver, and of CYP1B1 in eye, brain, and heart. Chicken CYP1C1 mRNA levels were appreciable in eye and heart but relatively low in other organs. Basal transcript levels of the CYP1As were higher in quail than in chicken, while CYP1B1 levels were similar in the two species. 3,3′,4,5,5′-Pentachlorobiphenyl induced all CYP1s in chicken; in quail a 1000-fold higher dose induced the CYP1As, but not CYP1B1. The apparent absence of CYP1C1 in quail, and weak expression and induction of CYP1C1 in chicken suggest that CYP1Cs have diminishing roles in tetrapods; similar tissue expression suggests that such roles may be met by CYP1B1. Tissue distribution of CYP1B and CYP1C transcripts in birds resembles that previously found in zebrafish, suggesting that these genes serve similar functions in diverse vertebrates. Determining CYP1 catalytic functions in different species should indicate the evolving roles of these duplicated genes in physiological and toxicological processes.Funding to MEJ and BB was from the Carl Tryggers Stiftelse and The Swedish Research Council Formas. Funding for BRW and JJS was from the United States National Institutes of Health (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences), grants R01ES015912 and P42ES007381 to JJS

Neuropeptidomic analysis of the embryonic Japanese quail diencephalon

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Endogenous peptides such as neuropeptides are involved in numerous biological processes in the fully developed brain but very little is known about their role in brain development. Japanese quail is a commonly used bird model for studying sexual dimorphic brain development, especially adult male copulatory behavior in relation to manipulations of the embryonic endocrine system. This study uses a label-free liquid chromatography mass spectrometry approach to analyze the influence of age (embryonic days 12 vs 17), sex and embryonic day 3 ethinylestradiol exposure on the expression of multiple endogenous peptides in the developing diencephalon.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We identified a total of 65 peptides whereof 38 were sufficiently present in all groups for statistical analysis. Age was the most defining variable in the data and sex had the least impact. Most identified peptides were more highly expressed in embryonic day 17. The top candidates for EE₂exposure and sex effects were neuropeptide K (downregulated by EE₂in males and females), gastrin-releasing peptide (more highly expressed in control and EE₂exposed males) and gonadotropin-inhibiting hormone related protein 2 (more highly expressed in control males and displaying interaction effects between age and sex). We also report a new potential secretogranin-2 derived neuropeptide and previously unknown phosphorylations in the C-terminal flanking protachykinin 1 neuropeptide.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study is the first larger study on endogenous peptides in the developing brain and implies a previously unknown role for a number of neuropeptides in middle to late avian embryogenesis. It demonstrates the power of label-free liquid chromatography mass spectrometry to analyze the expression of multiple endogenous peptides and the potential to detect new putative peptide candidates in a developmental model.</p

Toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) for PCBs, PCDDs, PCDFs for humans and wildlife.

An expert meeting was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) and held in Stockholm on 15-18 June 1997. The objective of this meeting was to derive consensus toxic equivalency factors (TEFs) for polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and dioxinlike polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) for both human, fish, and wildlife risk assessment. Based on existing literature data, TEFs were (re)evaluated and either revised (mammals) or established (fish and birds). A few mammalian WHO-TEFs were revised, including 1,2,3,7,8-pentachlorinated DD, octachlorinated DD, octachlorinated DF, and PCB 77. These mammalian TEFs are also considered applicable for humans and wild mammalian species. Furthermore, it was concluded that there was insufficient in vivo evidence to continue the use of TEFs for some di-ortho PCBs, as suggested earlier by Ahlborg et al. [Chemosphere 28:1049-1067 (1994)]. In addition, TEFs for fish and birds were determined. The WHO working group attempted to harmonize TEFs across different taxa to the extent possible. However, total synchronization of TEFs was not feasible, as there were orders of a magnitude difference in TEFs between taxa for some compounds. In this respect, the absent or very low response of fish to mono-ortho PCBs is most noticeable compared to mammals and birds. Uncertainties that could compromise the TEF concept were also reviewed, including nonadditive interactions, differences in shape of the dose-response curve, and species responsiveness. In spite of these uncertainties, it was concluded that the TEF concept is still the most plausible and feasible approach for risk assessment of halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons with dioxinlike properties

Multiple Lines of Evidence Risk Assessment of Terrestrial Passerines Exposed to PCDFs and PCDDs in the Tittabawassee River Floodplain, Midland, Michigan, USA

A site-specific multiple lines of evidence risk assessment was conducted for house wrens (Troglodytes aedon) and eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis) along the Tittabawassee River downstream of Midland, Michigan, where concentrations of polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs) and polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) in flood-plain soils and sediments are greater compared to upstream areas and some of the greatest anywhere in the world. Lines of evidence supporting the population-level assessment endpoints included site-specific dietary- and tissue-based exposure assessments and population productivity measurements during breeding seasons 2005–2007. While a hazard assessment based on site-specific diets suggested that populations residing in the downstream floodplain had the potential to be affected, concentrations in eggs compared to appropriate toxicity reference values (TRVs) did not predict a potential for population-level effects. There were no significant effects on reproductive success of either species. The most probable cause of the apparent difference between the dietary- and tissue-based exposure assessments was that the dietary-based TRVs were overly conservative based on intraperitoneal injections in the ring-necked pheasant. Agreement between the risk assessment based on concentrations of PCDFs and PCDDs in eggs and reproductive performance in both species supports the conclusion of a small potential for population-level effects at this site

Lifestyle management of hypertension: International Society of Hypertension position paper endorsed by the World Hypertension League and European Society of Hypertension

Hypertension, defined as persistently elevated systolic blood pressure (SBP) >140 mmHg and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) at least 90 mmHg (International Society of Hypertension guidelines), affects over 1.5 billion people worldwide. Hypertension is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events (e.g. coronary heart disease, heart failure and stroke) and death. An international panel of experts convened by the International Society of Hypertension College of Experts compiled lifestyle management recommendations as first-line strategy to prevent and control hypertension in adulthood. We also recommend that lifestyle changes be continued even when blood pressure-lowering medications are prescribed. Specific recommendations based on literature evidence are summarized with advice to start these measures early in life, including maintaining a healthy body weight, increased levels of different types of physical activity, healthy eating and drinking, avoidance and cessation of smoking and alcohol use, management of stress and sleep levels. We also discuss the relevance of specific approaches including consumption of sodium, potassium, sugar, fibre, coffee, tea, intermittent fasting as well as integrated strategies to implement these recommendations using, for example, behaviour change-related technologies and digital tools