26 research outputs found

    Finns det ett dominansförhållande mellan hindgrupper? : och vad har det i så fall för betydelse?

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    In a fallow deer population in south western Sweden was female group size and group composition estimated. A possible rank order between female groups and the effects of this was also investigated. By using GPS-position from 11 marked females was home range size, preferred habitats and distance to preferred habitats determined and tested for relationship to rank order. Mean female home range size was 2.92km2 and preferred habitats were "Arable land", "Broad-leaved forest not on mire or open bedrock", and "Younger forest". Mean group size in mainly open areas was 72 individuals. Represented by the marked females there was a rank order found between female groups, and each marked female included in the rank study received a unique rank. There was a negative relationship between rank and home range size, the higher rank a female group did possess the smaller home range did it kept. Thus a high ranked group may not need to move over large areas to satisfy its requirements. This would mean less time to search for food and more time to forage and therefore an increased fitness. Further there was also a negative relationship between rank and area of preferred habitat, as high ranked female group kept a smaller area of the preferred habitats "Broad-leaved forest" and "Younger forest". This is related to a small home range that consists of smaller areas of preferred habitat in the same way a large home range consist of larger areas preferred habitat. This will however not mean that the low ranked group that keeps a large home range and large areas of preferred habitat always has access to all preferred habitats. Rather it is probably restricted at certain times by other groups with higher rank to one or several of these preferred areas and thus requires larger areas to alternate between. Finally, mean distance from home range centre to preferred habitat was smaller if the group had a higher rank. This is also related to the fact of a small home range in a high ranked group, where the distance to most habitats is shorter than in large home ranges as for a low ranked group

    Skandia-grisen & ICA-Stig

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    Syftet med uppsatsen är att analysera hur företag kan använda humor i reklam för att återfå konsumenternas positiva attityd. Vilken betydelse en produkts engageringsgrad har för att återfå konsumenters positiva attityd i relation till humoristisk reklam. Detta behandlas utifrån fallföretagen Skandia och ICA. Bidra till förståelse samt belysa sambandet mellan humoristisk reklam, konsumenters attityd samt hög- och lågengagemangsprodukter. Uppsatsen utgår ifrån ett deduktivt angreppssätt och bygger på två fallföretag. Vi använder oss av både kvantitativ och kvalitativ metod i form av en enkätundersökning samt semistrukturerade intervjuer. Det teoretiska ramverket för uppsatsen består av reklam, humor, varumärke, attityd, FCB-modellen samt Reed och Ewings kommunikationsmodell. Vårt empiriska material utgörs av sekundärdata om fallföretagen Skandia och ICA, enkätundersökning samt intervjuer med personer inom reklambranschen. Vårt resultat blev följande: Om en produkt är hög- eller lågengagerande är individuellt. Företag bör ha i åtanke vilken typ av produkt reklaminslaget ska representera då olika produkter endast är lämpliga med viss typ av humor. Tiden är en viktig faktor för att återfå konsumenters positiva attityd efter en skandal samt även produktkategorin avgör hur lätt det är att återfå den positiva attityden

    Validating a common tick survey method: cloth-dragging and line transects

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    Cloth-dragging is the most widely-used method for collecting and counting ticks, but there are few studies of its reliability. By using cloth-dragging, we applied a replicated line transects survey method, in two areas in Sweden with different Ixodes ricinus tick-densities (low at Grimsö and high at Bogesund) to evaluate developmental stage specific repeatability, agreement and precision in estimates of tick abundance. 'Repeatability' was expressed as the Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), 'agreement' with the Total Deviation Index (TDI) and 'precision' by the coefficient of variation (CV) for a given dragging distance. Repeatability (ICC) and agreement (TDI) were higher for the most abundant instar (nymphs) and in the area of higher abundance. At Bogesund tick counts were higher than at Grimsö and so also repeatability, with fair to substantial ICC estimates between 0.22 and 0.75, and TDI ranged between 1 and 44.5 counts of difference (thus high to moderate agreement). At Grimsö, ICC was poor to moderate and ranged between 0 and 0.59, whereas TDI remained low with estimates lower or equal to 1 count (thus high agreement). Despite a 100-fold lower abundance at Grimsö, the same level of precision for nymphs could be achieved with a 70% increase of dragging effort. We conclude that the cloth-dragging technique is useful for surveying ticks' and primarily to estimate abundance of the nymphal stage, whereas it rarely will be recommended for larvae and adults

    Potential drivers of human tick-borne encephalitis in the orebro region of Sweden, 2010-2021

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    Incidence of tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) has increased during the last years in Scandinavia, but the underlying mechanism is not understood. TBE human case data reported between 2010 and 2021 were aggregated into postal codes within orebro County, south-central Sweden, along with tick abundance and environmental data to analyse spatial patterns and identify drivers of TBE. We identified a substantial and continuing increase of TBE incidence in orebro County during the study period. Spatial cluster analyses showed significant hotspots (higher number of cases than expected) in the southern and northern parts of orebro County, whereas a cold spot (lower number of cases than expected) was found in the central part comprising orebro municipality. Generalised linear models showed that the risk of acquiring TBE increased by 12.5% and 72.3% for every percent increase in relative humidity and proportion of wetland forest, respectively, whereas the risk decreased by 52.8% for every degree Celsius increase in annual temperature range. However, models had relatively low goodness of fit (R-2 < 0.27). Results suggest that TBE in orebro County is spatially clustered, however variables used in this study, i.e., climatic variables, forest cover, water, tick abundance, sheep as indicator species, alone do not explain this pattern

    Prevalence of tick-borne encephalitis virus in questing Ixodes ricinus nymphs in southern Scandinavia and the possible influence of meteorological factors

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    Ixodes ricinus ticks are Scandinavia's main vector for tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV), which infects many people annually. The aims of the present study were (i) to obtain information on the TBEV prevalence in host-seeking I. ricinus collected within the oresund-Kattegat-Skagerrak (oKS) region, which lies in southern Norway, southern Sweden and Denmark; (ii) to analyse whether there are potential spatial patterns in the TBEV prevalence; and (iii) to understand the relationship between TBEV prevalence and meteorological factors in southern Scandinavia. Tick nymphs were collected in 2016, in southern Scandinavia, and screened for TBEV, using pools of 10 nymphs, with RT real-time PCR, and positive samples were confirmed with pyrosequencing. Spatial autocorrelation and cluster analysis was performed with Global Moran's I and SatScan to test for spatial patterns and potential local clusters of the TBEV pool prevalence at each of the 50 sites. A climatic analysis was made to correlate parameters such as minimum, mean and maximum temperature, relative humidity and saturation deficit with TBEV pool prevalence. The climatic data were acquired from the nearest meteorological stations for 2015 and 2016. This study confirms the presence of TBEV in 12 out of 30 locations in Denmark, where six were from Jutland, three from Zealand and two from Bornholm and Falster counties. In total, five out of nine sites were positive from southern Sweden. TBEV prevalence of 0.7%, 0.5% and 0.5%, in nymphs, was found at three sites along the Oslofjord (two sites) and northern Skane region (one site), indicating a potential concern for public health. We report an overall estimated TBEV prevalence of 0.1% in questing I. ricinus nymphs in southern Scandinavia with a region-specific prevalence of 0.1% in Denmark, 0.2% in southern Sweden and 0.1% in southeastern Norway. No evidence of a spatial pattern or local clusters was found in the study region. We found a strong correlation between TBEV prevalence in ticks and relative humidity in Sweden and Norway, which might suggest that humidity has a role in maintaining TBEV prevalence in ticks. TBEV is an emerging tick-borne pathogen in southern Scandinavia, and we recommend further studies to understand the TBEV transmission potential with changing climate in Scandinavia
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