Focus on the proposal

Th is thesis is about how to create communicative images. It is mainly for landscape architects. With communicative images, I mean images created with the purpose to communicate a proposal or idea in a direct way to. By only looking at the image, the viewer should get an idea of what the proposal entails. A communicative image should also create an interest in the proposal. I have chosen to write about this topic because it is a big part of a landscape architects profession and there are many diff erent aspects to consider. As a landscape architect create images as part of a context, and in order to communicate or develop an idea. The pictures should show an imaginary future and is an image of what a place is expected to become. It diff ers in this way, for example from an artist or a photographer's work, where the image itself is oft en the fi nal product. Landscape architect thus has diff erent requirements on what their images communicate. The purpose of this thesis is to fi nd the tools to present proposals and ideas through images. To achieve the purpose, I have formulated two questions: • What is the purpose of a visual presentation of a design proposal in landscape architecture? • What is important to keep in mind when you want to create a communicative picture? The thesis is based on literature studies, interviews and analysis of architects’ images. The literature studies and interviews gave me a background to what is important to think about when you present a proposal using images. It also gave me knowledge and how to make the work of create images eff ectively. I then summarized this background with a list of items to take into consideration when creating images. To develop and customize the items to suit a landscape architects work with images, I used them for the analysis of images, taken from presentations of architect competitions in landscaping. Th e images are fetched from completed competitions published at Swedish architects website. Th e choice of images was based on whether the communicative image from the contest presentation caught my interest or not. Aft er the analysis, I came up with six tools that can be used to present proposals and ideas with the help of images. To investigate how the tools work in practice, I use them as help in the creation of my own perspective. I used a proposal I made earlier in the program. I created several communicative image of this proposal and examined thus diff erent ways to interpret the tools. Th e tools I came up with are the following: • Focus on the proposal - Let the proposal help to guide the design of the image by always having the proposal in focus. It is also important to understand the context in which the image is created, where the target audience, stage and type of projects are important aspects to consider. • Space for imagination - Decide how much space the viewer should to have to fi ll in with their own imagination. In a perspective where everything is exactly reproduced and anchored and where details and folklore are carefully plotted, it is diffi cult to add your own associations. A perspective with much empty space or details that are diffi cult to interpret, it can be easy to fi ll in with their own imagination, but diffi cult to understand what its author intended. • Viewing angle - Select a viewing angel that display the proposal and highlights it in a positive way. Show parts that are important for the proposal and select the angle based on how much you wish shown in the image. A bird's eye view gives such a large scale, with less opportunity to detail. • Dynamics and balance - Place deliberately out various details with the desired direction, to thereby create dynamic or harmonic images. Images with even large areas give a balanced perspective. Th e selected angle can also aff ect the image dynamics and balance. Given directions can then be reinforced or counteracted by the addition of details and movement. • Contrasts and color - Use contrasts and colors to create eff ects and highlight desired objects. It provides a perspective that draws attention. • Details and scale fi gures- Th ink about how to use details. An image with too much information and details can appear cluttered and is easily misinterpreted. Remove anything that takes the focus off what is to be communicated and select the details that fi ll a purpose in the image. Scale Figures in the form of people facilitates the understanding of the image, the features on the site and create atmosphere

Development of adenoviral vectors for monitoring telomerase activity in living cells

ABSTRACT Telomerase activity is a potential molecular marker for cancer and primitive cells in regenerative tissues. The most commonly used method to measure telomerase activity in cells is the telomerase reverse amplification protocol (TRAP) assay, where the protein extracts derived from homogenized cells are analysed. In this thesis we focused on developing a method where telomerase activity could be monitored and used to separating cells with high telomerase activity without killing them. We used the promoter sequence of human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) for transcriptionally controlling a destabilised green fluorescence protein (d2EGFP) reporter gene since there is a strong correlation between hTERT transcriptional activity and telomerase activity in cells. Moreover, we chose to work with adenoviral vectors due to their high level of transient gene expression as a gene transfer system. Unfavourably, adenoviral vector transduction of tumour cells has been hampered by low expression of the coxsackie B and adenovirus receptor (CAR) on the host cells, which is the attachment receptor for the most commonly used adenoviral vector (Ad5). Thus, we used a fibre-modified Ad5 vector with the tropism of Ad35, which uses the ubiquitously expressed CD46 protein as attachment receptor. We transduced a variety of cell lines with the developed hTERT-d2EGFP vector and demonstrated a close correlation between expression levels of the d2EGFP, endogenous telomerase activity, and hTERT mRNA expression. Furthermore, the hTERT-d2EGFP reporter vector was able to monitor the cell cycle and differentiation stage-dependent hTERT transcription activity. Additionally, in order to study the self-renewal process of haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs), we utilised the hTERT-reporter vector for monitoring hTERT transcription activity in human HSCs. Interestingly, increasing hTERT expression was inversely correlated to the self-renewal capacity among primitive HSCs and the hTERT-reporter vector could be used to separate short-term from long-term re-populating human HSCs. In summary, we have developed a versatile adenoviral vector system with Ad35 tropism, which can be used to transiently transduce tumour cells as well as haematopoietic cells. This vector system can be used to study normal regulation of hTERT and has potential in development of novel therapeutic approaches for treatment of tumours and malignancies in the blood system

Publishing with Stockholm University Library – for researchers, by researchers

This is a keynote talk that Karl Edqvist (Communication Officer at Stockholm University Library) and Sofie Wennström (Managing Editor at Stockholm University Press) gave at the First Conference of the Association of European University Presses. It was delivered on 16 May 2017 in Stockholm at the University Library to delegates from European institutional publishing

BMI and mortality in patients with new-onset type 2 diabetes: a comparison with age- and sex-matched control subjects from the general population

Objective: Type 2 diabetes is strongly associated with obesity, but the mortality risk related to elevated body weight in people with type 2 diabetes compared with people without diabetes has not been established. Research Design and Methods: We prospectively assessed short- and long-term mortality in people with type 2 diabetes with a recorded diabetes duration ≤5 years identified from the Swedish National Diabetes Registry between 1998 and 2012 and five age- and sex-matched control subjects per study participant from the general population. Results: Over a median follow-up of 5.5 years, there were 17,546 deaths among 149,345 patients with type 2 diabetes (mean age 59.6 years [40% women]) and 68,429 deaths among 743,907 matched control subjects. Short-term all-cause mortality risk (≤5 years) displayed a U-shaped relationship with BMI, with hazard ratios (HRs) ranging from 0.81 (95% CI 0.75-0.88) among patients with diabetes and BMI 30 to <35 kg/m2 to 1.37 (95% CI 1.11-1.71) with BMI ≥40 kg/m2 compared with control subjects after multiple adjustments. Long-term, all weight categories showed increased mortality, with a nadir at BMI 25 to <30 kg/m2 and a stepwise increase up to HR 2.00 (95% CI 1.58-2.54) among patients with BMI ≥40 kg/m2, that was more pronounced in patients <65 years old. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the apparent paradoxical findings in other studies in this area may have been affected by reverse causality. Long-term, overweight (BMI 25 to <30 kg/m2) patients with type 2 diabetes had low excess mortality risk compared with control subjects, whereas risk in those with BMI ≥40 kg/m2 was substantially increased

A field study of management stress in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus L)

The impact of stress was studied in semidomesticated reindeer subjected to various herding and handling methods. In herded and handled animals, stress lesions were found, such as abomasal haemorrhage, muscular and myocardial degeneration and marked changes in blood constituents. The degree of change was dependent of the magnitude of stress the animal had been exposed to. Manual handling and restraint was found to be one of the major stress factors. There were evident indications of a cumulative effect of repeated stress events. The use of motor vehicles (helicopter and snow-scooter), for herding and transporting the animals, was found to be an important stress factor. It is concluded that various herding and handling methods studied in the present investigation led to varying degrees of deleterious effects on the health of the animals and a poorer meatquality from slaughtered animals. Hence herding should be undertaken as carefully as possible, the time taken for manual handling should be minimized, and the corrals be so constructed as to cause a minimum of disturbance, capture and restraint. Transportation should be undertaken very cautiously with as little manual handling as possible during loading and unloading. To obtain a good meat quality, animals to be slaughtered should be subjected to a minimum of handling, i.e. slaughter should take place as quickly as possible. Transportation of live animals to slaughterhouses and the keeping of animals in corrals, pens or crates whilst awaiting slaughter will result in a lowered meat quality and should therefore be avoided.En fåltstudie av stress hos ren i samband med olika hanteringsformer.Abstract in Swedish / Sammanfatning: Betydelsen av stress hos ren studerades i hjordar i vilka olika typer av samlings- och hanteringsmetoder anvandes. I samtliga hjordar som utsatts for olika former av drivning forelag hos slaktdjur skador betingade av stress i form av magblodningar, muskelsonderfall och forandringar i blodbilden. De funna skadorna och forandringarna var beroende av den grad av stress som djuren utsatts for. Manuell hantering och inskrankning av djurens rorelsefrihet befanns vara en av de huvudsakliga stressfaktorerna. Det forelag åvenledes en stark indikation på en kumulativ effekt av upprepad stress. Anvandning av motorfordon (helikopter, snoskoter) vid drivning samt vågtransport av levande djur befanns vara betydande stressfaktorer. Det kan fastslås att de olika hanteringsformerna inneburit olika grader av stress. Graden av stresspåverkan innebår olika grader av negativa effekter dels allmånt for djurens hålsotillstånd dels for en forsåmrad kottkvalitet. Sålunda bor drivningar foretagas så forsiktigt som mojligt och tiden for manuell hantering goras så kort som mpjlig. Dårtill bor gårdor konstrueras så att yttre storning, manuell hantering och begrånsning av djurens rorelsefrihet minimeras. Transporter bor genomforas med forsiktighet och med undvikande av manuell hantering vid lastning och lossning. Slakt bor foretagas omedelbart, dvs vid gårdan. Transport av levande djur, samt hållandet av djur i gårdor eller fillor i vantan på slakt innebår att kottkvaliteten forsåmras och bor således undvikas.Kenttâtutkimus porojen stressistâ erilaisten kâsittelymuotojen yhteydessà.Abstract in Finnish / Yhteenveto: Stressin merkitystâ poroissa tutkitaan laumoissa, joissa kàytetààn erilaisia kokoamis - ja kàsittelymenetelmià. Kaikissa laumoissa, jotka olivat joutuneet alttiiksi erilaisille ajomuodoille, oli teuraselàimissâ stressin aiheuttamia vammoja mahaverenvuotojen, lihasrappeutumien ja verikuvan muutosten muodossa. Lôydetyt vammat ja muutokset olivat stressin aiheuttamat siina suhteessa kuin elaimet olivat siihen joutuneet. Kàsin pitely ja elàinten liikuntavapauden rajoittuminen havaittiin olevan yksi pààsiallisista stressintekijôistà. Oli esillà myôs voimakas osoitus kasvavan vaikutuksen toistuvasta stressistâ. Moottoriajoneuvojen (helikopteri, moottori-kelkka) kàyttô ajossa sekà elàvien elàinten tiekuljetus nayttivàt olevan merkittàvià stressitekijôità. Voidaan todeta, ettà erilaiset kasittelymuodot ovat aiheuttaneet stressin erilaisia asteita. Stressin vaikutuksen taso aiheutti eri asteisia negatiivisia vaikutuksia osittain huonontuneeseen lihan laatuun. Nainollen pitàà ajot suorittaa niin varovaisesti kuin mahdollista ja aika kàsin pitelyyn tehtàvà niin lyhyeksi kuin mahdollista. Sen lisàksi pitàà aidât rakentaa niin, ettà ulkoista hàirintàà, kàsin pitelyà ja elàinten liikuntavapauden rajoitusta vàhennetààn. Kuljetukset pitàà suorittaa varovaisuudella ja koettaa vàlttàà kàsin pitelyà kuormauksessa ja purkauksessa. Teurastaminen pitàà suorittaa vâlittômàsti, toisin sanoen aidan luona. Elàvien elàinten kuljetus, sekà elàinten pitàminen aitauksissa tai tarhoissa teurastamista odotellessa aiheuttaa lihalaadun huonontumiseen ja pitàà nàin ollen vàlttàà

Svenskt Sigill : the strengths and weaknesses of a quality label

Marknadssituationen för svenska livsmedelsproducenter blir allt hårdare i och med fokuseringen på lågpris och EMV samt ökad import. För att lyfta fram de mervärden, som finns i svenska livsmedel, kan producenter märka sina produkter med kvalitetsmärket Svenskt Sigill. Märket garanterar att råvarorna har producerats på svenska kontrollerade gårdar, som lever upp till höga krav på säkra livsmedel, god djuromsorg, miljöansvar och öppna svenska landskap. Konsumenter, som väljer Svenskt Sigill-märkta produkter, ska känna sig trygga. Studiens syfte är att identifiera starka och svaga sidor hos Svenskt Sigill såsom ett kollektivt nyttjat varumärke, sett ur en producentsynvinkel, varvid olika producenters specifika förutsättningar måste tas i beaktande. Studien bygger på tre teorier, nämligen strategiteori, varumärkesteori samt agentteori. Dessa teorier ligger till grund för formuleringen av ett antal hypoteser, från vilka frågor härleds till den frågeguide som används vid intervjuerna. Intervjuer genomfördes med sakkunniga på 15 företag, varav fem är anslutna, sju är icke-anslutna till Svenskt Sigill och tre producenter använder sig endast av certifieringssystemet men inte av märket. Av intervjuerna framgår att Svenskt Sigills egenskaper inte är tillräckligt unika, och märket är därmed inte det konkurrensvapen de anslutna producenterna önskar att det skulle vara. De, som kan stärkas av märkningen, är de små producenterna med relativt okända varumärken, vilka idag inte signalerar svenskhet i sin marknadsföring. Även produkter, som är utsatta för hård konkurrens från EMV, samt produkter, som konsumenter inhandlar slentrianmässigt, kan gynnas av att märkas med Svenskt Sigill. Stora livsmedelsproducenter med starka egna varumärken, som redan signalerar svenskhet och kvalitet, ser inga fördelar med kvalitetsmärket Svenskt Sigill. En av styrkorna med Svenskt Sigill är att märket används inom många produktkategorier. De intervjuade producenterna tror dock att märket skulle stärkas ytterligare, om det även fanns på kött- och kycklingprodukter. Man vill även att märket ska synas på starka varumärken för att få bättre spridning och kännedom om det. Beroende på om en konkurrent är ansluten eller om man är ensam att använda Svenskt Sigill inom sin produktkategori, är märkets konkurrenskraft olika stark. Att en konkurrent är ansluten behöver inte automatiskt vara negativt, vilket man lätt kan anta, det kan vara till fördel beroende på vilken bransch man befinner sig i. Svenska livsmedelsbranscher med små marknadsandelar är många gånger tvungna att hålla varandra om ryggen, för att möta konkurrensen från import och EMV. De skulle inte överleva om de också försökte konkurrera ut varandra. I de flesta branscher vill man dock inte att konkurrenter ansluter sig eftersom det är dem man försöker differentiera sig ifrån. I och med att Svenskt Sigill är ett kollektivt nyttjat kvalitetsmärke måste samtliga anslutna producenter fokusera på kvalitet så att inte märket får dåligt rykte vilket kan påverka de anslutna producenterna negativt. Kostnaden för märkningen ligger inte till grund för producenternas beslut om de ska ansluta sig. Ägandet av företaget Svenskt Sigill väger inte heller tungt, då sådana beslut tas. Det som avgör om man ska ansluta sig är det förväntade mervärde, som produkterna kan få genom att märkas med Svenskt Sigill.The market situation for Swedish food producers is gradually becoming harder because of an increased focus on low prices, retailers’ own brands, and increasing imports. To highlight the values of Swedish food, producers can label their products with the quality brand Svenskt Sigill. This brand guarantees that the raw products are produced on Swedish certified farms, and that they fulfill high demands on food safety, animal ethics, environmental concerns and open Swedish landscapes. Consumers who buy products labelled Svenskt Sigill should feel safe. The aim of this study is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of Svenskt Sigill as a collectively used brand from a producer perspective where different producers’ specific prerequisites are taken into acount. This study is founded on three theories; strategic theory, branding theory and agency theory. Based on these theories a number of hypotheses are extracted, from which questions are formulated to a question guide used during the interviews. Interviews were undertaken with fifteen companies, of which five presently use the Svenskt Sigill label, seven are not linked to Svenskt Sigill and three producers use only the certifications system of Svenskt Sigill but not the label. The interviews indicate the image of Svenskt Sigill is not unique enough and the brand is therefore not considered to be the tool that the producers wish it to be. The firms who can benefit from the label are mainly small food producers with relatively anonymous brands, not highlighting Swedish origin in their marketing. Also products that are exposed to intense competition from retailer’s own brands and products which the consumer buys spontaneous can benefit from using Svenskt Sigill. Major food producers with strong brands signalling Swedish origin and high quality do not see any benifit with the quality brand Svenskt Sigill. One of the strengths with Svenskt Sigill is that the brand is represented in many product categories . The producers thinks that the brand would be even stronger if also meat and chicken products were labelled. They also want strong, well-known brands to use the quality brand Svenskt Sigill to accomplish better reach and knowledge of it. Depending on whether a competitor uses the Svenskt Sigill label, or if the producer is the only one to use it in the product category, the competitive power has different strength. The fact that a competitor uses the brand is not necessarily negative. It can be positive depending on which line of business they are in. Food businesses with small market shares often have to support each others in order to meet the competition from imports and retailers’ own brands. In most businesses, though, the producers do not want competitors to use the brand, since the producers want to differentiate their products from each others. Since Svenskt Sigill is a collectively used quality brand, all the producers must focus on quality so that the label does not get bad reputation, which could affect the other connected producers negatively. The cost of the labelling is not a determining factor when decisions are made about whether to use the label Svenskt Sigill. Neither is the ownership of the company Svenskt Sigill important when such decisions are made. What matters when the producers decide whether to use the label, is the expected added value that their products get when labelled Svenskt Sigill

Reproductive performance of dairy cows from parturition to conception

International audienc