Investigating celiac disease using recombinant soluble MHC class II molecules

Celiac disease (CD) is a chronic intestinal inflammation showing a strong association to HLA-DQ2.5. This thesis focused on the use of soluble MHC class II tetramers to examine the underlying mechanism for this selective CD association and also to develop a potential diagnostic tool based on the detection of gluten specific T cells. DQ2.5 is associated with atypically high amounts of Ii-chain derived CLIP peptides. This phenotype was assigned to an abnormally low interaction with the peptide editing molecule HLA-DM, and high kinetic stability of CLIP peptides to DQ2.5. HLA-DQ2.2 is a highly similar molecule, but does not show strong CD association. Interestingly, this molecule displayed a CLIP low phenotype due to a drastically reduced kinetic stability for CLIP. This was assigned to a polymorphic residue causing the gain/loss of a hydrogen bond involved in peptide binding. In addition, the application of a short bread challenge allowed for the detection of gluten reactive T cells in peripheral blood of CD patients using flow cytometry and MHC tetramers. This opens for the use of MHC tetramers as a diagnostic tool for diseases where the antigen and MHC restriction elements are known

Familiesentrert målsetting og evaluering: Bruk av standardiserte og individualiserte instrumenter

Hensikt: Utforske hvordan kartlagte aktivitetsproblemer og funksjoner i individualiserte og standardiserte instrumenter reflekteres i foreldrevalgte mål. Sammenligne hvordan instrumentene fanger opp endring. Design og Metode: En kvantitativ studie av individualiserte og standardiserte instrumenter. Materiale: Tretten barn med cerebral parese (CP), gjennomsnittsalder to år og åtte måneder, som deltok i et familiesentrert habiliteringsprogram. Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) og Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66). Resultat: Foreldrene identifiserte 53 aktivitetsproblemer i COPM og 74 mål i GAS, hovedsakelig innen kategoriene personlig stell, mobilitet og lek. Førtifem prosent foreldrevalgte GAS mål samsvarte med problemer i ferdigheter/aktiviteter i COPM og i PEDI, og 26 prosent i GMFM-66. Både individualiserte og standardiserte verktøy viste klinisk viktig endring (p<.002), men ikke positiv korrelasjon. Korrelasjon mellom antall oppnådde mål og forbedret endringsskår varierte for det individuelle barnet. Konklusjon: COPM og PEDI er i større grad enn GMFM reflektert i foreldrevalgte GAS mål. COPM kan ivareta en familiesentrert praksis ved å fremme foreldres identifisering av aktivitetsproblemer. PEDI og GMFM sikrer en standardisert evaluering over tid. Alle instrumentene var sensitive for endring, og lav korrelasjon indikerer at de evaluerer forskjellige aspekter ved motorisk funksjo

Natural and Synthetic Drug Analysis in Blowfly Larvae and Pig Tissue

Blowfly larvae (Diptera: Calliphoridae) has long been used in connection with human death. While most commonly used as a mechanism to determine time since death, blowfly larvae have come to be a part of drug analysis in human remains. This study investigates the presence of drugs, both natural and synthetic, in pig tissues which are consumed by blowfly larvae. The classes of drugs examined in this study include opiates, psychoactives, NSAIDs, and stimulants. These active ingredients will be extracted from natural and synthetic sources and injected into pig tissue. Blowfly larvae will then be exposed to the tissue, allowed to feed, and treated with chemical digestion to extract the active ingredients. The GC-MS will determine if there is any difference in compounds digested by the larvae when comparing the natural and synthetic sources. This study may allow forensic scientists to differentiate between natural and synthetic drug sources in remains based on blowfly larvae subjected to drug analyses

Security of dark net overlay networks

I denne masteroppgaen blir det presentert en metode for å opprette desentraliserte likemannsnettverk. Ved å benytte Tor rutere på en ny måte vi kan bygge et nettverk ovenpå eksisterende infrastruktur. Systeme blir testet både i sin evne til å sende data, men også hvordan det kan kombineres med progressive rutingstrategier. Vi isolerer tunnelprotokollen ved å teste den lokalt mellom Tor routere som er i våres hende. Testen utføres også på det offentlige Tor nettverket for å verifisere funn og prøve det i den ekte verden. Sikkerhetsegenskapene til systemet blir diskutert i lyset av nettverksarkitekturen. Systemets design resulterte i en prototype bygget oppå Tor sin rendezvouspunkt mekanisme. Dette gjorde oss i stand til å desentralisert oppkoble systemets likemenn. Designet tillater for to hopp i relékjeden mellom likemenn i nettverket. Fremtidig arbeid kan resultere i støtte for ett hopp. Dette er minimum av hva løsningen støtter, og flere hopp er ofte ønskelig og anbefalt i brukstilfeller hvor anonymitet verdsettes. Ytelsestestene avslørte en tydelig topp i vår implementasjon, når testet lokalt i optimale forhold. Resultatene fra den ekte verden divergerte ikke så mye fra denne toppen, som tyder på at vi evner å utnytte Tor ruterene på en effektiv måte. Dette kan bety at vi ved en bedre implementasjon kan oppnå enda bedre resultater som ikke begrenses av Tor nettverket.In this master thesis we present a new way of building decentralized anonymous peer-to-peer networks. Utilizing the Tor network relays in a novel way, we are able to build our network atop of existing infrastructure. The system is tested both in its ability to transmit data between peers and how it can be combined with progressive routing strategies. We isolate our tunnel protocol by testing it locally between Tor relays we control. We also run the test on the live network to verify our initial findings and to have a real world example. Security properties of the system are discussed in light of the networks architecture. We implement a prototype of our design on Tor rendezvous points mechanisms, allowing for a decentralized bootstrapping functionality. Our design allows for a two hop relay chain between the peers in our network. With further work this could likely be decreased to one. This is the minimum of possible relays with our system, but several relays are recommended when a strong degree of anonymity is desired. The performance tests showed a throughput maximum in our implementation when tested on local relays. However, the results from the real world did not diverge that much from the local test, showing that we are able to utilize the live Tor relays in an efficient way. We show that with a proper implementation, the network design would likely yield consistently better results

Postural Behavior in Children Born Preterm

The present paper presents clinical and neurophysiological data of postural behavior in preterm children without CP. Clinical followup studies of preterm infants until toddler and school age have reported that low-risk preterm infants may have atypical postural behavior in terms of reduced amount of rotation during crawling, delayed dynamic balance, delayed onset of and a poor quality of early walking behavior. At school age, dysfunctions such as problems in standing on one leg and poor hopping are reported. Neurophysiological data of postural control at early age indicated the presence of a dysfunction in the capacity to modulate postural activity, and the postural activity has been characterized by temporal disorganization of EMG responses. Postural responses to goal-directed reaching in supine lying have been recorded and analyzed in terms of the total body center of pressure. In this study, preterm infants show less mobile postural behavior compared with full-term infants. In infancy, the less mobile postural behavior seemed to be adequate as it was related to better goal-directed reaching quality, but the results indicated that the relatively immobile postural behavior during reaching in early age was related to less favorable neuromotor behavior in school-age

The construction and analysis of low TCF11/Nrf1 expressing plasmids : regarding transactivational ability and intracellular localization

TCF11 is a regulatory transcription factor belonging to the CNC-bZIP family. The specific biological function of this protein is still unknown. However, knockout studies in mice have revealed its importance during embryo development, and other studies have also displayed its involvement in the cell’s defense system against oxidants and carcinogens. The transactivating ability and intracellular localization of TCF11 and the isoform Nrf1 have been studied in cells using high expression plasmids. Due to the recent findings that over-expression of TCF11 in transfected cells caused an increase in cell mortality, the need for lower TCF11/Nrf1 expressing plasmids emerged. An additional reason for constructing the low expression plasmids was to study the localization and transactivating abilities of the proteins at levels closer to the endogenous situation. The transactivating ability was estimated by measuring the luciferase activity in COS-1 cells transiently co-transfected with a reporter plasmid and a high or low TCF11/Nrf1 expressing plasmid. The intracellular localization images were acquired by means of epifluorescence and confocal microscopy. The initial low expression constructs proved unsuitable due to the empty vector’s ability to cause indirect activation of the reporter plasmid. The second set of constructs were low expression plasmids that permitted verification of the nuclear detainment of Nrf1. However, further intracellular compartmentalization could not be detected for either Nrf1 or TCF11. In addition, TCF11 displayed a higher transactivating ability compared to Nrf1

The relationship between a child's postural stability and manual dexterity

The neural systems responsible for postural control are separate from the neural substrates that underpin control of the hand. Nonetheless, postural control and eye-hand coordination are linked functionally. For example, a stable platform is required for precise manual control tasks (e.g. handwriting) and thus such skills often cannot develop until the child is able to sit or stand upright. This raises the question of the strength of the empirical relationship between measures of postural stability and manual motor control. We recorded objective computerised measures of postural stability in stance and manual control in sitting in a sample of school children (n = 278) aged 3–11 years in order to explore the extent to which measures of manual skill could be predicted by measures of postural stability. A strong correlation was found across the whole sample between separate measures of postural stability and manual control taken on different days. Following correction for age, a significant but modest correlation was found. Regression analysis with age correction revealed that postural stability accounted for between 1 and 10 % of the variance in manual performance, dependent on the specific manual task. These data reflect an interdependent functional relationship between manual control and postural stability development. Nevertheless, the relatively small proportion of the explained variance is consistent with the anatomically distinct neural architecture that exists for ‘gross’ and ‘fine’ motor control. These data justify the approach of motor batteries that provide separate assessments of postural stability and manual dexterity and have implications for therapeutic intervention in developmental disorders

Ekstrarollepress

Executive Master of Management i Human resource management fra Handelshøyskolen BI, 2022Ekstrarolleatferd har generelt blitt sett på som frivillig, men forskning har vist at ansatte kan føle seg presset til å utvise ekstrarolleatferd fordi det i mange organisasjoner blir oppfordret til slik atferd, eller at slik atferd uformelt blir belønnet. Ekstrarolleatferd er normalt en god ting for både medarbeidere og organisasjoner, men når den ikke lenger er frivillig og medarbeidere føler seg presset til å utvise ekstrarolleatferd, kan det ha negative konsekvenser. Ved hjelp av et utvalg på 106 ansatte fra offentlig sektor fant vi at det er en positiv sammenheng mellom ekstrarollepress og turnoverintensjon, arbeid-familie konflikt og jobbstress for ansatte som opplever dette, selv når vi kontrollerte for bakgrunnsvariabler. I studien undersøkte vi hvorvidt disse modereres av lederstøtte, kollegastøtte og autonomi, hvor sammenhengene viste seg å ikke være signifikante. Implikasjoner for praksis og innspill til fremtidig forskning blir diskutert

Familiesentrert målsetting og evaluering: Bruk av standardiserte og individualiserte instrumenter

Hensikt: Utforske hvordan kartlagte aktivitetsproblemer og funksjoner i individualiserte og standardiserte instrumenter reflekteres i foreldrevalgte mål. Sammenligne hvordan instrumentene fanger opp endring. Design og Metode: En kvantitativ studie av individualiserte og standardiserte instrumenter. Materiale: Tretten barn med cerebral parese (CP), gjennomsnittsalder to år og åtte måneder, som deltok i et familiesentrert habiliteringsprogram. Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), Goal Attainment Scaling (GAS), Pediatric Evaluation of Disability Inventory (PEDI) og Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM-66). Resultat: Foreldrene identifiserte 53 aktivitetsproblemer i COPM og 74 mål i GAS, hovedsakelig innen kategoriene personlig stell, mobilitet og lek. Førtifem prosent foreldrevalgte GAS mål samsvarte med problemer i ferdigheter/aktiviteter i COPM og i PEDI, og 26 prosent i GMFM-66. Både individualiserte og standardiserte verktøy viste klinisk viktig endring (p<.002), men ikke positiv korrelasjon. Korrelasjon mellom antall oppnådde mål og forbedret endringsskår varierte for det individuelle barnet. Konklusjon: COPM og PEDI er i større grad enn GMFM reflektert i foreldrevalgte GAS mål. COPM kan ivareta en familiesentrert praksis ved å fremme foreldres identifisering av aktivitetsproblemer. PEDI og GMFM sikrer en standardisert evaluering over tid. Alle instrumentene var sensitive for endring, og lav korrelasjon indikerer at de evaluerer forskjellige aspekter ved motorisk funksjo

Micro-processes in social and learning activities at school generate exclusions for children with disabilities

This study explores children’s everyday life activities in their first year at school, revealing a variety of situated activities that involved interactions between the child, peers and (para) professionals. We sought to examine how a child with a disability encounters opportunities and space for participation in these peer interactions and multi-professional encounters. We observed eight children with disabilities (six years of age) in a primary mainstream school and conducted interviews/dialogue with the children, professionals and paraprofessional assistants. Observation of a variety of activities revealed that seemingly insignificant processes of exclusion during the day could have implications far beyond the singular situations. Professional actions to support the child with a disability may produce micro-processes that hamper participation. The study’s key messages include the need to pay attention to how socio-material and pedagogical environments are organized and to use observational sensitivity to the micro-processes at play during the school day to improve the learning environment for all children