Clonality, recombination, and hybridization in the plumbing-inhabiting human pathogen Fusarium keratoplasticum inferred from multilocus sequence typing

Sammanfattning/AbstractHelene Erös och Jennie Karlsson (2013). Action programs as tool for learning.Specialpedagogprogrammet 90hp Skolutveckling och ledarskap Lärande och samhälle, Malmö högskolaProblemområde: Skolverket (2012) presenterade nyligen de senaste resultaten från PIRLS och TIMMS. De visade att Sveriges elever i årskurs 4 hade försämrats inom läsning och i matematik hade de lägre resultat än andra EU/OECD länder. Detta är alarmerande och måste tas på allvar. Sämre resultat leder på sikt till att fler och fler åtgärdsprogram behöver utfärdas. Det är viktigt att åtgärdsprogrammen fungerar som redskap för att motverka de negativa utvecklingstrenderna.Syfte: Syftet med vår undersökning var att undersöka åtgärdsprogram som verktyg för lärande. Med hjälp av våra frågeställningar belyste vi åtgärdsprogram ur flera perspektiv. De var blanketternas utformning och innehåll, synen på lärande i åtgärderna och hur lärare arbetar med åtgärdsprogram i undervisningen. Teoretisk ram: I arbetet utgick vi från två teorier om lärande, kognitiv konstruktivism och social konstruktivism. Vi använde även teori utifrån det sociokulturella perspektivet. Tidigare forskning kring åtgärdsprogram och riktlinjer från lagar, läroplaner och allmänna råd bildade en bakgrund.Metod: Vi valde att göra en kvalitativ innehållsanalys av åtgärdsprogram och halvstrukturerade intervjuer med fyra lärare från två kommuner.Resultat med analys: Våra resultat visar att begrepp i åtgärdsprogrammen som styrkor eller organisation, grupp och individ tolkas olika av lärare. Målen är överlag svåra för eleven att uppnå inom en rimlig tid och det är vanligt att målformuleringarna är otydliga. Åtgärderna ligger mycket på individnivå och omfattas mest av färdighetsträning. Föräldrars och elevers delaktighet vid utformningen av åtgärdsprogrammen varierar. I intervjuerna framkommer att lärarna ser elevernas svårigheter som något utöver och utanför den ordinarie undervisningen. Lärarna förlägger åtgärderna under eget arbete i eller utanför klassrummet och ibland till och med innan eller efter skoltid. Konklusion: Formuleringarna av mål och åtgärder varierar beroende på vem som skriver. För att åtgärdsprogram ska fungera som verktyg för lärande måste pedagogerna först förstå begreppen i åtgärdsprogrammen. De måste även ha kunskaper om var eleverna befinner sig i sin utveckling och framförallt vart de är på väg så att mål och åtgärder blir kortsiktiga, konkreta och mätbara. Blanketternas utformning och ordval kan förvilla pedagogerna och bidra till feltolkningar. Detta är ett område som vi inte hittat någon forskning kring. Utifrån ett sociokulturellt perspektiv drar vi slutsatsen att fler åtgärder bör ligga på gruppnivå där dialogen blir ett viktigt redskap.Implementering: Specialpedagogens roll blir att föra en regelbunden dialog med lärarna ute på skolorna om åtgärdsprogrammens begrepp och vad som ska ingå i programmen. En annan uppgift för specialpedagogen blir att få lärarna att använda sig av gruppen och få arbetet med åtgärdsprogrammen integrerat i den ordinarie undervisningen. Får vi till detta blir åtgärdsprogrammen fungerande verktyg för lärande. Våra resultat stämmer med tidigare forskning kring formuleringen av innehållet i åtgärdsprogrammen. Implikationerna gäller därför både för oss specifikt men även i vidare mening

Multilocus phylogenetics show high levels of endemic fusaria inhabiting Sardinian soils (Tyrrhenian Islands)

The Mediterranean island of Sardinia is well known for high levels of vascular plant diversity and endemism, but little is known about its microbial diversity. Under the hypothesis that Fusarium species would show similarly high diversity, we estimated variability in Fusarium species composition among 10 sites around the island. Markers previously adopted for multilocus sequence typing (MLST) were used to determine multilocus DNA sequence haplotypes for 263 Fusarium isolates. In addition portions of the translation elongation factor 1-alpha and second largest RNA polymerase subunit genes were sequenced for all isolates. The intergenic spacer (IGS) region of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene repeat was sequenced for members of the F. oxysporum species complex (FOSC), and a portion of the nuclear ribosomal RNA gene repeat comprising the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and part of the large nuclear ribosomal RNA subunit was sequenced for members of the F. solani species complex (FSSC). Seventy-three multilocus haplotypes were identified among the 263 isolates typed, of which 48 represented FOSC and FSSC. Thirty-seven of 48 FOSC two-locus and FSSC three-locus haplotypes had not been observed previously. The 38 non-FOSC/FSSC fusaria comprised 25 haplotypes distributed among 10 species, five of which appear to represent novel, phylogenetically distinct species. In general newly discovered haplotypes were restricted to one or a few sites. All FSSC isolates represented new haplotypes in phylogenetic species FSSC 5 and 9, which differ from the phylogenetic species dominant in soils worldwide. No obvious correlations were found between haplotype diversity and geospatial or habitat distribution. Overall these results indicate a high degree of Fusarium genetic diversity on multiple geographic scales within Sardinia. These results contrast with recent work showing that common, cosmopolitan species dominate Sardinia’s Trichoderma biodiversity. All data are available for access and viewing from the FUSARIUM-ID database

Norepinephrine Controls Both Torpor Initiation and Emergence via Distinct Mechanisms in the Mouse

Some mammals, including laboratory mice, enter torpor in response to food deprivation, and leptin can attenuate these bouts of torpor. We previously showed that dopamine β-hydroxylase knockout (Dbh −/−) mice, which lack norepinephrine (NE), do not reduce circulating leptin upon fasting nor do they enter torpor. To test whether the onset of torpor in mice during a fast requires a NE-mediated reduction in circulating leptin, double mutant mice deficient in both leptin (ob/ob) and DBH (DBL MUT) were generated. Upon fasting, control and ob/ob mice entered torpor as assessed by telemetric core Tb acquisition. While fasting failed to induce torpor in Dbh −/− mice, leptin deficiency bypassed the requirement for NE, as DBL MUT mice readily entered torpor upon fasting. These data indicate that sympathetic activation of white fat and suppression of leptin is required for the onset of torpor in the mouse. Emergence from torpor was severely retarded in DBL MUT mice, revealing a novel, leptin-independent role for NE in torpor recovery. This phenotype was mimicked by administration of a β3 adrenergic receptor antagonist to control mice during a torpor bout. Hence, NE signaling via β3 adrenergic receptors presumably in brown fat is the first neurotransmitter-receptor system identified that is required for normal recovery from torpor

Toxicity of lunar dust

The formation, composition and physical properties of lunar dust are incompletely characterised with regard to human health. While the physical and chemical determinants of dust toxicity for materials such as asbestos, quartz, volcanic ashes and urban particulate matter have been the focus of substantial research efforts, lunar dust properties, and therefore lunar dust toxicity may differ substantially. In this contribution, past and ongoing work on dust toxicity is reviewed, and major knowledge gaps that prevent an accurate assessment of lunar dust toxicity are identified. Finally, a range of studies using ground-based, low-gravity, and in situ measurements is recommended to address the identified knowledge gaps. Because none of the curated lunar samples exist in a pristine state that preserves the surface reactive chemical aspects thought to be present on the lunar surface, studies using this material carry with them considerable uncertainty in terms of fidelity. As a consequence, in situ data on lunar dust properties will be required to provide ground truth for ground-based studies quantifying the toxicity of dust exposure and the associated health risks during future manned lunar missions.Comment: 62 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, accepted for publication in Planetary and Space Scienc

Search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu channel in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for the standard model Higgs boson in the H to ZZ to 2l 2nu decay channel, where l = e or mu, in pp collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV is presented. The data were collected at the LHC, with the CMS detector, and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 4.6 inverse femtobarns. No significant excess is observed above the background expectation, and upper limits are set on the Higgs boson production cross section. The presence of the standard model Higgs boson with a mass in the 270-440 GeV range is excluded at 95% confidence level.Comment: Submitted to JHE

Measurement of event shapes in deep inelastic scattering at HERA

Inclusive event-shape variables have been measured in the current region of the Breit frame for neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering using an integrated luminosity of 45.0 pb^-1 collected with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The variables studied included thrust, jet broadening and invariant jet mass. The kinematic range covered was 10 < Q^2 < 20,480 GeV^2 and 6.10^-4 < x < 0.6, where Q^2 is the virtuality of the exchanged boson and x is the Bjorken variable. The Q dependence of the shape variables has been used in conjunction with NLO perturbative calculations and the Dokshitzer-Webber non-perturbative corrections (`power corrections') to investigate the validity of this approach.Comment: 7+25 pages, 6 figure

Search for anomalous t t-bar production in the highly-boosted all-hadronic final state

A search is presented for a massive particle, generically referred to as a Z', decaying into a t t-bar pair. The search focuses on Z' resonances that are sufficiently massive to produce highly Lorentz-boosted top quarks, which yield collimated decay products that are partially or fully merged into single jets. The analysis uses new methods to analyze jet substructure, providing suppression of the non-top multijet backgrounds. The analysis is based on a data sample of proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns. Upper limits in the range of 1 pb are set on the product of the production cross section and branching fraction for a topcolor Z' modeled for several widths, as well as for a Randall--Sundrum Kaluza--Klein gluon. In addition, the results constrain any enhancement in t t-bar production beyond expectations of the standard model for t t-bar invariant masses larger than 1 TeV.Comment: Submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics; this version includes a minor typo correction that will be submitted as an erratu

Combined search for the quarks of a sequential fourth generation

Results are presented from a search for a fourth generation of quarks produced singly or in pairs in a data set corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 5 inverse femtobarns recorded by the CMS experiment at the LHC in 2011. A novel strategy has been developed for a combined search for quarks of the up and down type in decay channels with at least one isolated muon or electron. Limits on the mass of the fourth-generation quarks and the relevant Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa matrix elements are derived in the context of a simple extension of the standard model with a sequential fourth generation of fermions. The existence of mass-degenerate fourth-generation quarks with masses below 685 GeV is excluded at 95% confidence level for minimal off-diagonal mixing between the third- and the fourth-generation quarks. With a mass difference of 25 GeV between the quark masses, the obtained limit on the masses of the fourth-generation quarks shifts by about +/- 20 GeV. These results significantly reduce the allowed parameter space for a fourth generation of fermions.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Search for New Physics with Jets and Missing Transverse Momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

A search for new physics is presented based on an event signature of at least three jets accompanied by large missing transverse momentum, using a data sample corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 36 inverse picobarns collected in proton--proton collisions at sqrt(s)=7 TeV with the CMS detector at the LHC. No excess of events is observed above the expected standard model backgrounds, which are all estimated from the data. Exclusion limits are presented for the constrained minimal supersymmetric extension of the standard model. Cross section limits are also presented using simplified models with new particles decaying to an undetected particle and one or two jets