Integrating environment into humanitarian risk - Development and use of an environmental emergency risk index to inform capacity development interventions

This master thesis is an attempt to investigate to what extent the Environmental Emergency Risk Index (EER Index), which was recently developed by the Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment Unit (JEU), fit field staff and expert perceptions of environmental emergency risk. The findings reveal that the EER Index does not coincide very well with the views of the experts and field staff and that there are some methodological aspects of the development of the index that need to be further refined. Suggestions for improvement of the EER Index conclude that initially more research is needed regarding the choice of indicators, both from researchers and practitioners, and also regarding the analytical and mathematical methodology with respect to uncertainty and sensitivity analysis, to increase the legitimacy and credibility of the index.Natural and man-made hazards expose people around the world to risk, and impacts of these risks often severely affect people in developing countries. Climate change and other trends such as fast developing industries, unregulated urbanisation as well as poor urban planning threaten to increase the occurrence and severity of disasters worldwide. To save lives, enhance the preparedness for and the ability to cope with these disasters, as well as enable a sustainable future, there is a need for change in how we manage these risks. Instead of reacting and responding after a disaster has occurred, we need to try to anticipate these events and prepare for them

Det tjuter i öronen - En diskursanalys av dokumentet #pressat läge

Denna studie är en diskursanalys av förskollärares berättelser om situationen i förskolan i dokumentet #pressat läge. Studien har utgått från en diskursanalystisk ansats utifrån Foucaults teorier, där syftet var att undersöka förskollärares subjektspositioner som framställs i materialet. I enlighet med den diskursanalytiska ansatsen har studiens metod varit en närläsning av dokumentet. Undersökningen visar att de mest förekommande diskurserna som framkommer i #pressat läge är diskursen om negativ stress samt diskursen om lojalitet. Inom diskurserna blir subjektspositionerna: den som verksamheten lutar sig mot, den stressade, den ensamma och otillräckliga, den oroade, den sjuka samt den uppoffrande, den utnyttjade, den skuldbelagda och den beskyddande möjliggjorda

Det tjuter i öronen - En diskursanalys av dokumentet #pressat läge

Denna studie är en diskursanalys av förskollärares berättelser om situationen i förskolan i dokumentet #pressat läge. Studien har utgått från en diskursanalystisk ansats utifrån Foucaults teorier, där syftet var att undersöka förskollärares subjektspositioner som framställs i materialet. I enlighet med den diskursanalytiska ansatsen har studiens metod varit en närläsning av dokumentet. Undersökningen visar att de mest förekommande diskurserna som framkommer i #pressat läge är diskursen om negativ stress samt diskursen om lojalitet. Inom diskurserna blir subjektspositionerna: den som verksamheten lutar sig mot, den stressade, den ensamma och otillräckliga, den oroade, den sjuka samt den uppoffrande, den utnyttjade, den skuldbelagda och den beskyddande möjliggjorda

Going to extremes - a metagenomic journey into the dark matter of life

The Virus-X-Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value-project was a scientific expedition to explore and exploit uncharted territory of genetic diversity in extreme natural environments such as geothermal hot springs and deep-sea ocean ecosystems. Specifically, the project was set to analyse and exploit viral metagenomes with the ultimate goal of developing new gene products with high innovation value for applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical, and the life science sectors. Viral gene pool analysis is also essential to obtain fundamental insight into ecosystem dynamics and to investigate how viruses influence the evolution of microbes and multicellular organisms. The Virus-X Consortium, established in 2016, included experts from eight European countries. The unique approach based on high throughput bioinformatics technologies combined with structural and functional studies resulted in the development of a biodiscovery pipeline of significant capacity and scale. The activities within the Virus-X consortium cover the entire range from bioprospecting and methods development in bioinformatics to protein production and characterisation, with the final goal of translating our results into new products for the bioeconomy. The significant impact the consortium made in all of these areas was possible due to the successful cooperation between expert teams that worked together to solve a complex scientific problem using state-of-the-art technologies as well as developing novel tools to explore the virosphere, widely considered as the last great frontier of life

Going to extremes - a metagenomic journey into the dark matter of life

Aevarsson A, Kaczorowska A-K, Adalsteinsson BT, et al. Going to extremes - a metagenomic journey into the dark matter of life. FEMS microbiology letters. 2021: fnab067.The Virus-X-Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value-project was a scientific expedition to explore and exploit uncharted territory of genetic diversity in extreme natural environments such as geothermal hot springs and deep-sea ocean ecosystems. Specifically, the project was set to analyse and exploit viral metagenomes with the ultimate goal of developing new gene products with high innovation value for applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical, and the life science sectors. Viral gene pool analysis is also essential to obtain fundamental insight into ecosystem dynamics and to investigate how viruses influence the evolution of microbes and multicellular organisms. The Virus-X Consortium, established in 2016, included experts from eight European countries. The unique approach based on high throughput bioinformatics technologies combined with structural and functional studies resulted in the development of a biodiscovery pipeline of significant capacity and scale. The activities within the Virus-X consortium cover the entire range from bioprospecting and methods development in bioinformatics to protein production and characterisation, with the final goal of translating our results into new products for the bioeconomy. The significant impact the consortium made in all of these areas was possible due to the successful cooperation between expert teams that worked together to solve a complex scientific problem using state-of-the-art technologies as well as developing novel tools to explore the virosphere, widely considered as the last great frontier of life. © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS

Going to extremes - a metagenomic journey into the dark matter of life

Aevarsson A, Kaczorowska A-K, Adalsteinsson BT, et al. Going to extremes - a metagenomic journey into the dark matter of life. FEMS microbiology letters. 2021: fnab067.The Virus-X-Viral Metagenomics for Innovation Value-project was a scientific expedition to explore and exploit uncharted territory of genetic diversity in extreme natural environments such as geothermal hot springs and deep-sea ocean ecosystems. Specifically, the project was set to analyse and exploit viral metagenomes with the ultimate goal of developing new gene products with high innovation value for applications in biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical, and the life science sectors. Viral gene pool analysis is also essential to obtain fundamental insight into ecosystem dynamics and to investigate how viruses influence the evolution of microbes and multicellular organisms. The Virus-X Consortium, established in 2016, included experts from eight European countries. The unique approach based on high throughput bioinformatics technologies combined with structural and functional studies resulted in the development of a biodiscovery pipeline of significant capacity and scale. The activities within the Virus-X consortium cover the entire range from bioprospecting and methods development in bioinformatics to protein production and characterisation, with the final goal of translating our results into new products for the bioeconomy. The significant impact the consortium made in all of these areas was possible due to the successful cooperation between expert teams that worked together to solve a complex scientific problem using state-of-the-art technologies as well as developing novel tools to explore the virosphere, widely considered as the last great frontier of life. © The Author(s) 2021. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of FEMS