School Naming Rights and the First Amendment’s Perfect Storm

In the past five years, public schools across the country have begun to explore a new avenue of fundraising: selling naming rights to school facilities. The popularity and monetary value of these sales, however, only highlight the importance of the First Amendment concerns they raise. This Article uses school naming rights as a lens through which to examine the conflicts between government speech, commercial speech, and forum analysis, three categories of First Amendment analysis that are simultaneously and problematically implicated by school naming rights sales. Courts and scholars have long noted the internal ambiguities within these three categories, but have not yet explored the sometimes irreconcilable conflicts among them. As the growth of school naming rights shows, government sponsorship arrangements collapse many of the artificial divisions between the First Amendment’s categories and demonstrate the need for a better understanding of the categories’ interactions. This Article identifies—and attempts to resolve—some of the border disputes between these poorly defined and increasingly important areas of First Amendment law

The role of WRKY 15 in xylem development and salt response in Arabidopsis thaliana

Xylem is a water-conducting tissue in vascular plants, that absorbs water from the roots and distributes it throughout the compartments, providing the plant with essential water and nutrients for its cellular processes. The xylem, divided into protoxylem and metaxylem, develops differently according to the various abiotic circumstances, in which transcription factors have a crucial role. The transcription factor WRKY15 plays a part in the negative regulation of protoxylem differentiation and studies have shown that WRKY15 indirectly suppresses the master transcriptional regulator VND7 (VASCULAR RELATED NAC DOMAIN7), which has been observed to promote protoxylem differentiation. The transcription factor VND6 (VASCULAR RELATED NAC DOMAIN6) also plays a role in xylem differentiation, but instead as a master regulator in the metaxylem vessels. The aim of this study is to investigate the role of WRKY15 transcription factor in xylem development and salt response in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. In this thesis, I am looking at the expression of VND6, VND7, and WRKY15 in plants subjected to high salinity and water deficiency, and the connection between them. In order to investigate this aspect, analysis was done using qPCR and GUS staining. Results from the experiments suggested that the increased expression of WRKY15 is an early response to salinity, and occurs in different locations in the root based on the environment

Sinking Island Developing States : en undersökning av möjligheten att överföra ett rättighetsperspektiv på den globala skyldighetsfrågan i en naturkatastrofskontext

Den globala uppvärmningen, som till viss del orsakats av människor, påverkar världens pågående klimatförändringar. I takt med denna förändring inträffar naturkatastrofer inte bara mer frekvent, de blir också allt allvarligare. Drabbade länder kan efter en naturkatastrof hamna i en situation där de görs till hjälplösa offer utan möjlighet att själva påverka denna. Vem borde identifieras som skyldig att axla ansvaret att hjälpa drabbade länder? I fallet naturkatastrofer har frågan om specifika skyldigheter inte utforskats nämnvärt. Denna uppsats ämnar därför att, genom att lyssna till några av de för naturkatastrofer mest utsatta och sårbara av världens länder – Sinking Island Developing States – undersöka möjligheten att identifiera en specifik skyldighetsbärare. Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka möjligheten att överföra ett rättighetsperspektiv på den globala rättvisefrågan i naturkatastrofskontexten

Kan kolloidcentrifugering förbättra spermiekvaliteten hos hund?

Denna studie undersökte om så kallad ”Single layer centrifugation” (SLC) genom en silanöverdragen silikat kan selektera spermier med bättre kvalitet. SLC är en metod för att separera spermier med bra kvalitet från andra celler och seminalplasma genom att utnyttja deras olika densitet. Egenskaperna hos spermier varierar mellan arter och därför även möjligheterna att spara och förvara spermier. Utvärdering av spermiekvalitet är viktigt för att förutsäga den fertila förmågan och även utvärdera påverkan de olika processerna som spermierna utsätts för. I denna studie har spermiernas morfologi, motilitet, membranintegritet och akrosomintegritet undersöktes. Ejakulat från sex hundar av olika ras och ålder användes. Ejakulaten delades i ett prov för SLC och en kontroll. Morfologiska undersökningar utfördes på spermalaboratoriet vid Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet. Motiliteten bedömdes både subjektivt och med hjälp av datoranalys. Membran- och akrosomintegritet bedömdes i fluorescensmikroskop. De tre sistnämnda kontrollerna utfördes både före frysning samt 0 och 4 timmar efter upptining. Som frysbuffert användes UE-1 och UE-2. Resultaten var lovande då man kunde se tendenser till att SLC var bättre än vanlig centrifugering på alla bedömda parametrar och den hade statistiskt signifikant bättre akrosomintegritet fyra timmar efter upptining. Det skulle vara intressant med vidare studier på ett större antal hundar för att få mer tillförlitliga resultat och sedan gå vidare med studier för att undersöka om det går att rena hundsperma från bakterier. Detta för att kunna minska tillsatsen av antibiotika i spädningsvätskor.This study examined if so-called "single layer centrifugation" (SLC) through a silane-coated silica can select sperm with better quality. SLC is a method to separate spermatozoa with good quality from other cells and seminal plasma by exploiting their different densities. The characteristics of sperm varies between species and therefore also the potential to save and store sperm. Evaluation of sperm quality is important for predicting the fertile ability and also to evaluate the impact of the various processes which sperm are exposed to. This study has examined sperm morphology, motility, membrane integrity and acrosome integrity. Ejaculate from six dogs of different breed and age were used. The ejaculate was divided in one SLC-sample and one control sample. Morphological evaluation was carried out on semen laboratory at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. Motility was assessed both subjectively and by computer analysis. Membrane and acrosome integrity was assessed in a fluorescence microscope. The last three checks were carried out both before freezing and 0 and 4 hours after thawing. UE-1 and UE-2 was used as freezing buffer. The results were promising as you could see trends that the SLC was better than normal centrifugation on all the examined parameters and acrosome integrity 4 hours after thawing was significantly better. It would be interesting with further studies on a larger number of dogs to get more reliable results and then proceed with studies to investigate the feasibility of clean dog semen from bacteria. This is to reduce the addition of the antibiotics in the buffer solutions

Ekologisk slaktgrisproduktion i Sverige

This literature review describes organic pig production in Sweden, its advantages and disadvantages, but also how its problems can be reduced or solved. Organic pigs have the possibility to a more natural behaviour than conventional pigs. With outdoor pigs comes problems, especially during wintertime, concerning water and feed supply, thermal environment and supervision. Parasites and leakage of plant nutrients are other difficulties that comes with outdoor pigs. All problems and difficulties can be reduced or put right through correct management. Outdoor pigs produce more than meat, they can also contribute with soil preparation.Denna litteraturstudie beskriver vad ekologiska slaktgrisar är, vilka för- och nackdelar som finns och hur problem rörande deras uppfödning kan minska. Ekologiska slaktgrisar får möjlighet att bete sig mer naturligt än konventionellt uppfödda. Utomhushållning av grisar medför dock svårigheter, speciellt under vintern, rörande vatten- och foderförsörjning, skötsel samt djurens termiska närmiljö. Även parasiter och näringsläckage är problem som följer med utomhushålllning av grisar. Alla svårigheter och problem kan dock avhjälpas eller minskas genom bra skötselmetoder och god planering. Grisarna som går ute ger inte bara kött, de kan även bidra som markberedare

Capacity studies on DeLavals sort gate DSG10

In the dairy production it is necessary to be able to sort cows. Dairy cows are sorted for many different reasons i.e. regrouping into production strings or for treatments i.e. inseminations, pregnancy and health checks, vaccinations or hoof trimmings. One labour saving way of conducting sorting is by using an automatic sort gate. DeLaval’s sort gate DSG10 is a multiple sort gate that can sort cows in up to five different directions when the dairy cows are returning to the barn from the milking parlour. The sort gate capacity is calculated during the planning process with a theoretical formula based on parlour capacity (cows/hour), percentage of cows to be sorted, distances within the sort gate system, walking speed and time for one cow to pass the DSG10. In this study the two constants in the formula, walking speed and time for one cow to pass the DSG10, were evaluated through time studies conducted on four dairy farms in Sweden and the United States of America. The time studies were conducted by clocking cows when passing through the DSG10 sort gate. To be able to compare the conditions on the different farms these were documented concerning layout in the sorting area, animal environment and management strategies on the farms with photographs, measurements, sketches and interviews with farm staff. From the collected data it was found that walking speed of cows is about 1 m/s. It takes in median 6 seconds for unsorted cows to pass the sort gate and 17 seconds for sorted cows to pass the DSG10. It was found that lame cows walked slower than other cows. Therefore a percentage was added as an extra parameter to the formula to allow for lame cows. The time for all unsorted cows to pass the sort gate was lowered to 5 seconds and an extra time of 4 seconds for every lame cow was put in. However, when evaluating the different formulas it was concluded that lame cows can still be a tricky figure to use, since it can be difficult to forecast the herds claw health. On farms with parlour capacities under approximately 350-400 cows per hour it is sufficient with one DSG10, and on farms milking up to about 800-850 cows per hour it would theoretically be enough with two DSG10’s working at a time. These approximations will be lowered if distances within the sort gate system, percentage of cows that is to be sorted and percentage of lame cows are high

Hästens välfärdsproblem relaterade till utfodring

Hästen har länge varit ett användbart och uppskattat djur av människan. Ända sedan domesticeringen för 6000 år sedan har hästen använts till krig, som draghjälp och för nöje. Hästen började sin utveckling som en mindre bladätande fyrtåad häst till dagens större entåade gräsätande häst. Denna utveckling var nödvändig för hästens överlevnad med anledning av ökad konkurrens av betet och förändrat klimat. Dagens hästhållning skiljer sig från den miljö hästen levde i som vild. Hästen levde på stora fält i ett harem och spenderade större delen av sin tid med att beta. Ungefär 60-77 % av varje dygn ägnade hästen åt att äta och i samband med det rörde den sig framåt. För dagens hästar är det vanligast att de hålls i box där de också spenderar större delen av sin tid, med utfodring 2-4 gånger per dag och begränsad utevistelse. Sverige har djurskyddslagar som säger att hästen måste få röra sig i sina naturliga gångarter dagligen och endast vistas 16 timmar i spilta per dygn. Förändringen mot dagens hästhållning har genererat välfärdsproblem för hästen. Välfärdsproblem som stereotypier, fång, kolik och foderstrupsförstoppning. Stereotypier kan hindras med olika fysiska metoder som operation och krubbitarrem, men detta åtgärdar inte orsaken bakom problemet utan stoppar bara rörelsen. Metoder som ökad utevistelse och utfodring med mer grovfoder förhindrar det underliggande problemet. Allra bäst är att förhindra att problemen aldrig uppkommer genom ett högkvalitativt foder, en bra miljö, utevistelse och socialt umgänge med andra hästar. ”Active stable” är en form av lösdrift som ökar i antal och som syftar till en mer naturlig hästhållning. Mer kunskap bland hästfolk krävs för att komma till rätta med problemen.The horse has for a long time been a useful and appreciated animal for the human. Ever since its domestication for 6000 years ago the horse has been used in warfare, for work and pleasure. The horse developed from a smaller leaf eater four-tiptoed horse to today’s bigger one-tiptoed grass eating horse. This development was necessary for the survival of the horse, under the pressure of higher competition and changed environment. Today’s horse keeping is different from the environment the horse used to live in. The horse lived on big fields with its harem and spent most of its time grazing. About 60-77 % of each day the horse spent eating and at the same time moves forward. Today’s horses are normally kept in boxes, where they spend most of their time, with feeding 2-4 times a day and limited time outside. Sweden has animal welfare-laws, that require that the horse has to be able to go in its natural gaits every day and if they are housed in a stall they can only stay there maximum 16 hours each day. Unfortunately this type of horse keeping has led to welfare problems for the horse. Welfare problems like stereotypies, laminitis, colic and esophageal obstruction. Stereotypies can be stopped with different physical methods like operation and anti-cribbingstrap, but this will not stop the underlying problem. Methods that include extended time outside and feeding with more forage will treat the underlying factors of these problems. The best thing would be to prevent the behavioral and other problems before they start with high quality feed, a good environment, outside visits and social relationships with other horses. Active stable is a form of free-ranging and refers to a more natural horse keeping. More knowledge is needed for the horse society to deal with these problems