Plant use of the Maasai of Sekenani Valley, Maasai Mara, Kenya

Traditional plant use is of tremendous importance in many societies, including most rural African communities. This knowledge is however, rapidly dwindling due to changes towards a more Western lifestyle, and the influence of modern tourism. In case of the Sekenani Maasai, the recent change from a nomadic to a more sedentary lifestyle has not, thus far lead to a dramatic loss of traditional plant knowledge, when compared to other Maasai communities. However, in Sekenani, plants are used much less frequently for manufacturing tools, and for veterinary purposes, than in more remote areas. While the knowledge is still present, overgrazing and over-exploitation of plant resources have already led to a decline of the plant material available. This paper examines the plant use of the Maasai in the Sekenani Valley, North of the Masaai Mara National Reserve. The Maasai pastoralists of Kenya and Tanzania use a large part of the plants in their environment for many uses in daily life. The plant use and knowledge of the Sekenani Maasai is of particular interest, as their clan, the "Il-Purko", was moved from Central Kenya to this region by the British Colonial Administration in 1904. The results of this study indicate that despite their relocation 100 years ago, the local population has an extensive knowledge of the plants in their surroundings, and they ascribe uses to a large percentage of the plants found. One-hundred-fifty-five plant species were collected, identified and their Maa names and traditional uses recorded. Although fifty-one species were reported as of "no use", only eighteen of these had no Maasai name. Thirty-three were recognized by a distinctive Maa name. Thirty-nine species had a medicinal use, and 30 species served as fodder for livestock. Six species could not be identified. Of these plants five were addressed by the Maasai with distinct names. This exemplifies the Sekenani Maasai's in-depth knowledge of the plant resources. Traditionally, the Maasai attribute most illnesses to the effect of pollutants that block or inhibit digestion. These pollutants can include "polluted" food, contact with sick people and witchcraft. In most cases the treatment of illness involves herbal purgatives to cleanse the patient. There are alsofrequent indications of plant use for common problems like wounds, parasites, body aches and burns

Ethnobotany of the Samburu of Mt. Nyiru, South Turkana, Kenya

Traditional plant use is of extremely high importance in many societies, and prevalent in African communities. This knowledge is however dwindling rapidly due to changes towards a more Western lifestyle. The influence of modern tourism cannot be neglected in this context. This paper examines the plant use of the Samburu of the Mt. Nyiru area in Northern Kenya. The Samburu pastoralists of Kenya are still amongst the most traditional communities of the country and have retained most of their knowledge about the use of a large part of the plants in their environment for a wide variety of purposes. The results indicate that the local population has a very high knowledge of the plants in their surroundings, and attributes a purpose to a large percentage of the plants found. 448 plant species were collected, identified and their Samburu names and traditional uses recorded. 199 species were reported as of "no use". The high proportion of 249 plant species however had some traditional use: The highest number (180 species) was used as fodder, followed by 80 species that had medicinal use. Firewood (59 species), construction (42 species), tools (31 species), food (29 species) and ceremonial use (19 species) ranked far behind. Traditionally the Samburu attribute most illnesses to the effect of pollutants that block or inhibit digestion. This can include "polluted" food, contagion through sick people as well as witchcraft. In most cases the treatment of illness involves herbal purgatives to cleanse the patient. There are however frequent indications of plant use for common problems like wounds, parasites, body aches and burns. The change from a nomadic to a more sedentary lifestyle, often observed in other areas of the country, has affected the Samburu of remote Mt. Nyiru to a much lesser extent and did so far not lead to a major loss of traditional plant knowledge. However, overgrazing and over-exploitation of plant resources have already led to a decline of the plant material available

Evolutionary Studies in Asterids Emphasising Euasterids II

This thesis deals with evolutionary relationships within the asterids, a group of plants comprising about one-third of all flowering plants. Two new families are recognised: Pennantiaceae and Stemonuraceae. The woody Pennantia from New Zealand and Australia is the sole genus of Pennantiaceae. Stemonuraceae consist of a dozen woody genera with a pantropical distribution and a centre of diversity in South East Asia and the Malesian islands. They are characterised by long hairs on their stamens and/or fleshy appendages on their fruits. Both families were formerly included in Icacinaceae. While Pennantiaceae are unrelated to any of the former Icacinaceae and placed in the order Apiales, other former Icacinaceae genera are related to Cardiopteris, a twining herb from South East Asia and Malesia. The monogeneric family Cardiopteridaceae is enlarged as to include also these. Cardiopteridaceae and Stemonuraceae are sister groups and placed in Aquifoliales. The three other families of Aquifoliales are monogeneric and closely related. The Asian Helwingiaceae and the Central/South American Phyllonomaceae are suggested to be merged into Aquifoliaceae (hollies). The genera of Icacinaceae in the traditional sense not placed in any of the above families (all euasterids II) are members of early diverging lineages of the euasterids I and possibly included in the order Garryales. The three woody Australasian families Alseuosmiaceae, Argophyllaceae, and Phellinaceae are confirmed as members of Asterales, despite traditional placements not close to that order. They are, moreover, supported as each other’s closest relatives. The results are based mainly on parsimony analysis of DNA sequence data, but morphological studies have revealed characters in support for the molecularly based conclusions. The gene that has provided most new information is the chloroplast ndhF gene. The results are, however, drawn from combined analyses of sequences from one or several additional genes (atpB, matK, rbcL, 18S rDNA). The data have also been explored with Bayesian analysis, a statistical, model-based method that most recently has been developed for phylogeny reconstruction

Signal Transduction in Malignant Cells – Transformation, Activation and Differentiation

All aspects of cell life are regulated by signal transduction mechanisms. This thesis describes the regulatory roles of a few key signal transduction molecules involved in three major biological responses. The studied pathways include platelet derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB induced transformation of murine fibroblasts, interferon (IFN)-γ stimulated monocyte activation and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induced myeloid differentiation. We found that intact phosphoinositide 3OH-kinase (PI3K) activity is essential in the signaling pathway that leads to the morphological alterations and migration pattern characteristic of PDGF-BB transformed NIH/sis and NIH/COL1A1 fibroblasts. Furthermore, our data indicated that the small Rho-GTPase, Rac1 is the predominant mediator of these signals downstream of PI3K. The study of the IFN-γ induced activation of monocytic U-937 cells showed that upregulation of the high affinity receptor for IgG (FcγRI) is dependent on the coordination of several regulatory events: the PKR-mediated serine 727 phosphorylation of Stat1, the expression of the hematopoietic lineage specific transcription factor PU.I, and the activation of the NFκB pathway. ATRA-induced differentiation and cell cycle arrest are impaired in U-937 sublines expressing phosphorylation deficient Stat1 (Stat1Y701F and Stat1S727A). The findings in paper III indicated that the expression pattern of the myeloid specific transcription factors Stat2, ICSBP and c/EBPε was altered in the sublines and that intact Stat1 activation is critical for maintaining the balance of the transcriptional network during ATRA induced terminal differentiation. Finally, ATRA-induced differentiation and growth arrest were blocked by treatment with the IKKα/β inhibitor BMS345541 or by ectopic expression of the NFκB super repressor IκBα (S32A/S36A). The fact that IκB(AA) sublines differentiated normally in response to vitamin D3, showed that NFκB inhibition specifically affected ATRA induced responses. Notably we suggest that the activity of the NFκB pathway may interfere with the differentiation process via a direct effect on the RAR/RXR mediated transcription

Signal Transduction in Malignant Cells – Transformation, Activation and Differentiation

All aspects of cell life are regulated by signal transduction mechanisms. This thesis describes the regulatory roles of a few key signal transduction molecules involved in three major biological responses. The studied pathways include platelet derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB induced transformation of murine fibroblasts, interferon (IFN)-γ stimulated monocyte activation and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induced myeloid differentiation. We found that intact phosphoinositide 3OH-kinase (PI3K) activity is essential in the signaling pathway that leads to the morphological alterations and migration pattern characteristic of PDGF-BB transformed NIH/sis and NIH/COL1A1 fibroblasts. Furthermore, our data indicated that the small Rho-GTPase, Rac1 is the predominant mediator of these signals downstream of PI3K. The study of the IFN-γ induced activation of monocytic U-937 cells showed that upregulation of the high affinity receptor for IgG (FcγRI) is dependent on the coordination of several regulatory events: the PKR-mediated serine 727 phosphorylation of Stat1, the expression of the hematopoietic lineage specific transcription factor PU.I, and the activation of the NFκB pathway. ATRA-induced differentiation and cell cycle arrest are impaired in U-937 sublines expressing phosphorylation deficient Stat1 (Stat1Y701F and Stat1S727A). The findings in paper III indicated that the expression pattern of the myeloid specific transcription factors Stat2, ICSBP and c/EBPε was altered in the sublines and that intact Stat1 activation is critical for maintaining the balance of the transcriptional network during ATRA induced terminal differentiation. Finally, ATRA-induced differentiation and growth arrest were blocked by treatment with the IKKα/β inhibitor BMS345541 or by ectopic expression of the NFκB super repressor IκBα (S32A/S36A). The fact that IκB(AA) sublines differentiated normally in response to vitamin D3, showed that NFκB inhibition specifically affected ATRA induced responses. Notably we suggest that the activity of the NFκB pathway may interfere with the differentiation process via a direct effect on the RAR/RXR mediated transcription

”Jag är bra på att rita, du är bra på att skriva och ja, vi kompar ihop" : En intervjustudie om lärares attityder till barns samlärande

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka lärares attityder till barns samlärande. Hur förhåller de sig till detta fenomen, hur beskriver de att de använder sig av samlärande och hur tycker de att det fungerar? Som metod i denna kvalitativa studie har intervjuer använts. Tio lärare har deltagit i studien. I resultatet framkom att lärarna har en positiv attityd till samlärande, men att det finns flera utmaningar som försvårar användandet i den praktiska verksamheten. Vi har kommit fram till att samlärandets utrymme till stor del styrs av lärarens attityder, vilket ofta formats av deras tidigare erfarenheter. Samlärande har stora vinster men är något som kräver träning för att kunna användas på ett givande sätt

Signal Transduction in Malignant Cells – Transformation, Activation and Differentiation

All aspects of cell life are regulated by signal transduction mechanisms. This thesis describes the regulatory roles of a few key signal transduction molecules involved in three major biological responses. The studied pathways include platelet derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB induced transformation of murine fibroblasts, interferon (IFN)-γ stimulated monocyte activation and all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) induced myeloid differentiation. We found that intact phosphoinositide 3OH-kinase (PI3K) activity is essential in the signaling pathway that leads to the morphological alterations and migration pattern characteristic of PDGF-BB transformed NIH/sis and NIH/COL1A1 fibroblasts. Furthermore, our data indicated that the small Rho-GTPase, Rac1 is the predominant mediator of these signals downstream of PI3K. The study of the IFN-γ induced activation of monocytic U-937 cells showed that upregulation of the high affinity receptor for IgG (FcγRI) is dependent on the coordination of several regulatory events: the PKR-mediated serine 727 phosphorylation of Stat1, the expression of the hematopoietic lineage specific transcription factor PU.I, and the activation of the NFκB pathway. ATRA-induced differentiation and cell cycle arrest are impaired in U-937 sublines expressing phosphorylation deficient Stat1 (Stat1Y701F and Stat1S727A). The findings in paper III indicated that the expression pattern of the myeloid specific transcription factors Stat2, ICSBP and c/EBPε was altered in the sublines and that intact Stat1 activation is critical for maintaining the balance of the transcriptional network during ATRA induced terminal differentiation. Finally, ATRA-induced differentiation and growth arrest were blocked by treatment with the IKKα/β inhibitor BMS345541 or by ectopic expression of the NFκB super repressor IκBα (S32A/S36A). The fact that IκB(AA) sublines differentiated normally in response to vitamin D3, showed that NFκB inhibition specifically affected ATRA induced responses. Notably we suggest that the activity of the NFκB pathway may interfere with the differentiation process via a direct effect on the RAR/RXR mediated transcription

”Jag är bra på att rita, du är bra på att skriva och ja, vi kompar ihop" : En intervjustudie om lärares attityder till barns samlärande

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka lärares attityder till barns samlärande. Hur förhåller de sig till detta fenomen, hur beskriver de att de använder sig av samlärande och hur tycker de att det fungerar? Som metod i denna kvalitativa studie har intervjuer använts. Tio lärare har deltagit i studien. I resultatet framkom att lärarna har en positiv attityd till samlärande, men att det finns flera utmaningar som försvårar användandet i den praktiska verksamheten. Vi har kommit fram till att samlärandets utrymme till stor del styrs av lärarens attityder, vilket ofta formats av deras tidigare erfarenheter. Samlärande har stora vinster men är något som kräver träning för att kunna användas på ett givande sätt

The effect of a specific histidine-rich glycoprotein polymorphism on male infertility and semen parameters.

In women, there is evidence that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) named HRG C633T is relevant for a number of fertility outcomes including recurrent miscarriage, ovarian response and pregnancy outcome after IVF. This case-control study was designed to investigate whether the HRG C633T SNP is important for male infertility and pregnancy rate following IVF. Cases were 139 infertile couples and controls were 196 pregnant couples. The 335 couples all contributed with one blood sample per partner. Genomic DNA was extracted and genotyping was performed using a TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assay. Information on pregnancy rate and semen parameters was derived from medical records. Infertile couples in which the male partner was a homozygous carrier of the HRG C633T SNP had significantly lower (P < 0.01) pregnancy rate following IVF in comparison with couples where the male partner was a heterozygous HRG C633T SNP carrier. Male homozygous HRG 633T SNP carriers had overall lower total sperm count, sperm concentration, motility score and yield after preparation. In conclusion, once infertility is established the HRG C633T SNP seems to be important for male infertility and pregnancy rate following IVF