Holomorphic families of non-equivalent embeddings and of holomorphic group actions on affine space

We construct holomorphic families of proper holomorphic embeddings of \C^k into \C^n ($0<k<n-1$), so that for any two different parameters in the family no holomorphic automorphism of \C^n can map the image of the corresponding two embeddings onto each other. As an application to the study of the group of holomorphic automorphisms of \C^n we derive the existence of families of holomorphic \C^*-actions on \C^n ($n\ge 5$) so that different actions in the family are not conjugate. This result is surprising in view of the long standing Holomorphic Linearization Problem, which in particular asked whether there would be more than one conjugacy class of \C^* actions on \C^n (with prescribed linear part at a fixed point)

Window dressing inequalities and constructing women farmers as problematic—gender in Rwanda’s agriculture policy

Rwanda is often depicted as a success story by policy makers when it comes to issues of gender. In this paper, we show how the problem of gendered inequality in agriculture nevertheless is both marginalized and instrumentalized in Rwanda’s agriculture policy. Our in-depth analysis of 12 national policies is informed by Bacchi’s What’s the problem represented to be? approach. It attests that gendered inequality is largely left unproblematized as well as reduced to a problem of women’s low agricultural productivity. The policy focuses on framing the symptoms and effects of gendered inequality and turns gender mainstreaming into an instrument for national economic growth. We argue that by insufficiently addressing the socio-political underlying causes of gendered inequality, Rwanda’s agriculture policy risks reproducing and exacerbating inequalities by reinforcing dominant gender relations and constructing women farmers as problematic and men as normative farmers. We call for the policy to approach gendered inequality in alternative ways. Drawing on perspectives in feminist political ecology, we discuss how such alternatives could allow policy to more profoundly challenge underlying structural constraints such as unequal gender relations of power, gender norms, and gender divisions of work. This would shift policy’s problematizing lens from economic growth to social justice, and from women’s shortcomings and disadvantages in agriculture to the practices and relations that perpetuate inequality. In the long term, this could lead to transformed gender norms and power relations, and a more just and equal future beyond what the dominant agricultural development discourse currently permits

Inflammation and subjective health : the role of sickness behaviour

Sickness behaviour refers to a set of coordinated behavioural and psychological changes in response to inflammation aimed to redirect available energy to the immune system to promote recovery. Sickness behaviour symptoms closely resemble important determinants of poor self-rated health, which in turn has been coupled to increased levels of inflammatory cytokines. However, it is not known if this association between inflammatory cytokines and self-rated health is mediated by sickness behaviour. Furthermore, it has not yet been established if other systemic and local inflammatory markers affect self-rated health, sickness behaviour and other patient reported outcome measures (PROMs). This thesis main aim was to investigate sickness behaviour as a determinant of self-rated health and as a possible mediator in an association between inflammatory markers and subjective health perception in primary care patients and in patients with asthma. In paper I, a questionnaire to measure sickness behaviour, SicknessQ, was developed and validated in two steps. First, sickness behaviour was experimentally induced by injecting endotoxin in healthy volunteers. The participants completed 37 items describing a broad range of sickness symptoms, items that responded to acute inflammatory provocation were selected and psychometric properties were tested in 172 primary care patients. The results demonstrated adequate psychometric properties for the resulting 10-item SicknessQ-scale and gave support for using SicknessQ as a brief instrument to assess human sickness behaviour. In paper II, the relationship between inflammatory markers, health anxiety, sickness behaviour and self-rated health was investigated in 311 primary care patients, 172 of which were also part of the study population in paper I. Furthermore, mediation analysis was conducted to exploratory investigate if putative relationships between inflammatory markers and self-rated health were statistically mediated by sickness behaviour. The results showed that poor self-rated health was associated with increased sickness behaviour and higher health anxiety. In addition, elevated levels of IL-6 were associated with poor self-rated health in men, although this association was not mediated by sickness behaviour. In paper III and IV, the longitudinal associations between self-rated health, sickness behaviour, asthma-related quality of life, inflammatory markers (paper III: FENO, ECP, EDN, IgE, paper IV: IL-5, IL-6) and lung function were investigated with repeated measurements in 181 patients with allergic asthma during 12-months. Poor self-rated health was associated with increased sickness behaviour, poorer asthma-related quality of life and high levels of seasonal IgE and food IgE but not total IgE or FENO, ECP or EDN. In men, a u-shaped relationship was found where both low and high levels of IL-6 were associated with increased sickness behaviour. Analysed over time, a worsening in sickness behaviour was associated with a worsening of self-rated health. Also, an improvement of asthma-related quality of life was associated with an improvement in self-rated health. In men, but not women, increased lung function measured as FEV1 was associated with an increase in IL-6, better self-rated health and increased asthma-related quality of life over the year. In this thesis, new knowledge is gathered to understand the underpinnings and interrelations between self-rated health, sickness behaviour and inflammation. More sickness behaviour emerged as a more consistent determinant of poor self-rated health compared to inflammatory markers, for which mixed results were found. The results of the thesis highlight the role of sickness behaviour in subjective health perception

Highly Secure and Easy to Remember Password-Based Authentication Approach

Everyone connected and using the Internet is concerned regarding the security and also the privacy of their sensitive information available on the Internet. As authentication is the fundamental part of security, there are different authentication mechanisms through which the systems can be secured. The password-based authentication mechanism is a cheap and easy method for enforcing authentication in the systems for many years. The weakest aspect in password security is human, as they choose weak and easy to guess passwords or a highly secure and complex password which might be difficult to remember and recover the password. On the other hand, Dictionary and Brute force attacks are widely used to compromise the passwords of the users over the Internet. In this paper, a password generation system is proposed which generates a password based on the user’s input like, time and location data. The system generates a password that is highly secure, easy to remember, easy to recover, and can effectively defend against Brute force and dictionary attacks. The generated passwords have been checked in three online password checkers, which verifies that the system is generating highly secure and crack resistant passwords. The system is implemented using PHP scripting language with a user-friendly environment

Choice of tree species in the aftermath of two major storms

The forests in Götaland, the most southern part of Sweden, are dominated by Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst). This species is very important for the Swedish forest sector, but also associated with certain risks, such as wind-throw. Götaland was hit by the storm Gudrun in 2005, causing damages of a magnitude never experienced in the modern Swedish history. Two years later the same region suffered severe damages in another storm, Per. Due to the ownership structure in southern Sweden the reforestation efforts after the storms were largely made by small-scale private forest owners. Disproportionally high losses of Norway spruce exposed the risks associated with previous practices. In addition, reforestation grants were available through the Swedish Forest Agency that compensated for the higher regeneration costs associated with broadleaves. Despite this, the vast majority of the storm felled areas were regenerated with Norway spruce. Through qualitative interviews and subsequent analysis, this study examined how small-scale private forest owners’ reasoned in their choice of species and which factors that were of decisive importance for the final outcome. Regeneration with Norway spruce was mainly an expression of forest owners evaluating the different alternatives based on economic rationality. Past and current economic conditions have been and still are favorable for this species, and forest owners therefore relayed on experiencebased knowledge in their reforestation decision. Meanwhile, there are other contextual factors that steered forest owners towards planting spruce, such as a high browsing pressure and influence from dominant forest management norms. Regeneration with other species reflects situations where forest owners incorporated other aspects in their decision-making processes. Regeneration with broadleaves was favored by consideration of aesthetical values and an awareness of potential future risks with Norway spruce. In addition, since large areas had to be regenerated, forest owners ceased the opportunity to vent their curiosity with new species (especially exotic conifers/broadleaves) on smaller areas. The soft policy instruments that characterize Swedish forest policy also had a facilitating effect. Forest owners received information about alternatives through various pathways and the reforestation grants were of crucial importance for the owners that planted broadleaves. This study also suggests that the higher share of naturally regenerated birch found in regenerations surveys after Gudrun cannot simply be regarded as an effect of lower level of ambition, but also expresses a shift towards a more positive attitude concerning this species.Skogen i Götaland, den sydligaste delen av Sverige, domineras av Gran (Picea abies (L.) H. Karst). Denna art är mycket viktig för svensk skogsindustrin, men kopplas också samman med vissa risker, såsom en högre risk för stormfällning. 2005 så drabbades Götaland av stormen Gudrun, som orsakade skador av en omfattning som aldrig tidigare upplevts i modern svensk historia. Två år senare så drabbades samma region av stormen Per. Ägandestrukturen i södra Sverige innebar att föryngringsbesluten efter stormarna i hög grad utfördes av småskaliga skogsägare. Disproportionellt stora skador på granskog visade på riskerna med tidigare skogsbruksmetoder, samtidigt som skogsstyrelsens återväxtstöd kompenserade för lövträdens högre föryngringskostnad. Trots detta föryngrades de stormfällda områdena i mycket stor utsträckning med gran. Med kvalitativa intervjuer och efterföljande analys undersöktes i denna studie hur privata skogsägare resonerade i sina föryngringsbeslut och vilka faktorer som var av avgörande betydelse för det slutgiltiga utfallet. Föryngring med gran var främst ett uttryck för skogsägare som värderade de olika alternativen utifrån ett ekonomiskt perspektiv. Förhållandena för ett graninriktat skogsbruk har varit stabilt gynnsamma under lång tid, vilket gjorde att skogsägare planterade arten grundat i en erfarenhetsbaserad kunskap. Samtidigt så är det andra kontextuella faktorer som styrt skogsägares trädslagsval mot gran, såsom ett högt betestryck och påverkan från normer i omgivningen. Föryngring med andra arter återspeglar situationer där skogsägare vägt in andra aspekter i beslutsprocessen. Föryngring med lövträd gynnades av beaktandet av estetiska värden och en medvetenhet om framtida risker förenande med gran. Eftersom stora områden skulle föryngras så tog skogsägare tillfället i akt att prova nya arter som de var nyfikna på (framförallt exotiska barrträd/lövträd). De mjuka styrinstrument som karaktäriserar svensk skogspolitik har också haft en positiv påverkan. Skogsägare fick på olika sätt information om alternativ och återväxtstödet var av avgörande betydelse för de som planterade lövträd. Enligt den här studien så kan den högre andelen av naturligt föryngrad björk i föryngringarna efter Gudrun inte endast förklaras av en lägre ambitionsnivå i föryngringsarbetet, utan ska också ses som ett uttryck för en utveckling mot en mer positiv inställning till björk

Elakartad lungsjuka hos nötkreatur

Elakartad lungsjuka hos nötkreatur (Contagious bovine pleuropneumonia, CBPP) är en bakterieorsakad pleuropneumoni som orsakar stora ekonomiska och sociala problem i stora delar av Afrika. Ingen annanstans i världen spelar den så stor roll som i de torra områdena söder om Sahara där den orsakar epidemier och är endemisk. Mykoplasma mycoides subsp. mycoides Small Colony variant (MmmSC) är den orsakande bakterien. MmmSC överlever dåligt i omgivningen och kräver direktkontakt för överföring. Vanligaste smittvägen är inhalation av hostdroppar från infekterade djur. Bakterien adhererar till epitelet i luftvägarna och utövar cytotoxiska effekter. Akut form innebär kraftig pleuropneumoni med fibrinutfällningar och ödem. Kliniska symtom är feber, nedsatt allmäntillstånd och hostningar. Djuret kröker på ryggen och sänker huvudet för att kunna andas så smärtfritt som möjligt. Avmagring, inaktivitet och bukandning är andra tecken på sjukdom. Problematiken kring CBPP kretsar kring den livsstil som är nödvändig i de torra områden i Afrika där sjukdomen utgör ett problem. För överlevnad krävs att boskap förflyttas långa sträckor mellan bostad, vattenkälla och betesområden. Detta gör att hjordar kommer i kontakt med varandra och möjliggör smittspridning. Det finns i grund och botten fyra verktyg för kontroll av CBPP; dessa är rörelsekontroll, utslaktning, behandling och vaccination. Mest effektivt är utslaktning och rörelsekontroll men de är också dyrast och svårast att implementera. Behandling med antibiotika medför alltid risk för resistensutveckling och vaccin som idag finns tillgängligt har en krävande vaccinationsregim. En kombination av kontrollåtgärder skulle kunna vara en möjlig väg. Det kräver dock noggrann utvärdering, samling av resurser och ett generellt uppmärksammande av sjukdomen från staternas håll, något som idag är mycket bristfälligt

Språkdräktens ideologi - Om ideologiska markörer i Liv Strömquists Kunskapens frukt och dess franska översättning

I den här uppsatsen undersöks hur ideologi manifesteras och översätts i Liv Strömquists seriealbum Kunskapens frukt och dess franska översättning L’Origine du monde. Först analyseras källtexten för att identifiera vilka som är de viktigaste språkliga och grafiska medlen som författaren använder för att uttrycka ideologi. Dessa medel kallas för ideologiska markörer. De viktigaste ideologiska markörerna som identifieras är grafiska markörer (versalisering och hopning av skiljetecken), lexikala markörer (ideologiskt färgade benämningar och variationer i stilnivå) och grammatiska markörer (pseudosamordning). I nästa steg analyseras de ideologiska markörerna och deras effekt på källtexten, och sedan studeras hur översättaren har valt att överföra dem till måltexten. Analysen visar att de grafiska markörerna i en majoritet av fallen utelämnas i översättning, att de lexikala markörerna justeras eller utelämnas, samt att de grammatiska markörerna utelämnas i nästan hälften av fallen. Detta bortfall av ideologiska markörer har till effekt att måltextens ideologi tonas ned i förhållande till källtextens, men som helhet är ideologin trots allt bibehållen

Size Matters: Spleen and Lung Volumes Predict Performance in Human Apneic Divers

Humans share with seals the ability to contract the spleen and increase circulating hematocrit, which may improve apneic performance by enhancing gas storage. Seals have large spleens and while human spleen size is small in comparison, it shows great individual variation. Unlike many marine mammals, human divers rely to a great extent on lung oxygen stores, but the impact of lung volume on competitive apnea performance has never been determined. We studied if spleen- and lung size correlated with performance in elite apnea divers. Volunteers were 14 male apnea world championship participants, with a mean (SE) of 5.8 (1.2) years of previous apnea training. Spleen volume was calculated from spleen length, width, and thickness measured via ultrasound during rest, and vital capacity via spirometry. Accumulated competition scores from dives of maximal depth, time, and distance were compared to anthropometric measurements and training data. Mean (SE) diving performance was 75 (4) m for constant weight depth, 5 min 53 (39) s for static apnea and 139 (13) m for dynamic apnea distance. Subjects’ mean height was 184 (2) cm, weight 82 (3) kg, vital capacity (VC) 7.3 (0.3) L and spleen volume 336 (32) mL. Spleen volume did not correlate with subject height or weight, but was positively correlated with competition score (r = 0.57; P < 0.05). Total competition score was also positively correlated with VC (r = 0.54; P < 0.05). The three highest scoring divers had the greatest spleen volumes, averaging 538 (53) mL, while the three lowest-scoring divers had a volume of 270 (71) mL (P < 0.01). VC was also greater in the high-scorers, at 7.9 (0.36) L as compared to 6.7 (0.19) L in the low scorers (P < 0.01). Spleen volume was reduced to half after 2 min of apnea in the highest scoring divers, and the estimated resting apnea time gain from the difference between high and low scorers was 15 s for spleen volume and 60 s for VC. We conclude that both spleen- and lung volume predict apnea performance in elite divers