Svenska granskogens förändring sedan 1986 ur ett renskötselperspektiv : förändringar i fältskikt, åldersfördelning och slutenhet

Loss of important reindeer habitats is an increasing concern in Sweden. The focus for loss of habitats has mainly been pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) forests and lichens. However, reindeer diets also consist of other food sources like sedges, grasses and herbs (often found in spruce forests) that will be discussed in this study. There has been a decline of spruce (Picea spp.) forests within the reindeer husbandry area and the importance of those habitats for reindeers has been neglected through planning in favour of lichen rich pine stands. The aim of this study is to describe the change of spruce forests within the reindeer husbandry area with focus on changes over time in field layer, age distribution and relative stocking level. As well as performing a statistical analysis on the relationship between field-layer and relative stocking level or age distribution. This study is centred around two main questions: What explains the results and how does it affect the reindeer? The results from this study has shown a change in age distribution, relative stocking level and a large total area decrease of spruce forests within the reindeer husbandry area since 1986. The results also show a significant association between herbs/grass and relative stocking level through statistical tests. There is also a significant relationship between grass and forest age.Förlust av viktiga habitat för renar är ett ökande problem i Sverige. Fokus har främst varit förlusten av tallskog (Pinus sylvestris L.) och lavar. Renens diet består emellertid också av andra betesresurser som starr, gräs och örter som kommer att diskuteras i denna studie. Granskogarna (Picea spp.) har minskat inom renskötselområdet och dessa livsmiljöers betydelse för renar har försummats i planering till förmån för lavrika marker. Syftet med denna studie är att beskriva förändringen hos granskogar inom renskötselområdet med fokus på fältskikt, åldersdistribution och slutenhet. Samt utföra en statistisk analys av förhållandet mellan fältskikt och densitet- eller åldersfördelning. Studien bygger på två huvudsakliga frågeställningar: Vad förklarar resultaten och hur påverkar det renarna? Resultaten från denna studie har visat en förändring i åldersfördelning, densitet och en stor total arealförlust av granskogar inom renskötselområdet sedan 1986. Resultaten visar också ett signifikant samband mellan örter/gräs och densitet genom statistiska tester. Det finns också en betydande relation mellan förekomsten gräs och skogsålder

Of Course Ideology Should Matter in Judicial Selection

This study is based on motivation theory, communication theory and knowledge about change management and workshop arrangement. The aim of the study is to develop a communication strategy which increases motivation for sustainability work in municipalities. Main focus of this report is to (1) determine whether motivation theory is applicable on a municipality’s sustainability work, in order to gain a willingness to change and (2) decide if workshops are suitable platforms for communication with municipalities. The opinion that global, complex problems require local solutions is a starting point for this study. The role of municipalities is claimed to be of great importance and is furthermore suggested to undergo a change in order to meet the current demands. The developed communication strategy is based on theories from a literature review and informal interviews with experts and was tested in a case study (with a municipality in south of Sweden). The communication strategy is intended to be useful when wanting to motivate any municipality to sustainability work. The communication strategy includes preparations, workshop arrangements and follow-up work. Every step of the strategy is explained, justified and presented in this report. The results from the case study are displayed and serve as a framework for the improvement discussion. The main result of this study consists of de following 11 steps: Background studies of the municipality. Survey of the existing expectations and needs. Identification of suitable workshop participants. Sending out invitations to the participants. Sending out questionnaires to participants. Adaptation of the communication. Implementation of workshop 1. Sending out reminder of the ’micro-task’. Implementation of workshop 2. Evaluation of the results. Follow-up of the municipality’s work. All participants in the case study stated that the workshops inspired to sustainability work and the self-perceived motivation was considered to be higher after the workshops had taken place (on a scale from 1 to 5, the mean value rose from 4,3 to 4,6). The conclusions of the study are: (I) by paying attention to theories of motivation – and applying these theories during contact with the municipality - willingness to change occurred amongst the majority of the participants. (II) Workshops are suitable forums for communication with municipalities. To generalize these conclusions, further studies are required. Studiens bakgrund är motivationsteori, kommunikationsteori, samt kunskap kring förändringsarbete och workshop-arrangemang. Syftet med studien är att utarbeta en kommunikationsstrategi som ökar motivationen till hållbarhetsarbete i en kommun. Fokus ligger på (1) huruvida motivationsteori kan appliceras på en kommuns hållbarhetsarbete för att öka förändringsvilja samt (2) att avgöra ifall en workshop-serie är ett bra forum för kommunikation med kommuner. Som utgångspunkt för studien hävdas att globala, komplexa problem kräver lokala lösningar, varpå kommunens roll i hållbarhetsarbetet är av stor vikt. Vidare utgicks det från att dagens kommunala hållbarhetsarbete inte är tillräckligt, utan kräver förändring. Med en litteraturstudie och informella intervjuer med sakkunniga som bakgrund utvecklades en kommunikationsstrategi som testades på en pilotkommun i södra Sverige. Strategin som presenteras i rapporten är tänkt att kunna användas för att motivera även andra kommuner till hållbarhetsarbete. Kommunikationsstrategin inbegriper förberedelser, workshop-arrangemang och uppföljning. I rapporten motiveras valet av kommunikationsstrategins respektive steg, en presentation sker för hur varje del genomfördes i fallstudien och förbättringsförslag diskuteras utefter fallstudiens utfall. Studiens huvudsakliga resultat består i kommunikationsstrategins 11 steg: Inläsning om kommunen. Undersökning av vilka förväntningar och behov som finns. Identifiering av workshopdeltagare. Utskickning av inbjudan till deltagare. Utskickning av frågeformulär till deltagare. Anpassning av kommunikationen. Genomförande av workshop 1. Utskickning av påminnelse om mikrouppgifter. Genomförande av workshop 2. Utvärdering av resultat. Uppföljning av kommunens arbete. Samtliga deltagare i fallstudien angav att workshopparna inspirerat till hållbarhetsarbete och den självupplevda motivationsgraden ansågs högre hos ett par deltagare efter att workshopparna ägt rum (på en skala från 1 till 5 ökade genomsnittet från 4,3 till 4,6). Slutsatserna i studien är följande: (I) Genom att uppmärksamma teorier om motivation, samt tillämpa dem praktiskt under kontaken med kommunen, uppstod förändringsvilja hos majoriteten av de som deltog i workshop-serien. (II) Ett bra forum för att kommunicera med kommuner är genom att arrangera workshoppar. För att generalisera slutsatserna krävs vidare undersökningar. 

Преподавание курса о религии в ситуации современного поликонфессионального польского общества

Syftet med denna studie är att synliggöra förskollärares tankar kring arbetet med hållbar utveckling i förskolan med hjälp av tre dimensioner; den sociala, den ekologiska och den ekonomiska. Med hjälp av intervjuer har vi undersökt vad förskollärare anser är mest respektive minst viktigt att arbeta med, vad de tycker är enkelt och svårt, samt vad de arbetar mest och minst med, utifrån dimensionerna ovan. Resultatet av studien visar bland annat att den sociala dimensionen av hållbar utveckling är den mest framträdande. Det är även denna dimension som de intervjuade förskollärarna anser är den viktigaste inom hållbar utveckling. En av de slutsatser som dras av studiens resultat är att hållbar utveckling ofta får stå tillbaka för andra ämnen i förskolan trots att många förskollärare tycker att det är viktigt

Differences in DNA Methylation-Based Age Prediction Within Twin Pairs Discordant for Cancer

DNA methylation-based age acceleration (DNAmAA) is associated with cancer, with both cancer tissue and blood showing increased DNAmAA. We aimed to investigate whether DNAmAA is associated with cancer risk within twin pairs discordant for cancer, and whether DNAmAA has the potential to serve as a biomarker for such. The study included 47 monozygotic and 48 same-sex-dizygotic cancer-discordant twin pairs from the Finnish Twin Cohort study with blood samples available between 17 and 31 years after the cancer diagnosis. We studied all cancers (95 pairs), then separately breast cancer (24 pairs) and all sites other than breast cancer (71 pairs). DNAmAA was calculated for seven models: Horvath, Horvath intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration, Hannum, Hannum intrinsic epigenetic age acceleration, Hannum extrinsic epigenetic age acceleration, PhenoAge and GrimAge. Within-pair differences in DNAmAA were analyzed by paired t tests and linear regression. Twin pairs sampled before cancer diagnosis did not differ significantly in DNAmAA. However, the within-pair differences in DNAmAA before cancer diagnosis increased significantly the closer the cancer diagnosis was, and this acceleration extended for years after the diagnosis. Pairs sampled after the diagnosis differed for DNAmAA with the Horvath models capturing cancer diagnosis-associated DNAmAA across all three cancer groupings. The results suggest that DNAmAA in blood is associated with cancer diagnosis. This may be due to epigenetic alterations in relation to cancer, its treatment or associated lifestyle changes. Based on the current study, the biomarker potential of DNAmAA in blood appears to be limited.Peer reviewe

CO Oxidation on a Pd(100)

A stagnation flow reactor has been designed and characterized for both experimental and modeling studies of single-crystal model catalysts in heterogeneous catalysis. Using CO oxidation over a Pd(100) single crystal as a showcase, we have employed planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) to visualize the CO2 distribution over the catalyst under reaction conditions and subsequently used the 2D spatially resolved gas phase data to characterize the stagnation flow reactor. From a comparison of the experimental data and the stagnation flow model, it was found that characteristic stagnation flow can be achieved with the reactor. Furthermore, the combined stagnation flow/PLIF/modeling approach makes it possible to estimate the turnover frequency (TOF) of the catalytic surface from the measured CO2 concentration profiles above the surface and to predict the CO2, CO and O2 concentrations at the surface under reaction conditions

An in situ set up for the detection of CO(2) from catalytic CO oxidation by using planar laser-induced fluorescence.

We report the first experiment carried out on an in situ setup, which allows for detection of CO(2) from catalytic CO oxidation close to a model catalyst under realistic reaction conditions by the means of planar laser-induced fluorescence (PLIF) in the mid-infrared spectral range. The onset of the catalytic reaction as a function of temperature was followed by PLIF in a steady state flow reactor. After taking into account the self-absorption of CO(2), a good agreement between the detected CO(2) fluorescence signal and the CO(2) mass spectrometry signal was shown. The observed difference to previously measured onset temperatures for the catalytic ignition is discussed and the potential impact of IR-PLIF as a detection technique in catalysis is outlined

BMI is positively associated with accelerated epigenetic aging in twin pairs discordant for body mass index

Background Obesity is a heritable complex phenotype that can increase the risk of age-related outcomes. Biological age can be estimated from DNA methylation (DNAm) using various "epigenetic clocks." Previous work suggests individuals with elevated weight also display accelerated aging, but results vary by epigenetic clock and population. Here, we utilize the new epigenetic clock GrimAge, which closely correlates with mortality. Objectives We aimed to assess the cross-sectional association of body mass index (BMI) with age acceleration in twins to limit confounding by genetics and shared environment. Methods and results Participants were from the Finnish Twin Cohort (FTC; n = 1424), including monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs, and DNAm was measured using the Illumina 450K array. Multivariate linear mixed effects models including MZ and DZ twins showed an accelerated epigenetic age of 1.02 months (p-value = 6.1 x 10(-12)) per one-unit BMI increase. Additionally, heavier twins in a BMI-discordant MZ twin pair (Delta BMI >3 kg/m(2)) had an epigenetic age 5.2 months older than their lighter cotwin (p-value = 0.0074). We also found a positive association between log (homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance) and age acceleration, confirmed by a meta-analysis of the FTC and two other Finnish cohorts (overall effect = 0.45 years, p-value = 4.1 x 10(-25)) from adjusted models. Conclusion We identified significant associations of BMI and insulin resistance with age acceleration based on GrimAge, which were not due to genetic effects on BMI and aging. Overall, these results support a role of BMI in aging, potentially in part due to the effects of insulin resistance.Peer reviewe

A Triple-Transgenic Immunotolerant Mouse Model

ABSTRACTAvoiding unwanted immunogenicity is of key importance in the development of therapeutic drug proteins. Animal models are of less predictive value because most of the drug proteins are recognized as foreign proteins. However, different methods have been developed to obtain immunotolerant animal models. So far, the immunotolerant animal models have been developed to assess one protein at a time and are not suitable for the assessment of combination products. Our aim was to develop an animal model for evaluating the impact of manufacturing and formulation changes on immunogenicity, suitable for both single protein and combination products. We constructed two lines of transgenic mice expressing the three human coagulation factors, II, VII, and X, by inserting a single vector containing the three coagulation factors encoding sequences separated by insulator sequences derived from the chicken beta-globin locus into the mouse genome. Immunization of transgenic mice from the two lines and their wild-type littermates showed that transgenic mice from both lines were immunotolerant to the expressed human coagulation factors. We conclude that transgenic mice immunotolerant to multiple proteins can be obtained, and that these mice are potentially useful as animal models in the assessment of immunogenicity in response to manufacturing changes. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the American Pharmacists Association J Pharm Sci 102:1116-1124, 201

Hästen (Equus caballus), hästträning och rollkur

Det första hästdjuret utvecklades för ungefär 55 miljoner år sedan (Ståhlberg, 2003). De tidigaste fynden av domesticeringen, som texter och konst med hästar, dateras till slutet av 3000 f.Kr. (Postgate, 1986; Zarins, 1986; Piggott, 1992; Kuz´mina, 1994a,b, 1996; Littauer & Crouwel, 1996). Eftersom hästen inte har varit domesticerad mer än ett par tusen år finns det vilda beteendet kvar hos hästen vilket kan skapa problem då människan vill träna sin häst (Bekoff, 2004). Hästens naturliga beteende, som ligger djupt rotat i generna, jämfört med hur vi önskar att hästen ska bete sig, kan vara ganska olika (Bekoff 2004). Som människa måste man lära sig om och ta hänsyn till hästens naturliga beteende för att samarbete mellan häst och ryttare ska fungera. När man tränar en häst kan man dra nytta av hästens beteende, vilket ofta är bättre än att bortse från det, eftersom hästen mår bäst av att uttrycka sig naturligt (Mills & Nankervis, 1999). Hästens rörelsemönster beror på hur dess muskler och skelett är uppbyggt. Musklerna är hästens "motor" samt fungerar som stöd och stötdämpare och är anpassade till snabba, kraftfulla rörelser, medan skelettet ger stöd och stadga (Attrell et al, 1994). Muskler i rygg (ryggsträckarmuskeln) och i buk hjälper till att stadga bålen vid rörelse (Attrell et al, 1994). Den långa ryggmuskeln sammankopplar framben och bakben och vidarebefordrar, genom sammandragning och avslappning, energi till benen. Energin som bakbenen producerar förs via ryggen till frambenen genom musklerna (de Némethy, 1990). Träning kan definieras som en medveten modifikation i frekvens eller intensitet av ett speciellt beteende. Sådana modifikationer kan skapas genom olika former av positiv eller negativ förstärkning och/eller bestraffning (McLean & McGreevy, 2005). Det som man eftersträvar i träning är en mjuk kontakt med bettet, en häst som slappnar av och utvecklar bra hållning (Podhajsky, 1965). I utbildningen av hästen används olika träningsmetoder. Rollkur är ett exempel på det. FEIs definierade rollkur, eller hyperflexion, som en träningsteknik med överböjning i halsens mittregion som inte är möjlig för hästen att bibehålla under en längre period utan att det påverkar hästen negativt. Då hästarna går i rollkur får de en rak, platt rygg, bakbenen släpar efter och leder i bakdelen dras inte ihop så de förblir bakom hästen (de Némethy, 1990). Att bakbenen inte kliver under hör ihop med att för mycket spändhet i ryggen, vilket förhindrar bakbenens rörelser framåt (Heuschmann, 2007). Hästarna hamnar istället med vikten på framdelen (de Némethy, 1990). Om rollkur orsakar hästen smärta kan det vara svårt att upptäcka. Eftersom hästen är ett bytesdjur och inte gärna visar sig sårbar, då detta signalerar att de är ett lätt byte (Grandin, 2005). Det kan också vara svårt att skilja på smärta, nedstämdhet och stress (Björck, 2004). Det finns många olika åsikter om rollkur. Ryttare som tävlar på hög nivå använder sig av denna träningsmetod, trots att den kan vara skadlig för hästen, och då kan den uppfattas som ett accepterat sätt att träna hästen. Många anser dock att detta är en brutal metod för att få hästen att bli eftergiven. Vi tycker att det behövs mer forskning om rollkur och dess effekter på hästen.The first animal that resembled a horse was developed about 55 billions years ago. The earliest findings of domestication, like texts and art of horses, was dated till the end of 3000 B.C. Since the horse hasn’t been domesticated more than a couple of thousand years, the wild behaviour of the horse is still there, and can create problems in horse training. The natural behaviour of the horse, that is deep seated in the genes, compared to how we wish the horse to behave, can be quite different. Humans have to learn about and respect the natural behaviour of the horse in order to find a working relationship. In training the horse you should take advantage of the horse’s natural behaviour rather than to ignoring it, since it’s better for the horse to be able to behave in a natural way. Training can be defined as a modification in frequency or intensity of certain behaviours. Such modifications can be created through different forms of positive and negative reinforcement and/or punishment. What is wished for in training is soft contact with the bit, a relaxed horse and development of a good posture. In the training of the horse, different training methods are used. An example is rollkur. Federation Equestre Internationale’s defined rollkur, or hyperflexion, as a training technique that overbends the mid-region of the neck and that it can not be maintained for a prolonged time without welfare implications. When the horse is in rollkur the back becomes flat and straight, the hind legs are trailing which leads to the horse being camped. The horse being camped is connected to, too much tension in the back, which prevents the hind legs from moving forwards. The weight of the horse is transferred to the front legs instead of the hind legs. If pain is involved in the training method rollkur it can be hard to detect. The horse is a prey animal and doesn’t want to present itself as vulnerable, since this would signal being an easy target for predators. It can also be difficult to distinguish between pain, depression and stress. There are a lot of opinions about rollkur. Riders competing on a high level use this method, in spite of its possible injuries to the horse. It is thus acknowledged as an acceptable way of training horses by some people. On the other hand, some people considered rollkur to be a brutal method to get the horse more submissive. We think that a lot more research needs to be done on rollkur and its effect on the horse. Also knowledge about the horse and training methods needs to be spread in our society, which we are trying to show in this text

Gravity Spy: Integrating Advanced LIGO Detector Characterization, Machine Learning, and Citizen Science

(abridged for arXiv) With the first direct detection of gravitational waves, the Advanced Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) has initiated a new field of astronomy by providing an alternate means of sensing the universe. The extreme sensitivity required to make such detections is achieved through exquisite isolation of all sensitive components of LIGO from non-gravitational-wave disturbances. Nonetheless, LIGO is still susceptible to a variety of instrumental and environmental sources of noise that contaminate the data. Of particular concern are noise features known as glitches, which are transient and non-Gaussian in their nature, and occur at a high enough rate so that accidental coincidence between the two LIGO detectors is non-negligible. In this paper we describe an innovative project that combines crowdsourcing with machine learning to aid in the challenging task of categorizing all of the glitches recorded by the LIGO detectors. Through the Zooniverse platform, we engage and recruit volunteers from the public to categorize images of glitches into pre-identified morphological classes and to discover new classes that appear as the detectors evolve. In addition, machine learning algorithms are used to categorize images after being trained on human-classified examples of the morphological classes. Leveraging the strengths of both classification methods, we create a combined method with the aim of improving the efficiency and accuracy of each individual classifier. The resulting classification and characterization should help LIGO scientists to identify causes of glitches and subsequently eliminate them from the data or the detector entirely, thereby improving the rate and accuracy of gravitational-wave observations. We demonstrate these methods using a small subset of data from LIGO's first observing run.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figures, 1 tabl