Sammanställning av släktträdet över den skandinaviska vargpopulationen fram till 2023

Under inventeringsperioden 2023/2024 påvisades 46 familjegrupper av varg i Skandinavien. I en av dessa familjegrupper fanns en revirmarkerande, reproducerande immigrant och i sju av familjegrupperna fanns en eller två revirmarkerande F1, d.v.s. avkommor till immigranterna i Galven/Prästskogen eller Tiveden 2. Det genomsnittliga värdet för inavelskoefficienten bland avkommorna i familjegrupperna under vintern 2023/2024 (F̅ = 0,23) var något lägre än föregående vinter

Physicochemical code for quinary protein interactions in Escherichia coli

This study shows that the diffusive motions of proteins in live cells are by no means without control but follow simplistic physical−chemical rules that can be quantified and optimized through surface composition. Most strikingly, human proteins are observed to stick to the “foreign” environment of bacterial cells, whereas the bacterial analogue moves around freely. Even so, the human proteins can predictably be transformed to bacterial behavior with a few structurally benign surface mutations, and, conversely, the bacterial protein can be made to stick. The findings have not only fundamental implications for how protein function is controlled at the physical−chemical level but can also be used to adjust protein motion in Escherichia coli at will

Lynx gene flow in Fennoscandia

This study assesses the connectivity and gene flow between Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) populations in Finland and Scandinavia for the purpose of providing data for the evaluation of favorable conservation status for the European Union Habitats Directive. Using tissue samples from deceased lynx in Fennoscandia, i.e., Sweden, Norway, and Finland, collected between 2019 and 2022, we genotyped these samples using 91 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). A separate data set was used for validation, consisting of 73 samples from Scandinavia collected between 2010 and 2015 that were RAD sequenced and genotyped using 881 SNPs. We assessed genetic structure within all of Fennoscandia, as well as genetic differentiation and recent gene flow between Scandinavia (Sweden, Norway) and Finland. We also estimated individual relatedness to identify first order relatives, or immediate family members, for the purpose of assessing contemporary connectivity. The results suggest distinct genetic differentiation between the Scandinavian and Finnish lynx populations, with migration rates of approximately eight migrants per generation in either direction, which is comparably low but likely sufficient to prevent complete genetic isolation. These findings have significant implications for lynx conservation strategies under the European Habitats Directive. They underscore the importance of maintaining genetic diversity and facilitating connectivity between transboundary populations, highlighting the need for collaborative management approaches between Sweden, Norway, and Finland

Transcriptional Responses Associated with Virulence and Defence in the Interaction between Heterobasidion annosum s. s. and Norway Spruce

Heterobasidion annosum sensu lato is a serious pathogen causing root and stem rot to conifers in the northern hemisphere and rendering the timber defective for sawing and pulping. In this study we applied next-generation sequencing to i) identify transcriptional responses unique to Heterobasidion-inoculated Norway spruce and ii) investigate the H. annosum transcripts to identify putative virulence factors. To address these objectives we wounded or inoculated 30-year-old Norway spruce clones with H. annosumand 454-sequenced the transcriptome of the interaction at 0, 5 and 15 days post inoculation. The 491860 high-quality reads were de novo assembled and the relative expression was analysed. Overall, very few H. annosum transcripts were represented in our dataset. Three delta-12 fatty acid desaturase transcripts and one Clavaminate synthase-like transcript, both associated with virulence in other pathosystems, were found among the significantly induced transcripts. The analysis of the Norway spruce transcriptional responses produced a handful of differentially expressed transcripts. Most of these transcripts originated from genes known to respond to H. annosum. However, three genes that had not previously been reported to respond to H. annosum showed specific induction to inoculation: an oxophytodienoic acid-reductase (OPR), a beta-glucosidaseand a germin-like protein (GLP2) gene. Even in a small data set like ours, five novel highly expressed Norway spruce transcripts without significant alignment to any previously annotated protein in Genbank but present in the P. abies (v1.0) gene catalogue were identified. Their expression pattern suggests a role in defence. Therefore a more complete survey of the transcriptional responses in the interactions between Norway spruce and its major pathogen H. annosumwould probably provide a better understanding of gymnosperm defence than accumulated until now.Peer reviewe

Holmöarna, Bottniska viken, 1989–2018

Den integrerade kustfiskövervakningen i Holmöarna visar på en tydlig förändring i fisksamhället från ett abborrdominerat till karpfiskdominerat tillstånd. Abborrens tillväxt har dock inte förändrats under provfiskeperioden. De arter som har ökat i förekomst är mört och sik, och mängden stora individer i fisksamhället (fiskar >30 cm) har ökat över tid. Hos tånglaken har relativa gonadvikten minskat över tid, men inga förändringar i ynglens överlevnad har observerats. Hälsotillståndet hos abborre har blivit sämre, samtidigt som de flesta analyserade miljögifter visar relativt låga och nedåtgående eller oförändrade halter. Inverkan på abborrens hälsotillstånd talar för att fisken är exponerad för något eller några kemiska ämnen som idag inte mäts. Liknande förändringar har även observerats i de andra referensområdena för kustfisk och kan tyda på att det är fråga om en likartad och generell inverkan på fiskens hälsa längs våra kuster. Det är oroande att abborrens hälsotillstånd har försämrats i ett referensområde som anses vara relativt opåverkat av direkt mänsklig aktivitet. Det är därför angeläget att klarlägga om det är okända miljögifter, kända miljögifter som inte övervakas idag, eller andra miljöfaktorer som orsakar fiskens försämrade hälsa och den begynnande negativa utvecklingen som ses på populationsnivå hos abborren

Integration of molecular profiles in a longitudinal wellness profiling cohort

An important aspect of precision medicine is to probe the stability in molecular profiles among healthy individuals over time. Here, we sample a longitudinal wellness cohort with 100 healthy individuals and analyze blood molecular profiles including proteomics, transcriptomics, lipidomics, metabolomics, autoantibodies and immune cell profiling, complemented with gut microbiota composition and routine clinical chemistry. Overall, our results show high variation between individuals across different molecular readouts, while the intra-individual baseline variation is low. The analyses show that each individual has a unique and stable plasma protein profile throughout the study period and that many individuals also show distinct profiles with regards to the other omics datasets, with strong underlying connections between the blood proteome and the clinical chemistry parameters. In conclusion, the results support an individual-based definition of health and show that comprehensive omics profiling in a longitudinal manner is a path forward for precision medicine

Cyanobacterial populations in Lake Hjorten and Lake Vångaren depending on increased temperature.

Västervik Municipality has had problems with odorous compounds in its primary water source, Lake Hjorten. Geosmin and cyanobacterial blooms have been detected in the lake. This report aims to experimentally investigate the cyanobacterial populations in the primary and secondary freshwater lakes depending on the climate change factor temperature. An understanding of number of cells is the foundation to understand the potential harmful chemical levels. This provides an opportunity to predict the water quality in the lakes in the future due to climate change. The results show that cyanobacteria did not benefit from an increase in temperature from 10°C to 18°C solely during autumn. However, the diatom Aulacoseira did increase in numbers although it is not known to produce odorous compounds. Consequently a warmer Swedish autumn would not cause worse drinking water quality in absence of other contributing factors according to this study

Foam Core Materials for High Performance Sandwich Constructions: Preparation, Testing and Properties

The basic task for foams used as core materials in sandwich constructions is to separate the skin layers in order to enhance stiffness with little contribution to the total weight. However, modern design in sandwich technology require that core materials contribute to the perfor-mance with specific mechanical and physical properties. In this thesis preparation and characterisation of different foamed structures as well as their application in sandwich constructions are discussed. The foams prepared are based on two different polymer matrix systems, either an Inter Penetrating Polymer Network (IPN) from PVC entangled by a poly-urea/amide/imide network or polyethersulfone (PES). Based on the IPN system two new materials were developed, a ductile foam core and a foam containing waste material. The IPN system was also used to demonstrate a new concept where different foam cores, with different material characteristics, were fused together into one single gradient material. The densities for all foam core materials were in the range of 40-200 kg/m3. The ductile foam core material was characterised by energy absorption capability and shock mitigation properties twice as high as that of standard material. This was achieved by obtaining a two fold increase in elongation in combination with withheld moduli and strengths relative the reference. The addition of 2-8% waste material was shown to give a 7-8\ub0C increase in Tg as well as increased strengths and moduli. Furthermore, it was found that the procedure for the pre-paration of the waste material, sanding or grinding, influence material properties significantly. Foam prepared using sanded waste material was superior to foam made using ground waste. The gradient core concept demonstrated that it is possible to join different foam core materials keeping the their nominal density and maintaining an overlapping continuos cell structure. It was also shown that it was possible to combine and utilise extreme specific material charac-teristics from the individual core materials in the composite by choosing a proper design. In the preparation of both the ductile material and the foam cores filled with waste materials, it was found that rheological phenomena controls the final cell morphology. High viscosity during nucleation and growth of the polymer matrix promotes the generation of thicker cell walls and decreased cell size, which are beneficial to improved strength and moduli. In the preparation of low density rigid foam core materials using polyethersulfone as matrix material, three different expansion techniques were investigated: mechanical counter pressure, gas counter pressure and micro wave expansion. It was demonstrated that the gas counter pressure method was superior to the other two with respect to processability and formation of foam with a more optimal cell structure. Furthermore the expanded PES-material was found to posses high temperature stability as well as extremely good behaviour in flammability tests. Low amounts of smoke, heat and toxic fumes are generated when the material burns

En undersökning om end-to-end kryptering av SMS med hjälp av PKCS #1

In today’s society, especially after everything that was reported by Edward Snowden when he, during 2013, showed how USA’s NSA worked with global surveillance, there is a great need to keep communication secure. Se- cure both in such a way that the contents in messages are protected from unwanted parties as well as in such a way that messages’ authenticity can be verified. It’s just as important to know who one is communicating with as it is to know that no unauthorized person can read material not meant for them. We see more and more solutions like for instance Let’s Encrypt that offer free encryption for web traffic but when it actually comes to SMS traffic there aren’t as many effective options available. The purpose of this work is to develop a system to examine how one most effectively could treat SMS in a secure and authenticated fashion. The goal is to, contrary to many other solutions, not be dependent upon a third party but rather utilize the existing SMS protocol and to make sure that the con- tents is encrypted by use of public key cryptography. This leads to it being enough to use the application to be able to communicate securely as there would be no central server that could be closed down or in other ways af- fected to lessen the security of the communication. We also get a system that is much less dependent on mobile data and will thus become more flexible in areas where this can be costly or hard to reach. Beyond this a system for verification of external keys will be explored. Even if it, in case the user chooses to use it, will need access to mobile data, it could be a useful tool for authentication of communication with parties with whom one has not been in contact with before since they can publish their public key and then refer to it within the message. An example use case for this would be a gov- ernment needing to publish information to its citizens; then this key can be published on their web site so that anyone easily could verify it (the goal is to have this be done automatically during message retrieval).I dagens samhälle, särskilt efter bland annat allt som rapporterades av Ed- ward Snowden när han under 2013 påvisade hur USAs NSA jobbade med global övervakning, är det av stor vikt av att kommunikation bör hållas säker. Säker både på så sätt att innehållet i meddelanden skyddas från oön- skade personer och på så sätt att meddelandens autenticitet kan styrkas. Det är minst lika viktigt att veta vem man kommunicerar med som att veta att ingen obehörig kan läsa material som inte är ämnat för dem. Vi ser fler och fler lösningar som till exempel Let’s Encrypt som erbjuder gratis kryptering av webbtrafik men när det gäller just SMS-trafik finns inte lika många och effektiva lösningar. Syftet med det här arbetet är att utveckla ett system för att undersöka hur man på bästa sätt skulle kunna behandla SMS på ett säkert och autentis- erat sätt. Målet är att, till skillnad mot många andra lösningar, inte vara beroende av en tredje part utan istället nyttja det befintliga SMS-protokollet men se till att innehållet är krypterat med hjälp av public key cryptography. Detta leder till att det räcker att använda applikationen för att kunna kom- municera säkert, det finns ingen central server som skulle kunna stängas ner eller på andra sätt påverkas för att försämra kommunikationens säker- het. Vi får också ett system som är mycket mindre beroende av mobildata och blir därför mer flexibelt i områden där dessa kan vara kostsamma eller svåråtkomliga. Utöver detta kommer ett system för extern autentisering av nycklar undersökas. Även om detta, om avsändaren väljer att utnyttja det, kommer att kräva tillgång till mobil datatrafik så skulle det vara ett nyttigt verktyg för att kunna autentisera kommunikation med personer som man aldrig tidigare varit kontakt med då dessa i så fall kan publicera sin nyckel online och sedan hänvisa till den i meddelandet. Exempel på användning för detta är om en myndighet behöver gå ut med information till medbor- garna; då kan denna nyckel publiceras på dess webbsida så att alla enkelt kan kontrollera den (målet är i så fall att detta skall ske automatiskt under hämtning av ett meddelande)