Fysisk aktivitet, ernæring og helse i zambiske førskular

Tittelen på oppgåva mi er ”Fysisk aktivitet, ernæring og helse i zambiske førskular”. Grunnen for at eg valte dette temaet er at det er noko som interesserer meg, og eg kunne tenke meg at dette var noko som var annleis i Zambia enn det er i Noreg. Problemstillinga mi blei ut frå dette: ”Fysisk aktivitet, ernæring og helse i zambiske førskular” - Korleis er det? - Kvifor? - Samanlikna med det norske, med vekt på faget fysisk fostring Eg har tok utgangspunkt i ein barnehage i Zambia, der eg observerte det dei gjorde og så gjennomførte eg eit intervju med den eine læraren i den førskulen eg var i praksis. Etter å ha samla inn teori og empiri, satt eg meg ned å drøfta det eg hadde funne. Eg såg med ein gong at det var store forskjellar mellom Noreg og Zambia, både når det gjaldt fysisk aktivitet og kosthald. Medan me i Noreg er veldig opptatt av å ha eit sunt kosthald i barnehagen, tek barna i Zambia med seg chips og brus til lunsj. Og medan me heile tida skal ut i skogen, og barna skal vere fysisk aktive, har dei i Zambia ein dag der dei er fysisk aktive, ikkje kvar dag slik som i Noreg. Men etter å ha sett dette, og byrja og drøfte det, fann eg mange grunnar til desse forskjellane. Blant anna er fedme eit stort problem i Noreg, medan i Zambia har dei eit problem med undervektige barn. I Noreg er det mykje stillesittande aktivitetar, medan i Zambia går dei til skulen og har andre aktivitetar enn fjernsyn og data. Samtidig har me i Noreg eit klima som gjer at me til ei kvar tid kan vere ute, så lenge me har klede til det. I Zambia kan det bli så varmt at barna kan blø naseblod dersom dei har for mykje fysisk aktivitet. Og så er det forskjellige ressursar, i Noreg har ein vaksen ansvar for 4-5 barn, medan i Zambia har ein vaksen ansvar for 20-30 barn. Dette vil sjølvsagt gjere at det blir vanskelegare å ta barna med på tur

Monocyte and macrophage heterogeneity in Giant Cell Arteritis and Polymyalgia Rheumatica:central in Pathology and a Source of Clinically Relevant Biomarkers

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) are chronic inflammatory diseases that frequently overlap and often require long-term treatment with prednisolone. Prednisolone is a drug that suppresses the immune system, but also has serious side effects. GCA and PMR patients suffer from inflammation in their arteries (vasculitis) and joints, respectively. White blood cells such as macrophages play a major role in the initiation and continuation of inflammation. To find new clues for treatment, this thesis focuses on the involvement of macrophages, and on their blood monocyte precursors in these diseases. Both monocytes and macrophages consist of various subtypes that can be distinguished by phenotype (the way they look) and function (the way they behave). We implicated macrophage subtypes, and their likely monocyte precursors, in the development of vasculitis and destruction of the arterial wall. Macrophages in affected tissues also release numerous factors, which can be measured in the blood of patients. We discovered that one of these factors, angiopoietin-2, could aid in detecting vasculitis (GCA) in PMR patients. This is important for patients as GCA is associated with severe complications such as vision loss and aortic rupture. Using these factors in follow-up studies of patients also revealed that the disease may be still ongoing in affected tissues, despite treatment with prednisolone. Finally, we also discovered a profile of factors in the blood that could predict whether GCA and PMR patients require short- or long-term treatment with prednisolone, thereby reducing the side effects in individual patients

Biomarkers in the era of targeted therapy in giant cell arteritis and polymyalgia rheumatica:is it possible to replace acute-phase reactants?

Research into giant cell arteritis (GCA) and polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) has become more important in the last few decades. Physicians are facing several challenges in managing the diagnosis, treatment, and relapses of GCA and PMR patients. The search for biomarkers could provide elements to guide a physician’s decision. In this review, we aim to summarize the scientific publications about biomarkers in GCA and PMR in the past decade. The first point raised by this review is the number of clinical situations in which biomarkers could be useful: differential diagnosis of either GCA or PMR, diagnosis of underlying vasculitis in PMR, prediction of relapse or complications, disease activity monitoring, choice, and modification of treatments. The second point raised by this review is the large number of biomarkers studied, from common markers like C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or elements of blood count to inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, or immune cell subpopulations. Finally, this review underlines the heterogeneity between the studies and proposes points to consider in studies evaluating biomarkers in general and particularly in the case of GCA and PMR.</p

Bioconjugation Strategies for Connecting Proteins to DNA-Linkers for Single-Molecule Force-Based Experiments

The mechanical properties of proteins can be studied with single molecule force spectroscopy (SMFS) using optical tweezers, atomic force microscopy and magnetic tweezers. It is common to utilize a flexible linker between the protein and trapped probe to exclude short-range interactions in SMFS experiments. One of the most prevalent linkers is DNA due to its well-defined properties, although attachment strategies between the DNA linker and protein or probe may vary. We will therefore provide a general overview of the currently existing non-covalent and covalent bioconjugation strategies to site-specifically conjugate DNA-linkers to the protein of interest. In the search for a standardized conjugation strategy, considerations include their mechanical properties in the context of SMFS, feasibility of site-directed labeling, labeling efficiency, and costs

Fellesskap og individualitet. Kjønna etternamnsval blant norske menn i heterofile parforhold

Few Norwegian men change their surnames as part of a heterosexual couple. My aim was to understand the meanings men attach to surnames in heterosexual relationships by studying four central topics in men’s surname stories – family, continuity and tradition, gender equality, and individual identity. West and Zimmerman’s perspective of doing gender with their concept of accountability guided the analysis, as well as the concept of manliness/unmanliness developed by Ekenstam and Lorentzen. The main material I analysed consisted of the responses to two qualitative questionnaires – one open for all Norwegian readers and one directed at surname changers identifying as Norwegian heterosexual males. I also interviewed male surname changers. Under the topic of family, three subthemes were connected to the nuclear family. First, surname change functioned to separate marriage from cohabitation. Second, sharing surnames helped to create the nuclear family. Third, a divorce might sever the ties between husband and wife and thus surnames might be reverted. The next three subthemes dealt with the family of origin. First, for male surname keepers the previous generations were important and meaningful. Second, the ideal of carrying on the surnames, i.e. the family names, also played a part for changers, especially if there were no (male) heirs to their wife’s name. Third, there was a potential for conflict between male changers and their fathers. Male surname change invoked associations of betrayal or breakage of a gendered duty to carry the surname on. The seventh of the family subthemes dealt with negotiations of their relationship with the nuclear and the birth families through surnames. The second main topic was continuity with the past. The understanding that tradition equals patronymy, i.e. a practice where men keep their surname, women take the name of their husband, and children get the name of their father, dominated in the narratives. Most male keepers adhered to this understanding. Male changers opposed patronymy as tradition, either because they knew of older practices or because they felt that the past should not have authority over the present. Some male changers did neither. They spoke of alternative traditions in line with gender equality, while drawing on past practices, such as the idea of sharing a family name and carrying on a name from previous generations, also through female lines. The third main topic was gender equality. The men’s narratives could be divided into four categories. The first category included male keepers who described gender equality as a woman’s right to keep her name. The second category consisted of changers and keepers. They understood surname choice as relevant for men and women, meaning both birth names could function as a shared surname. The third category consisted of some of the male changers who saw their change as a way to counter the historical and cultural discrimination of women. The fourth category was by far the largest and consisted of changers and keepers who did not touch on aspects of gender equality in their responses. For the changers and some keepers, gender equality in the naming of the nuclear family was inherent. However, most of the keepers took the practice of patronymy for granted. The fourth main topic was individual identity, where four different approaches were followed in the men’s stories. In the first approach, the connection between an individual and their name was unbreakable. In the second approach, time played a part in the connection between the individual and the name, as some changers spoke of increased ownership as time passed. In the third approach, some of the changers displayed independence from their names. They argued that they continued to be the same individual even if their name changed. In the fourth approach some of the men changed their name because of what kind of person they saw themselves as. The connection between name and individual was here reversed. These men considered themselves as individuals with certain ideals and abilities that led them to think about choice in certain ways, hence they could change their names. In sum, the men positioned themselves within each theme on two scales according to how they did accountability. The first scale was between a nuclear family orientation and an individual orientation, and the second scale was between a gender equality orientation and a patronymic orientation. In addition, I used a quantitative questionnaire to understand the extent of male surname keeping and changing in the present-day Norwegian context. The quantitative research confirmed that women and men differed in naming actions. A total of 91.2% of the men and 47.2% of the women kept their surnames, while 4.2% of the men and 46.6% of the women took that of their partner. Around 2% of both groups used a hyphen to combine their surnames.Doktorgradsavhandlin

Tree Age Distributions Reveal Large-Scale Disturbance-Recovery Cycles in Three Tropical Forests

Over the past few decades there has been a growing realization that a large share of apparently ‘virgin’ or ‘old-growth’ tropical forests carries a legacy of past natural or anthropogenic disturbances that have a substantial effect on present-day forest composition, structure and dynamics. Yet, direct evidence of such disturbances is scarce and comparisons of disturbance dynamics across regions even more so. Here we present a tree-ring based reconstruction of disturbance histories from three tropical forest sites in Bolivia, Cameroon, and Thailand. We studied temporal patterns in tree regeneration of shade-intolerant tree species, because establishment of these trees is indicative for canopy disturbance. In three large areas (140–300 ha), stem disks and increment cores were collected for a total of 1154 trees (>5 cm diameter) from 12 tree species to estimate the age of every tree. Using these age estimates we produced population age distributions, which were analyzed for evidence of past disturbance. Our approach allowed us to reconstruct patterns of tree establishment over a period of around 250 years. In Bolivia, we found continuous regeneration rates of three species and a peaked age distribution of a long-lived pioneer species. In both Cameroon and Thailand we found irregular age distributions, indicating strongly reduced regeneration rates over a period of 10–60 years. Past fires, windthrow events or anthropogenic disturbances all provide plausible explanations for the reported variation in tree age across the three sites. Our results support the recent idea that the long-term dynamics of tropical forests are impacted by large-scale disturbance-recovery cycles, similar to those driving temperate forest dynamics.This study was financially supported by the European Research Council (ERC, grant #242955). The paper is derived from the work done in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a PhD degree of the first author (MV) at Wageningen University (Vlam, 2014)S

Need and value of targeted immunosuppressive therapy in giant cell arteritis

Despite the heterogeneity of the giant cell arteritis (GCA) at the level of clinical manifestations and the cellular and molecular players involved in its pathogenesis, GCA is still treated with standardised regimens largely based on glucocorticoids (GC). Long-term use of high dosages of GC as required in GCA are associated with many clinically relevant side effects. In the recent years, the interleukin-6 receptor blocker tocilizumab has become available as the only registered targeted immunosuppressive agent in GCA. However, immunological heterogeneity may require different pathways to be targeted in order to achieve a clinical, immunological and vascular remission in GCA. The advances in the targeted blockade of various molecular pathways involved in other inflammatory and autoimmune diseases have catalyzed the research on targeted therapy in GCA. This article gives an overview of the studies with targeted immunosuppressive treatments in GCA, with a focus on their clinical value, including their effects at the level of vascular inflammation