Trends in mountain birch seed abundance and its relation to temperature and moth abundance: a ten-year study from Swedish Lapland

Taigan är världens största landbiom. En av de mest köldtoleranta och vanligt förekommande trädarterna i Sverige är fjällbjörken, och den bildar en unik trädgräns av lövträd samt markerar skog-tundra-ekotonen. Fjällbjörkens reproduktion och spridningsförmåga är därför viktiga både från ett socialt såväl som ekologiskt perspektiv, lokalt såväl som globalt. I arktiska och alpina miljöer når lövätande larver av arterna fjällbjörkmätare och mindre frostfjäril utbrottsnivåer cirka vart nionde-tionde år, och larverna kan orsaka allvarlig avlövning av björkarna. De lövätande insekternas ägg överlever inte alltför kalla vintrar. Möjligen utgör global uppvärmning och ändrade mellanartsinteraktioner nya utmaningar för fjällbjörkens tillväxt och reproduktiva framgång. Syftet med den här studien var att undersöka trender i björkfrömängd och se hur björkfrömängden påverkas av temperatur och antalet lövätande larver. Vidare var syftet att undersöka effekterna av vintertemperatur på larvmängd. Fröregn samlades in under en tioårsperiod i Abisko, i norra Sverige, genom att använda fröfällor som låg ute från augusti till juni. Fröna sorterades för hand och fjällbjörkfröna räknades. Larvmängd räknades genom att göra ett medelvärde av antalet larver per hundra björkskott. Resultaten visade att frömängden varken ökar eller minskar och att temperatur och larvmängd inte har en signifikant effekt på frömängden. Däremot minskade larvmängden över tid men ökade med högre vintertemperaturer, vilket kan indikera att larvmängd och larvutbredning kommer att öka med det allt varmare klimatet. Larvmängd och tillväxttemperatur verkar inte ha en effekt på frömängd och möjliga framtida ändringar i frömängd kan i så fall orsakas av andra faktorer, så som nederbörd, men verkar i nuläget stabilt. Nyckelord Betula pubescens, klimatförändring, fröproduktion, Epirrita autumnata, Operophtera brumata, subarktisk ekologi, folivori, larvabundansBoreal forest is the world’s largest terrestrial biome. Being one of the most ubiquitous and coldtolerant tree species in Sweden, the mountain birch forms a unique deciduous treeline and marks the forest-tundra ecotone. Its reproduction and ability to spread is therefore important from both a societal and ecological perspective, locally as well as globally. Folivorous larvae of the species autumnal moth and winter moth reach outbreak levels in arctic and alpine areas approximately every 9-10 years and can severely defoliate birch trees. Cold winters kill the eggs of the folivorous insects. Global warming and changed interspecific interactions possibly present new challenges for mountain birch growth and reproductive success. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in mountain birch seed abundance and how seed abundance is related to temperature and abundance of folivorous larvae. Further the aim was to investigate the effects of winter temperature on larval abundance. Seed rain was collected over a time period of ten years in Abisko, northern Sweden, by using seed traps set out from August to June. The seeds were manually sorted, and mountain birch seeds were counted. Larval abundance was counted as average number of larvae per hundred birch shoots. The results showed that seed abundance is neither increasing nor decreasing and that temperature and larval abundance do not significantly affect seed abundance. Larval abundance decreased over time but increased with increasing winter temperature, possibly indicating that larval abundance and distribution will increase with the increasingly warmer climate. Larval abundance and growing season temperature appear to not influence seed abundance and possible future changes in birch seed abundance might then be caused by other factors, such as precipitation, but for now appears to be rather stable

Den historiska kvinnofriden

Uppsatsen ämnar utforska lagstiftningen kring inomäktenskapligt våld mot kvinnor ur ett historiskt perspektiv. Utgångspunkten har varit att ge en historisk överblick över straffstadganden kring brottet. Uppsatsen är byggd kring en kronologisk genomgång av brottet, som börjar kring 1700-talet och tar sitt slut vid 1990-talet. Inledningsvis belyses avsaknaden av rättslig reglering kring våld mot kvinnor inom äktenskapet, när det istället var tillåtet att måttligt aga sin hustru. Därefter följer införandet av 1864 års strafflag, vilken innebar en kriminalisering av våldet. Avslutningsvis behandlas1900-talet, och de reformer som växer fram under 1980- och 1990-talen. Det kritiska perspektiv som har applicerats i uppsatsen är ett genusperspektiv, och en analys baserad i genusrättsvetenskap följer löpande genom uppsatsen. En sammanfattande analys summerar till sist uppsatsen och ämnar besvara frågeställningarna som legat till grund för uppsatsen

Vågar du bli gammal? En studie om mediers framställningar av problem inom äldreomsorgen

Abstract Authours: Frida Gustafsson & Hanna Öberg Title: Do you dare to get older? A study of media representations of problems in elderly care. [translated title] Supervisor: Malinda Andersson The aim of our study was to examine how Swedish newspapers depict and produce problems about the Swedish elderly care. The purpose was also to examine how the newspapers present the causes of the issues, solutions of the issues and how different agents were characterized. A question we found interesting to examine was the different consequences that the constructions of problems in the elderly care entail. The study is based on analyzing 101 articles from three different journals, both daily- and evening newspapers published during the last year. We used a qualitative content analysis which we based on Håkan Jönson’s (2008) analysis scheme. Our study showed that there are four recurrent themes in almost all articles: budget, privatization, issues related to the staff and mistreatment in the elderly care. Budget and privatization are commonly used when describing the origin of the problem, which are issues related to the staff and mistreatment in elderly care. What media presents as problems in the elderly care can affect the public’s perception in many ways. We saw many examples on how media used different strategies like personification, polarization and simplification in order to attract the attention of the reader. Key words: Elderly care, Constructions of social problems, Mass medi

Litteraturstödet- En Extreme Makeover

The Swedish Arts Council supports, develops and initiates interaction between the state, the regions, municipalities and representatives for cultural life in Sweden. Since 1975 the Swedish National Council has provided literature grants for book publishers, who applies and are chosen for their newly produced titles. In order to get a grant the title has to meet certain criterias, such as high literary quality, originality, and a novel also has to stimulate diversity thereby counteracting the negative effects of commercialism. In the new report from 2009, the Swedish National Arts Council, has changed its motivations to instead of dealing with the quality of a title, they should also look into the economical situation of the publishing company. To ensure specialist knowledge in the distribution of grants in various branches of the arts, the board has appointed working and reference groups comprising qualified subject experts. The working groups make independent decisions on grant-related issues. This thesis aim to explore the backgrounds of cultural politics with its main focus on the literature grant. The grant has often been criticized in media to be beneficial to large corporate publishing houses, who often receives a larger sum in comparison to the smaller ones. Our main task is to research if the new economic criterias proposed would lead to a broad and diverse literature and benefit the publishing industry in an improved way in comparison to the previous criterias

Maintaining or Losing Intervention-Induced Health-Related Behavior Change. A Mixed Methods Field Study

The aim of this mixed methods field study was to gain a better understanding of how psychological factors can contribute to success in intervention-induced behavior change over time. While it can be difficult to change behavior, the use of interventions means that most participants succeed in change during the intervention. However, it is rare for the immediate change to automatically transform into maintained behavior changes. Most research conducted on health-related behavior change interventions contains quantitative studies that investigate key intervention components on a group level. Hence, to bring more knowledge about maintained intervention-induced behavior change, there is need for a study approach that enhances the understanding of individual participants' experiences during and after the intervention. Therefore, the present study, which was conducted in Sweden, used a mixed methods design (triangulation) consisting of pre-, post-, and follow-up quantitative data (questionnaires and body measurements) and qualitative data (interviews), where the individuals' accounts are used to broaden the understanding of the intervention and the behavior change process. All study participants were enrolled in a volitional (fee-based and non-manipulated) intervention given by certified gyms. The quantitative data collection included 22 participants who completed questionnaires and body measurements before and after the intervention, plus 13 complete body measurements 6 months after the intervention. The qualitative data included pre-interviews with 12 participants and six follow-up-interviews. The questions in both questionnaires and interviews related to expectations, efficacy, motivation, goals, achievements, behavior change, and future. Overall, the results show that levels of expectations, efficacy, and motivation cannot be used in isolation to predict maintained intervention-induced behavior change. To successfully extend and maintain immediate change, it was crucial to experience goal achievement (but not BMI change). Furthermore, enabling talk was salient in the pre-interviews with participants reporting successful immediate (and maintained) change. By contrast, pre-interview disabling talk turned out to be evident in interviews, with participants not responding to follow-up. When the qualitative and quantitative results are summarized and integrated, it appears that subjective goal achievement, combined with enabling self-talk, were crucial factors in successful maintained behavior change

Total Zinc Intake May Modify the Glucose-Raising Effect of a Zinc Transporter (SLC30A8) Variant

Objective: Many genetic variants have been associated with glucose homeostasis and type 2 diabetes in genome-wide association studies. Zinc is an essential micronutrient that is important for β-cell function and glucose homeostasis. We tested the hypothesis that zinc intake could influence the glucose-raising effect of specific variants. Research Design and Methods: We conducted a 14-cohort meta-analysis to assess the interaction of 20 genetic variants known to be related to glycemic traits and zinc metabolism with dietary zinc intake (food sources) and a 5-cohort meta-analysis to assess the interaction with total zinc intake (food sources and supplements) on fasting glucose levels among individuals of European ancestry without diabetes. Results: We observed a significant association of total zinc intake with lower fasting glucose levels (β-coefficient ± SE per 1 mg/day of zinc intake: −0.0012 ± 0.0003 mmol/L, summary P value = 0.0003), while the association of dietary zinc intake was not significant. We identified a nominally significant interaction between total zinc intake and the SLC30A8 rs11558471 variant on fasting glucose levels (β-coefficient ± SE per A allele for 1 mg/day of greater total zinc intake: −0.0017 ± 0.0006 mmol/L, summary interaction P value = 0.005); this result suggests a stronger inverse association between total zinc intake and fasting glucose in individuals carrying the glucose-raising A allele compared with individuals who do not carry it. None of the other interaction tests were statistically significant. Conclusions: Our results suggest that higher total zinc intake may attenuate the glucose-raising effect of the rs11558471 SLC30A8 (zinc transporter) variant. Our findings also support evidence for the association of higher total zinc intake with lower fasting glucose levels