Mapping of serum amylase-1 and quantitative trait loci for milk production traits to cattle chromosome 4

The present study was undertaken to confirm and refine the mapping of a quantitative trait locus in cattle for milk fat percentage that had earlier been reported to be linked to the serum amylase-1 locus, AM1. Five half-sib families from the previous study and 7 new ones were genotyped for nine microsatellite markers spanning chromosome 4. AM1 was mapped between the microsatellite markers BMS648 and BR6303. In a granddaughter design, interval mapping based on multiple-marker regression was utilized for an analysis of five milk production traits: milk yield, fat percentage and yield, and protein percentage and yield. In the families reported on previously, significant effects for fat and protein percentages were detected. In the new families, an effect on milk and fat yields was found. The most likely positions of the quantitative trait locus in both groups of families were in the same area of chromosome 4 in the vicinity of the obese locus. Direct effects of the obese locus were tested for using polymorphism in two closely linked microsatellites located 2.5 and 3.6 top downstream of the coding sequence. No firm evidence was found for an association between the obese locus and the tested traits

Information based power – A balancing act between retail strategies and consumer movement patterns

Problem background: The barrier between physical stores and online stores is blurred, which is paving the way for multi- and omni-channel retailing. Consumers of today are having a great access to information, due to their increased use of digital devices. Thus, the power among consumers is increasing, which is creating a thought of whether the consumer, or the retailer, is the party in charge. Aim of the study and research questions: The aim of this study is to attain an understanding of the views of retailers on multi-and omni-channel strategies, and their perceptions and handling of consumer movement patterns. Thereby, we are also striving for an understanding of the division of information-based power between retailers and consumers in a multi- and omni-channel retailing context. The research questions below will be directing the work process of this study. - How do retailers, offering high involvement products, discuss multi- and omni-channel strategies? - How do retailers, offering high involvement products, handle consumer movement patterns between various retail channels? - Based on the answers to the former questions, how can the division of information-based power between retailers and consumers be interpreted? Method: This study has been conducted through a qualitative research method, with an inductive approach. The primary data has been collected through ten semi-structured interviews, and the respondents have been strategically selected. The collected material has been interpreted through a hermeneutic approach. Conclusions: The decision of working either according to a multi- or an omni-channel strategy may have an impact on the opportunities and challenges from working with various channels. It may also affect the handling of consumer movement patterns and the direction of consumers to certain channels. Lastly, the division of information-based power between retailers and consumers, in a multi- and omni-channel retailing context, may be a continuous and complex balancing act between these two parties

Spelet om infrastrukturen - En diskursanalys av riksdagsledamöters föreställningar av offentlig privat samverkan

The purpose of this article is to describe the discourse in which public-private partnership (PPP) resides, within the Swedish parliament, in the field of infrastructure. I have chosen to look at the latest three years deliberation where PPP appears in parliament bills. This case study is based upon discourse as a qualitative method. Five indicator signs which is history, comparison, geographic location, vision of growth potential and solution controls the context of PPP The result of the analysis was that a clear discourse was unravelled. A first rather surprising conclusion shows that it is possible to disconnect the discourse from PPP. PPP is not important by itself, the result shows that it only play the part of possible solution to the problems related to the discourse and does not have any value in its own. This result lead the conclusion that PPP is no more than a tool for politicians to get as much out of their infrastructural aims as possible, as rational vote-maximizing actors. But it also leads to the conclusion that the power over defining a solution is partly a question of ideology. The discourse on other hand is not linked to ideology

Analytical study of long floating pontoon bridges subject to tidal variations

Statens vegvesen jobber med å bygge en ferjefri forbindelse mellom Kristiansand og Trondheim. En av de mest utfordrende fjordkryssingene er Bjørnafjorden. Fire forskjellige løsninger har blitt presentert; tre buede- og en rett bro. I denne oppgaven sammenlignes to forskjellige brodesign ved hjelp av Matlab, med hovedfokus på momentfordelinger og nedbøyninger under tidevannsvariasjoner. En tredje, enkel generisk bro, undersøkes for å validere resultatene mot en SAP2000-modell. Flytende pontongbroer er en effektiv måte å krysse områder med dyp havbunn og dårlige grunnforhold. Imidlertid, i motsetning til konvensjonell brodesign, er en flytebro i større grad utsatt for belastning fra tidevann, fordi de ikke er forankret vertikalt. Fullstendige beregninger og design av en flytebro er ekstremt kompleks. Dynamiske belastninger, opplagerbetingelser, egenvekt og egenfrekvens analyse, må vurderes for å beregne det optimale brodesignet numerisk. Avanserte programmer basert på matematiske modeller blir benyttet til å utføre disse beregningene. Disse modellene må videreutvikles for å imøtekomme kravene til lengre flytebroer, ifølge Statens vegvesen. Denne oppgaven benytter en analytisk tilnærming, ved hjelp av trigonometriske funksjoner. Dette kutter ned ressursene som kreves ved beregning av krefter og deformasjoner i forskjellige brodesign som er påkjent tidevannsvariasjoner. Det er funnet at lange flytende pontongbroer er mindre utsatt for tidevannsvariasjoner enn korte. De ytterste pongtongene får større tvangskrefter og nedbøyninger. Resultatene viser at ved å endre referanse på tidevannshøyden, kan det maksimale momentet reduseres betydelig, uten å gå på bekostning av brukervennligheten.The Norwegian Public Roads Administration is developing a ferry free connection between Kristiansand and Trondheim. One of the more challenging fjord crossings is the Bjørnafjord. Four different bridge designs have been proposed for the crossing, three curved and one straight [44]. In this thesis two different bridge designs are compared using Matlab (MathWorks, R2020b), with the main focus being on moment distributions and deflection induced by tidal variations. A third simpler generic bridge is examined to validate the results against a SAP2000 (Computers & Structures, 2021) model. Constructing floating pontoon bridges is an effective way to cross deep water bodies with poor seabed conditions. However, unlike conventional bridge designs, a floating bridge is far more subject to tidal loads as it is not vertically restrained. Complete calculation and design of a floating bridge is extremely complex. Dynamic loads, support conditions, self weight and eigenfrequency analysis, all have to be considered in order to numerically calculate the optimal bridge design. Advanced programs, based on mathematical models, are utilized to make these calculations. These models have to be further developed to meet the demands of longer floating bridges according to the Norwegian Public Roads Administration[1]. This thesis presents an analytical approach, using trigonometric trial functions. This has the advantage of computational efficiency in evaluating the forces and deformations of various floating pontoon bridge designs subject to tidal variations. It is found that long floating pontoon bridges are less subject to tidal variations than shorter bridges. The outermost pontoons have increased restraint forces and deflections. The results show that by changing the reference tidal height it is possible to reduce the outlier maximum moment by a significant amount without compromising on serviceability

Humanitära interventioner En teoriutvecklande studie.

Konflikterna i Somalia respektive Darfur (Sudan) är två av likartad karaktär men med olika utfall, i den tidigare initierades och genomfördes en intervention medan i den senare har en sådan uteblivit. I fallet Somalia tog det inte lång tid innan FN med USA i spetsen hade tagit plats i landet med avsikt att få till stånd ett slut på den interna konflikten. Fallet Darfur är av likartad karaktär där hundratusentals människor redan mist livet och än fler drivits på flykt men till skillnad från Somaliakonflikten har ingen intervention ännu initierats. Med bakgrund och en historisk överblick till konflikternas start görs ett försök att analysera de båda utfallen. För att förstå situationerna använder vi oss av fem olika förklaringsvariabler, aktörsperspektiv, system, media, suveränitet och intressen. De olika förklaringsvariablerna ger tillsammans en sammansatt bild av vilka faktorer som spelar en avgörande roll i huruvida en intervention har goda eller mindre bra förutsättningar att bli ett faktum. Resultatet visade att de var och en för sig gav en fragmenterad bild av varför respektive varför inte en intervention initierats medan de tillsammans länkade ihop bilden till en sammansatt helhet genom att vara beroende av varandra. Med facit i hand kan man ifrågasätta om interventionen i Somalia var lyckad eller misslyckad, frågan kring Darfur har fortfarande inte fått något svar och vi väntar på om det i slutändan kommer att initieras en intervention eller om världen passivt fortsätter att iaktta ohyggligheterna som uträttas. Av förutsättningarna att döma ser det onekligen inte ljust ut

Språkutveckling i förskolans tambur - En kvalitativ studie om möjligheter till språklärande i tamburen

Barn tillbringar mycket tid i förskolan och i dagens samhälle går de flesta barn i förskolan och börjar redan i tidig ålder. Utbildning skall ske under hela dagen och inte bara under planerade aktiviteter. Språket utgör ett centralt verktyg för barns lärande och kunskapsutveckling. Språkutveckling behöver inte alltid vara planerad undervisning utan kan ske vid olika tillfällen i förskolan som vid på och avklädning klädning, det är just tamburen vi har valt att fokusera på i vår studie. Vi valde att rikta in oss på språkutvecklingen i tamburen då våra tidigare erfarenheter visat att det i tamburen ofta blir stressigt och fokus kan då hamna på att klä av och på barnen, inte på undervisning och lärande. I den här studien var vi intresserade av att undersöka det språkstöd pedagogerna erbjöd barnen i förskolans tambur. Vi var även intresserade av hur den fysiska närmiljön i tamburen var uppbyggd och hur den användes av pedagogerna i det språkstödjande arbetet. Studien är en kvalitativ studie som bygger på videoobservationer där förskolornas ipads användes för att filma. I studien deltar åtta olika pedagoger (förskollärare & barnskötare) samt 21 barn från två olika förskolor och tre olika avdelningar. Under observationerna i tamburerna fokuserade vi på kommunikationen och interaktionen mellan pedagoger och barn och syftet var att undersöka vilket språkstöd som barnen erbjuds i tambursituationer. Resultatet visade att det språkstödjande arbetet skiljde sig åt mellan förskolorna. Alla pedagogerna som observerades var närvarande men det var inte alltid språklärande som var i fokus. Det blev även tydligt i resultatet att tambursituationer är komplext och flera olika faktorer spelar in

Floodplains in the Anthropocene: A Global Analysis of the Interplay Between Human Population, Built Environment, and Flood Severity

This study presents a global explanatory analysis of the interplay between the severity of flood losses and human presence in floodplain areas. In particular, we relate economic losses and fatalities caused by floods during 1990-2000, with changes in human population and built-up areas in floodplains during 2000-2015 by exploiting global archives. We found that population and built-up areas in floodplains increased in the period 2000-2015 for the majority of the analyzed countries, albeit frequent flood losses in the previous period 1990-2000. In some countries, however, population in floodplains decreased in the period 2000-2015, following more severe floods losses that occurred in the period 1975-2000. Our analysis shows that (i) in low-income countries, population in floodplains increased after a period of high flood fatalities; while (ii) in upper-middle and high-income countries, built-up areas increased after a period of frequent economic losses. In this study, we also provide a general framework to advance knowledge of human-flood interactions and support the development of sustainable policies and measures for flood risk management and disaster risk reduction.</p

Integrating Multiple Research Methods to Unravel the Complexity of Human-Water Systems

Abstract: Predicting floods and droughts is essential to inform the development of policy in water management, climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Yet, hydrological predictions are highly uncertain, while the frequency, severity and spatial distribution of extreme events are further complicated by the increasing impact of human activities on the water cycle. In this commentary, we argue that four main aspects characterizing the complexity of human‐water systems should be explicitly addressed: feedbacks, scales, tradeoffs and inequalities. We propose the integration of multiple research methods as a way to cope with complexity and develop policy‐relevant science

Physiological and Pathological Role of Alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease Through Iron Mediated Oxidative Stress; The Role of a Putative Iron-responsive Element

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common progressive neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and represents a large health burden to society. Genetic and oxidative risk factors have been proposed as possible causes, but their relative contribution remains unclear. Dysfunction of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) has been associated with PD due to its increased presence, together with iron, in Lewy bodies. Brain oxidative damage caused by iron may be partly mediated by α-syn oligomerization during PD pathology. Also, α-syn gene dosage can cause familial PD and inhibition of its gene expression by blocking translation via a newly identified Iron Responsive Element-like RNA sequence in its 5’-untranslated region may provide a new PD drug target

Novel suppressors of α-synuclein toxicity identified using yeast

The mechanism by which the Parkinson’s disease-related protein α-synuclein (α-syn) causes neurodegeneration has not been elucidated. To determine the genes that protect cells from α-syn, we used a genetic screen to identify suppressors of the super sensitivity of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae expressing α-syn to killing by hydrogen peroxide. Forty genes in ubiquitin-dependent protein catabolism, protein biosynthesis, vesicle trafficking and the response to stress were identified. Five of the forty genes—ENT3, IDP3, JEM1, ARG2 and HSP82—ranked highest in their ability to block α-syn-induced reactive oxygen species accumulation, and these five genes were characterized in more detail. The deletion of any of these five genes enhanced the toxicity of α-syn as judged by growth defects compared with wild-type cells expressing α-syn, which indicates that these genes protect cells from α-syn. Strikingly, four of the five genes are specific for α-syn in that they fail to protect cells from the toxicity of the two inherited mutants A30P or A53T. This finding suggests that α-syn causes toxicity to cells through a different pathway than these two inherited mutants. Lastly, overexpression of Ent3p, which is a clathrin adapter protein involved in protein transport between the Golgi and the vacuole, causes α-syn to redistribute from the plasma membrane into cytoplasmic vesicular structures. Our interpretation is that Ent3p mediates the transport of α-syn to the vacuole for proteolytic degradation. A similar clathrin adaptor protein, epsinR, exists in humans