Apoptosis is a type of cell death with a specific morphology and molecular program, which is essential for the development of the nervous system. However, inappropriate cell death has been implicated in several neurodegenerative diseases. The Bcl-2 protein family is a class of proteins, which can regulate the cell death program in either a positive (pro-apoptotic family members) or a negative (anti-apoptotic family members) way. This thesis further elucidates the role of Bcl-2 family members in the nervous system. Special focus has been put on the anti-apoptotic family member Bcl-w, whose function in the nervous system was previously unknown, and the pro-apoptotic family member Bad which serves as a link between growth factor signalling and apoptosis. Bcl-w mRNA was found to be upregulated during rat brain development suggesting increasing importance of Bcl-w with age in the nervous system. In contrast, mRNA levels encoding the anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-x were downregulated during development. Bcl-w was also found to have an anti-apoptotic function in neurons, rescuing sympathetic neurons from cell death after nerve growth factor deprivation. To further elucidate the mechanism by which Bcl-w exerts its function, we screened a yeast two-hybrid library for proteins interacting with Bcl-w. Two of the isolated positive clones encoded the pro-apoptotic protein Bad and a novel splice variant of Bad with a different carboxyterminal sequence. Both isoforms of Bad induced cell death in sympathetic neurons, which could be counteracted by Bcl-w, indicating that Bcl-w and Bad can interact both physically and functionally. Further studies on the genomic structure of the Bad gene suggested the presence of an additional splice variant, not expressing the first exon. Immunohistochemical analysis indicates that the isoform(s) not expressing the first exon is more widely expressed in adult rat brain than the known forms. Finally, we show that high cell density can enhance survival of cerebellar granule neurons and that bcl-2 and bcl-x mRNA levels are upregulated in high density cultures.

The thesis presents annual price series for rye and barley in Östergötland during the period 1592-1735. Prices of wheat, oats, animal products, building materials, iron, nails, horse shoes and horse shoe nails from about the mid-17th century up to 1735 are also presented and analysed. New data has been excerpted from four hospitals and about fifty parishes in Östergötland. Prices from other provinces have also been excerpted for the study. This nes data is compared to already published prices from Sweden´s capital and from several provinces in central parts of the western national region of Sweden of that time. This area constituted Sweden´s core region. By linking the studies results to previous research, a description is made of the price developments for rye, butter and tallow up to 1775, that is, during Sweden´s period of great power and age of freedom. A principal result for the roughly 150 years primarily covered by the thesis is that it was chiefly the prices of rye and barley, the most important food at the time, that fluctuated in twelve cycles. Periodically there were large fluctuatons. The price cycles for corn (half rye, half barley) had an average amplitude of somewhat more than 100 % and a duration of 11 years on average. The prices were on average higher further north in the country. The causes of the price fluctuations are complex. During the major part of the period studied, Sweden was at war or in armistice period, which occupied a large part of the male population. Politically, increasingly great power was gradually concentrated to the king and autocracy was introduced, culminating at the end of Charles XII´s regency. The peasantry was burdened by high taxes and other onuses. After the middle of the 17th century the country was no longer self-subsistent but largely dependent on corn import. The production of foddstuffs decreased, partly through a smaller part of the country´s resources beeing used for production, and partly due to bad harvests. Recurrent epidemics reduced the population even up to the early 18th century.

Syfte: Vi upplever att människor i vår omgivning har en negativ bild av fastighetsmäklare. Undersökningar som Expressen har gjort bekräftar även detta. Vårt syfte med den här studien är därför att: • Ge vår bild av fastighetsmäklare. • Skriva en debattartikel och få denna publicerad. Genom att uppfylla ovanstående syfte vill vi besvara frågorna: • Varför har fastighetsmäklare ett dåligt rykte? • Vad kan göras för att förbättra ryktet? Metod: Vi har utifrån ett hermeneutiskt synsätt skapat denna uppsats och därför låtit vår förförståelse och subjektivitet spegla innehållet. Data har samlats in genom att söka i litteratur, intervjuer och en mindre egen undersökning. Uppsatsen är uppdelad i olika kapitel, men följer medvetet inte den traditionella dispositionen för uppsatser. Resultat & slutsats: Vi har funnit fyra parter som har stor inverkan på fastighetsmäklarens rykte; allmänheten, media, fastighetsmäklarna och organisationerna; Mäklarsamfundet, Fastighetsmäklarförbundet och Fastighetsmäklarnämnden. Alla dessa parter kan påverka individens uppfattning om verkligheten. Vi vill med vår uppsats uppmana alla till att tänka efter två gånger då de nås av information, eftersom alla händelser har flera sidor. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Vi har inte behandlat fastighetsmäklarföretagen och hur de arbetar med ryktet, men vid fortsatt forskning kan det vara intressant att även ta med den aspekten. Det vore även intressant att undersöka om ryktet förbättras något i och med det nya lagförslaget och parternas arbete kring ryktet. Uppsatsens bidrag: Vi har gett ett bidrag till debatten och där givit vår bild av fastighetsmäklare till allmänheten. Vi har även poängterat och uppmärksammat läsaren på att vara källkritisk och tänka två gånger. / Aim: We find that people in our surroundings have a negative opinion about Real Estate Agents. Surveys made by the evening paper Expressen confirm this. The aim with this study is therefore to: • Give our opinion of Real Estate Agents. • Write an article and get it published. By accomplish our aim we intend to answer these questions: • Why do Real Estate Agents have a bad reputation? • What can be done to increase the reputation? Method: We have written this essay from a hermeneutic point of view and have therefore been subjective throughout the entire essay. Data has been collected in literature, interviews and one own survey. This essay is divided into different chapters, but it doesn’t follow the traditional outline for essays. Result & Conclusions: We have found four parties that have big influence on the reputation of Real Estate Agents; the public, media, Real Estate Agents and the organizations; Mäklarsamfundet, Fastighetsmäklarförbundet and Fastighetsmäklarnämnden. These four parties all have a great impact on the apprehension of individuals and their view of reality. With our essay we would like to encourage individuals to think twice. Suggestions for future research: We haven’t put any focus on the Real Estate companies and how they can affect the reputation. It could also be of interest to investigate how the new law affects the reputation and apprehension. Contribution of the thesis: We have given a contribution to the debate by giving our opinion about Real Estate Agents to the public. We have also emphasized the reader about being critical against information. Thinking twice is important and can therefore not be said enough.

Ett ovårdat språkbruk bland de yngre eleverna är något som har uppmärksammats av studiens författare. Ett ovårdat språkbruk definieras i studien till svordomar och/eller könsord i relation till svordomar. Syften med studien är att undersöka vad erfarna lågstadielärare anser är ett ovårdat språkbruk. Vidare är syftet att ta reda på hur lågstadielärare enligt sina erfarenheter uppfattar orsaker till ett ovårdat språk och hur de bemöter de yngre elever som använder ett sådant språk. Undersökningen har skett genom kvalitativa ostrukturerade intervjuer. Resultatet visade att en lågstadielärare upplever att de yngre eleverna använder ett ovårdat språk medan resterande upplever att eleverna använder ett bra språkbruk. Lågstadielärarna ansåg också att ovårdat språk främst innebär svordomar men även könsord, slanguttryck och grammatiskt felanvända ord. Resultatet i studien har lett fram till slutsatsen att anledningarna till att elever använder ett ovårdat språk är flera. Lågstadielärarna menar att det beror på det språkbruk som föräldrarna använder, samhällsförändringar samt på media. Ett bemötande i lugn ton är att rekommendera samt att man som lärare föregår med gott exempel. / A bad language use among the younger pupils is something that has been paid attention to according to the authors of the study. A bad language use is in the study defined as swearword and/or a use of four-letter words together with swearword. The study aims to examine what experience primary teachers thinks is a bad language. Further more aims the study investigate what primary teachers according to their experience understand reasons of a bad language use and how they answer the younger pupils using such a language.The investigation has been carried out by qualitative unstructured interviews. The results showed that one primary teacher experienced that the younger pupils are using a bad language, the remaining experienced that pupils use a good language. Primary school teachers also found that bad language use mainly means swearword but also four-letter words, slang words and grammatical errors using the word. The result of the study give the conclusion that there are many reasons why pupils use bad language according to the primary teachers. They mean that it depends on which language their parents use, changes in the society and the media. The best way to answer these pupils is in a calm voice and to be a good ideal for them.

Who has never heard anything about leadership? This concept appears almost everywhere: in the classroom, on TV program, in reviews, in books, etc. However, who really knows about the real nature of leadership? Most of you might have a good image of it in mind. However, the reality is far different. How many of you have ever listened to stories whereby people were stressed or were depressive due to their job? In this thesis, we will expose how the business environment is "contaminated" by leaders presenting toxic behaviours. Once toxic behaviours occur in the company, the entire system becomes "alienated", its welfare is undermined. Leaders, in our view, act like snakes which, with its venom contaminate, step by step, their environment. The best way to erase toxins, in such surrounding is to be first aware of its root. For knowing this issue, please, attach your belt, the travel will start …

The text of Beloved will be analyzed with a Kleinian and Freudian approach in order to show how the characters see each other as good or bad objects. This essay begins with an explanation of terms and a short presentation of psychoanalysis and object relations theory. Thereafter, each main character and their relation to Beloved will be examined and discussed as well as their relation to each other.

Credit granting is not only one core business but also the major profit source of banks. Non-Performing Loan Ratio (NPL Ratio) is an important index to evaluate the quality of credit granting and to influence profitability of banks. Recently, NPL ratio, which soared to record level, of local banks does not only hurt their asset quality but also threaten their surviving space due to the changes of internal structure, overbanking, internationalization of local banking industry, economic recession, the subprime crisis in 2007. Theoretically, banks have their own credit granting policy and credit examination system; however, there is soaring NPL ratio to cause huge NPL losses in banks because of the differences of credit grating practices. Nevertheless, there are some local banks which have lower NPL ratio. Therefore, this research is to help us to understand the possible factors of overdue loan that happened in corporate banking, and try to discover the key factors. Also, try to sampling those key factors from the past experiences for future crediting reference. The main profit from a bank is the margin of deposit and credit loan interest. Therefore, the overdue loan is highly related to a bank¡¦s profit. Moreover, it is necessary for banks to pay more cost to make up the losses which are caused by the NPL. Certainly, it is safest way for banks to acquire 100% collaterals for creditors¡¦ right, although 100% collaterals could be acquired, the creditors cannot ignore the impacts (on the creditors¡¦ profitability) of the necessary litigation expenses for disposing the collaterals. As a result, fully recognize the customers¡¦ credit condition before drawing is the only way to avoid the NPL loss and ensure the profit.

Interpersonal conflict is a research topic increasingly gaining importance in project management. The purpose of this exploratory study was to find out how relationship conflict affects task conflict in projects. The research investigated the styles individuals prefer to handle task conflict with colleagues in bad personal relationship. The influence of four personal characteristic variables (Gender, Age, Work experience and Culture background) on the choice of conflict handling styles were examined at the same time. ROCI-II was used as the data collection instrument. Questionnaires were published through web-based online survey system. 182 valid responses were collected in two weeks. Data was analyzed with statistic software SPSS. The results revealed that integrating, compromising, avoiding, dominating and obliging are the five styles ranked from highest to lowest preferred by individuals to handle task conflicts with colleagues in bad personal relationships. High value of assertiveness and negative value of cooperativeness indicated that in a situation of relationship conflict, individuals are more assertive and less cooperative to deal with task conflicts with colleagues. Results of the study didn't show significant difference among personal characteristic groups. High correlations among conflict handling styles were discovered from this study. Implications of the research findings for theoretical and practical organizations or individuals are provided. Areas and recommendations for future research are suggested.

Vadovaujantis prof. B. Bitino (2004) mintimis, galima labai aiškiai atskirti moksleivių destruktyvaus elgesio vadybinį (valdymo) lygmenį ir jo praktinio realizavimo (pedagoginį) lygmenį. Visgi vadybinis - administracinis lygmuo negali būti atskirtas nuo tiesioginio pedagoginio proceso jau vien todėl, kad vadybinės priemonės turi remtis konkrečiais auklėjimo uždaviniais, įvertinant tiek teorines šio proceso prielaidas, tiek ir konkrečių taikytinų priemonių efektyvumą. Kitaip tariant, mokinių destruktyvaus elgesio vadyba turi remtis konkrečiais edukologijos, psichologijos ir kitų mokslo sričių, tiriančių asmenybę ir jos raidą, pasiekimais. Tik tuomet ji bus rezultatyvi ir efektyvi. Kita vertus, labai svarbu, kad taikomi vadybiniai modeliai būtų tinkami keliamiems pedagoginiams uždaviniams. Atliktas tyrimas parodė, kad ir mokiniai, ir mokytojai mato nemažai galimybių gerinti auklėjamąjį darbą.. Tačiau mokytojai įvairias vadybines priemones dažniausiai vertina kaip daug efektyvesnes nei mano mokiniai. Ir mokiniai, ir mokytojai vieningai akcentuoja didesnio dėmesio svarbą mokinių tarpusavio santykiams. Tyrimas parodė, kad 6-8 klasių mokiniai nėra pakankamai įsisąmoninę netinkamo (destruktyvaus) elgesio žalą pačiam mokiniui, mokymosi rezultatams ir tarpusavio santykiams su bendraamžiais ir mokytojais. Destruktyvi mokinio elgsena neretai priklauso nuo jo nesugebėjimo realizuoti savąjį „Aš“ pozityviais būdais. Tam turi įtakos ir mokytojo bei kitų specialistų dalykinė kompetencija... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / According to the prof. B. Bitinas it is possible clearly distinguish between the managerial level of schoolchildren destructive behaviour and it’s practical realization (pedagogical) level. However managerial–administrative level can not be separated from direct pedagogical process because the managerial instruments shall go entirely with the concrete educational tasks, assessing the theoretical preconditions for this process and effectiveness of possible to apply concrete tools. In other words, the management of schoolchildren destructive behaviour has appeal to the concrete achievements of science analysing personality and it’s evolution as educology, psychology and etc. Only then it could be effective and useful. But also it is very important that applied managerial models would be appropriate for raised pedagogical tasks. The accomplished research showed that schoolchildren of 6-8 class do not realize clearly the harm of bad (destructive) behaviour for themselves, learning results and relations between contemporaries and teachers. The appearance of schoolchild destructive behaviour usually depends on incapacity to realize his ego in positive ways. The teacher’s and other specialist’s competence, communication with schoolchildren skills also have influence. Both teachers and schoolchildren often assess similarly the appearance of schoolchildren destructive behaviour, it reasons and effective education methods. But also there are some essential differences. Knowing of... [to full text]

This thesis examined the delivery of medical bad news as a situational dilemma. When physicians have to convey distressing information, they must apparently choose between two negative communicative alternatives: To convey the diagnosis directly may distress and harm the patient, but to deny the diagnosis, in order to protect the patient and preserve hope, would risk compromising informed decision-making. Following Bavelas’ (1983) and Bavelas, Black, Chovil, and Mullet’s (1990) theory of situational dilemmas, the author predicted that experienced physicians would solve this dilemma by communicating the bad news indirectly (i.e., using honest but mitigated, softened, or hedged language). The experimental test of this prediction compared the language that physicians used when they communicated a diagnosis of metastasized cancer (the bad news condition) vs. a diagnosis of benign hemangiomas (the good news condition). In a within-subjects design, eight physicians with experience in palliative medicine conveyed these two diagnoses to 16 different volunteers who role-played the patients. The physicians and volunteers each had a schematic scenario with the medical background, but they otherwise improvised their interview, which was videotaped in split screen. Microanalysis of the physicians’ language focused on the sections where the physicians presented the good or the bad news for the first time. This analysis reliably assessed whether the physicians used direct or indirect terms in their naming of the diagnosis and in their evaluation of the news; whether they expressed certainty about the diagnosis; how they referred to the receiver of the diagnosis; and who they identified as the bearer of the news. The results of the microanalysis supported the prediction in this thesis: The physicians used indirect terms at a significantly higher rate when the news was bad than when the news was good. These results suggest that indirect language was the solution that these experienced physicians found for the situational dilemma of delivering bad news. In addition, the volunteer patients’ report after the bad news interview indicated that all of the volunteers understood the diagnosis and that virtually all appreciated the way the physician conveyed the bad news. These results provide evidence to support the effectiveness of indirect language in allowing physicians to convey bad news honestly while still being tactful. The findings of this study have direct implications for training physicians on how to break bad news in a manner that is both accurate and humane.