The cardiovascular systems in ectothermic reptiles have long been studied and its development represent a transition state between a single- and a double circulation. This literature review focus on the typical-reptilian heart and therefore distinguishes between orders within the class of Reptilia. The typical-reptilian heart is found in the non-crocodilian reptiles referring to the orders Chelonia and Squamata. The heart is composed of two atria and one common ventricle, compartmentalized into three interconnected ventricular cava. However, there is some species-specific variation in gross anatomy where the monitor lizard Varanus and Python pose a striking exception to the typical-reptilian heart. The cardiac building plan exhibits variation in size and relative dimensions, in particular the relationship between cava and the degree of ventricular septation. Varanus and Python have a larger and more muscular systemic side of the ventricle, a highly developed vertical septum and muscular ridge. Today, it is known that a ventricle with a less developed muscular ridge acts as a single pressure source, subsequently allowing admixture of oxygenated- and deoxygenated blood within the ventricle. In contrast, a ventricle with a more developed muscular ridge and vertical septum may function as a dual pressure source during parts of systole, temporarily separating the ventricle in a high-pressure systemic side and a low-pressure pulmonary side. Septal development provides different haemodynamic conditions and yield diverse functions. This literature review is a combination of practical laboratory work and a literature study. Dissections of the typical-reptilian hearts provide information about exterior and interior morphology, and findings are then compared to existing literature.

Denna studie genomfördes längs med Nissans vattensystem i Jönköpings län mellan januari och april år 2023. Fältabetet utfördes i 19 lokaler på Sveaskogs mark som omfattas av Jönköpings Länsstyrelses nya vattenvårdsavtal. Ett av avtalets huvudmål är att utveckla och bevara ekologiskt funktionella kantzoner, det område av vattendragsfåran mellan lägsta och högsta vattenstånd samt övrig mark med direkt påverkan på vattendragets ekologi. Syftet i detta arbete har varit att följa upp ett delmål som syftar till att främja återväxten av lövträd i de skyddade kantzonerna. I denna studie har uppkommande trädplantor mellan 30-100 centimeter noterats i cirkelprovytor i de 19 lokalerna. Statistiska analyser utfördes sedan på den insamlade datan för att bedöma eventuella skillnader mellan de 11 lokaler som åtgärdats enligt avtalet jämfört med 8 som inte åtgärdats ännu. Även virkesvolymen för de olika områdena mättes som ett sätt att bedöma skillnaderna i ljusförhållanden.Resultaten av de statistiska analyserna visar att det kommer upp ett större antal lövträd i de åtgärdade lokalerna än i de oåtgärdade. Tidigare forskning tyder på att detta beror på den ökade ljustillgången.

Every year 107 million broilers and 2,6 million pigs are transported for slaughters in Sweden. During transport, the animals can be exposed to adverse climatic conditions, congestion, fatigue, hunger, aggression and shock which can cause thermal discomfort, breathing difficulty and pain. The transport procedure can also affect the animals psychologically, such as social disorders, when they are socially separated from their herd, mixed with unknown animals, fear, novel environments and different managements. These stressors can lead to injury, death and detrimental welfare. In a comparison between pigs and broilers the extent of injuries and mortality differs during transport to slaughter. Pig mortality during transport must be reported to the county administrative board, but for broiler mortality, it only needs to be reported to the county administrative board when 1 % or more of the transported broilers have died during transport. This thesis is a qualitative literature study based on scientific articles and books. Injunctions and information by employees of the County Administrative Board has been used to quantify injuries and mortality of pigs and broilers during transport. None of Sweden´s 21 county administrative boards had kept any statistics on either injuries or mortality for animals during transport. There seems to be a higher tolerance for injured and dead broilers during transport compared to pigs, even though the individual suffering is the same regardless of size or number of injured animals. / Varje år transporteras omkring 107 miljoner slaktkycklingar och omkring 2,6 miljoner slaktgrisar till slakt i Sverige. Under transporten kan djuren utsättas för ogynnsamma klimatförhållanden, trängsel, utmattning, hunger, aggressioner och chock som kan orsaka termiskt obehag, andningsbesvär och smärta. Transportprocessen kan också orsaka psykologiska besvär såsom sociala störningar när de separeras från sin flock, blandas med okända djur, rädsla, nya miljöer och hantering. Dessa stressfaktorer kan leda till skador, död och nedsatt djurvälfärd. I en jämförelse mellan slaktkycklingar och slaktgrisar skiljer sig omfattningen av skador och mortalitet under transporten till slakt. Mortaliteten under transporten för slaktgrisar ska rapporteras till länsstyrelsen, mortaliteten för slaktkycklingar behöver endast rapporteras till länsstyrelsen när 1 % eller mer av de transporterade slaktkycklingarna har dött under transporten. Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ literturstudie baserad på vetenskapliga artiklar och böcker. Förelägganden och information av anställda på länsstyrelsen har använts till att kvantifiera skador och mortaliteten av slaktkycklingar och slaktgrisar under transport. Ingen av Sveriges 21 länsstyrelser har fört någon statistik på vare sig skador eller mortalitet för djur under transport. Det verkar finnas en högre tolerans för skadade och döda slaktkycklingar under transport än vad som avses för transport av slaktgrisar, även om det individuella lidandet är detsamma oavsett storleken eller antalet skadade djur.

Även om bevarandebiologi finner sina rötter inom ekocentrismen, är bevarande idag oförnekligt centrerat runt människan och hennes behov. En del forskare menar dock att detta synsätt kan komma att underminera syftet med bevarande. I en snabbt förändrande värld med klimatförändringar och förlust av biologisk mångfald har biologers roll aldrig varit viktigare, inte minst blivande biologer. Men vad anser biologer att syftet med bevarande är? Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka om biologers och biologistunders anledningar till bevarande är grundade i mer ekocentriska eller antropocentriska värderingar, samt om det finns några generationella skillnader mellan dessa grupper. Vidare undersöks även om det finns några skillnader i hur biologigemenskapen känner på det personliga planet och hur de anser man bör agera i praktiken. För att svara på dessa frågor framställdes en webbaserad enkät som över 300 arbetande biologer samt biologistudenter på universitetsnivå svarade på. Varje deltagare fick en poäng för ekocentrism utifrån deras svar på enkätfrågorna för att underlätta kvantitativa statistiska analyser. Majoriteten av deltagarna visade över lag på en stark benägenhet mot ekocentriska värderingar när det kommer till syftet med bevarande. Den statistiska analysen visade inte någon signifikant skillnad i poäng för ekocentrism mellan arbetande biologer och biologistudenter eller mellan generationer. Deltagarna uttryckte även en skillnad i deras personliga värderingar, som lutade mer mot ekocentriska värdegrunder, jämtemot hur man bör utföra naturvårdsåtgärder i praktiken, där ett mer antropocentrisk och monetärt perspektiv ansågs användbara och i vissa fall nödvändiga. Bevarandeetik är långt ifrån en simpel dikotomi mellan ekocentrism och antropocentrism, och de kan lätt bli komplext med tanke på alla olika involverade intressenter. Biologers idéer om att en antropocentrisk utgångspunkt är det bästa eller enda sättet att förmedla naturens värde till allmänheten, organisationer eller myndigheter riskerar att vara kontraproduktivt för det långsiktiga syftet med bevarande. Det resurstörstiga vinstbaserade samhället vi är en del av kommer inte att förändras över natt, men vi kan definitivt utbilda och uppmuntra både unga som gamla till naturupplevelser i hopp om att skapa en bättre förståelse om och relation till naturen. Inte minst borde vi uppmuntra biologer att agera utifrån deras ekocentriska värderingar. / Even though conservation finds its roots in ecocentrism, the main reasons for protecting nature today are undeniably centered around humans and their needs. Some scientists argue that this way of regarding nature might undermine the purpose of conservation. In a rapidly changing world with climate change and an ongoing loss of biodiversity the biologist’s role has never been more important, particularly future biologists. But what are biologist’s reasons for preserving nature? This study aims to better understand if professional biologists’ and biology students’ reasons for conservation are based on more ecocentric or anthropocentric values, and if there are any generational differences among these groups. Furthermore, it aims to find out if there are any differences in how biologists personally feel and how they think one should act when implementing conservation measures. To answer these questions an online questionnaire was created and answered by over 300 university-level biology students and professional biologists. Each participant was then given a score for ecocentrism based on their answers to the questionnaire, to facilitate quantitative statistical analyses. Most participants showed a strong overall inclination towards ecocentric values regarding the purpose of conservation. The analysis showed no significant difference in the score for ecocentrism between either students and working biologists nor among generations. The participants also expressed a difference in their personal values, which leaned more towards ecocentric values, versus how one should act, where they saw the usefulness of an anthropocentric and economic way of valuing nature. Conservation values are anything but a simple dichotomy between ecocentrism and anthropocentrism, and they can easily become complex with the many different stakeholders involved. Biologists’ beliefs that an anthropocentric approach might be a good way, sometimes the only way, to make the general public, organizations or governments understand the value of nature might be counterproductive to the purpose of conservation. The resource hungry profit-based society we are a part of will not change overnight, but we can certainly educate and encourage young and old people to experience nature in the hope of creating a better understanding and bond with nature and nevertheless encourage biologists to act upon their ecocentric values.

Verotoxin-producing Escherichia coli (VTEC) of serotype O157:H7 is a pathogen causing illness in humans worldwide. The path and nature of transmission from and among cattle is important knowledge when it comes to preventing cases of disease in humans. Two concepts potentially playing an important role in transmission of VTEC O157:H7 are super-shedding and super-spreading. Super-shedders are individuals (here calves) shedding a high amount of bacteria. Super-spreaders are individuals (here calves) spreading the disease in a higher extent compared to the rest of the population investigated. Little is known about these phenomenons’ effect on transmission as well as the relation between them. Therefore, it is important to investigate this further. The purpose of this master thesis was to get a better understanding of how super-spreaders can be identified. One way to identify super-spreaders and explore the transmission of a pathogen is to investigate molecular data using computational methods. Here, a literature study with a systematic approach was conducted in order to scan the literature for such methods. In this first phase of the master thesis three methods, all constructing transmission trees, were identified as relevant methods for the second phase. These methods are called outbreaker2, phybreak and TransPhylo. In the second phase of the master thesis, 32 whole genome sequences of VTEC O157:H7 collected from four different cattle farms were investigated using the methods outbreaker2 and phybreak. Both methods were able to identify samples infecting more secondary cases compared to the rest of the investigated population. Some of these samples came from the environment, possibly shedding light on the importance of the pathogen's ability to survive outside of the host, and therefore playing an important role in transmission of the disease. The rest of the samples infecting more secondary cases were from calves, and a minority of these were super-shedders. From this the importance of the relation between super-shedders and super-spreaders can neither be confirmed nor denied. Outbreaker2 suggested that the spread of the pathogen is frequently occurring between the four neighbouring farms, while phybreak instead suggested that the spread mostly occurs within the farms. From this, a scenario explaining that the transmission possibly occurs within farms is presented.

The mutualism between the fig tree and the fig wasp pollinator is an important keystone interaction for tropical forests. However, many antagonistic and parasitic species take advantage of the fig/fig wasp mutualism. One such parasite is the gall midge that develops inside fig syconia. Gall midges in fig syconia have sporadically been seen around the world, but until now they have never been observed in Panama. In this study a new Panamanian gall midge in fig syconia is described, together with a supposed parasitoid of the gall midge. The study furthermore investigates the gall midge effect on reproductive success for the fig/fig wasp mutualism. The gall midge is thought to be a new species belonging to the Ficiomyia family. The parasitoid share morphological similarities with the Physothorax family. However, both species need further investigation for proper identification. The gall midge had a significant negative effect on the fig/fig wasp mutualism’s reproductive success. Figs with gall midges inside had less flowers and a lower number of fig wasp offspring. Although, the effect on the reproductive success is small with low gall midge infestation rates.

No description available.

Affibody molecules are small protein scaffolds that have been engineered to bind to a variety of targets with diversetherapeutic and diagnostic applications. In this study, an array of affibody containing therapeutic constructs,targeting HER2 and HER3, and diagnostic anti-HER3 imaging agents have been purified in preparation for subsequentcancer cell assays and imaging studies in tumour-bearing mice respectively. Herein, the workflow for severalpurification techniques is delineated.

No description available.

No description available.