No description available.

The subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a key structure for motor, limbic and associative function. Parkinson's disease (PD) and Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) have been connected to abnormal firing activity of STN neurons. Subthalamotomy and deep brain stimulation (DBS) of the STN have been shown to be effective treatment methods for previous suggested diagnosis, however, the mechanism behind the treatment and the reason for adverse side-effects remains unsolved. The aim of this study was to establish if it is possible to distinguish specific gene expressions in structures of transgenic mouse brains as well as gaining more knowledge about the medial part of STN, which is hypothesized to be the limbic part of the structure. Here, immunofluorescence and PCR was performed on Cre-driven transgenic mice followed by histological analysis in order to identify the distribution of tachykinin 1 (Tac1) and paired-like homeodomain 2 (Pitx2) in these transgenic mice brains. The results demonstrate that STN and pSTN were positive structures in Pitx2-CreSunGFP and Tac1-CreSunGFP mice. Tac1-CreSunGFP mice further contained GFP positive cells in striatum, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, thalamus, hypothalamus, submedial nucleus of thalamus and the septal area, proposing the gene expression of Tac1 to be present in several limbic structures. Today, we lack knowledge of the internal organization of the STN, and solving the structural-functional organization of the STN would be helpful to distinguish distinct roles of STN neurons and develop effective STN-DBS-targeting treatment without side-effects.

No description available.

Klimatet förändras och detta beror främst på oss människor, vilket gör det till ett av det mest omdebatterade ämnena i dagens samhälle. Klimatet ingår i miljödimensionen som är en av de tre dimensionerna av hållbar utveckling tillsammans med den ekonomiska och sociala dimensionen. Hållbar utveckling tar därmed stor plats i Skolverkets läroplan och kursplaner. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vilka uppfattningar elever har om utbildningen om hållbar utveckling i skolan samt undersöka om det finns könskillnader i engagemanget för klimatfrågor. Enkät användes som undersökningsmetod och 51 elever i årskurs 9 från två olika skolor i södra Sverige svarade. Resultatet visar att eleverna inte tycker det är intresseväckande att läsa om klimatet och hållbar utveckling i skolan, samtidigt som det råder delade meningar om undervisningen i området är bra eller inte. Undersökningens resultat tyder även på att det finns skillnader mellan flickor och pojkar och deras engagemang och intresse för klimatet. Flickor i större utsträckning än pojkar anser att klimatförändringarna är ett hot, tar till åtgärder för att minska sin klimatpåverkan och engagerar sig i klimatet.

No description available.

Why is motivation important? The answer is simple to most of us: it is what makes people push forward and act. Intrinsic motivation is the kind of motivation that arises from within a person, making her or him strive towards a goal for no other reward than the feeling it will bring. Additionally, this kind of motivation has shown correlations with enhanced learning, creativity, performance, optimal development, and well-being. While intrinsic motivation has long been a topic within the field of psychology, the neural correlates underlying it have only recently become of interest for researchers, and studies have shown some interesting but also contradictory findings. Therefore, the aim of this literature review thesis is to investigate the neural correlates of intrinsic motivation further. Firstly, a background review of motivation in general and intrinsic motivation in particular is presented, focusing on concepts such as the self-determination theory, flow, and cognitive evaluation theory. This is followed by a chapter on motivation- and intrinsic motivation from a neuroscientific perspective, concerning concepts such as the reward system, the undermining effect, and studies examining the neural correlates of intrinsic motivation. These studies show that there was activity in several different areas when participants were intrinsically motivated. However, a frequent pattern of activity in dopaminergic pathways involving the striatum and the prefrontal cortex (PFC) was detected in most studies, indicating the involvement of these areas in particular when a person is intrinsically motivated.

Syftet med studien var att beskriva elevers uppfattningar om digitala enheter kopplat till olika hälsoaspekter. För att undersöka detta samlades data in med hjälp av semistrukturerade, kvalitativa intervjuer av 15 stycken elever i årskurs 6. Eleverna var indelade i par samt en grupp bestående av 3 elever.  Resultatet visar att eleverna ser både fördelar och nackdelar med digitala enheter. De menar att deras sömn inte påverkas i negativ mening av de digitala enheterna, utan istället kan hjälpa vissa att somna. Flera elever anser att digitala enheter stör deras koncentration, både i och utanför skolan. De känner sig däremot inte stressade av dem. I elevernas sociala relationer kan digitala enheter gynna relationen med vänner, både när de umgås och för att bygga upp en närmare relation. Detta förutsätter att de digitala enheterna används på rätt sätt och att de inte avskärmar varandra, vilket kan vara negativt för relationen. I relationen med familjen används digitala enheter i mindre utsträckning än med vänner eftersom familjen finner det viktigare att vara utan digitala enheter då de umgås.   Digitala enheter kan påverka möjligheterna till motion, eftersom eleverna ofta sitter eller ligger ned då de använder sina digitala enheter, men det finns också applikationer som främjar rörelse. Eleverna berättar att de blir inspirerade av bilder på mat som de ser i sociala medier.    Resultatet visar även att det varierar huruvida eleverna känner sig beroende av sina digitala enheter (främst mobiltelefonen) eller inte. Eleverna menar att det är enklare att vara utan sina digitala enheter om ingen annan heller använder dem, än om de skulle vara ensamma om att inte kunna använda sina digitala enheter.

Sötvattensmusslor är viktiga i ekosystem där de finns, för människan utgör de även en ekosystemtjänst då de filtrerar vatten. De stora sötvattensmusslorna kallas stormusslor och finns i både sjöar och vattendrag i Sverige. I Vänern har fyra av de inhemska arterna noterats. Fetchen är längden på den öppna vattenytan från en punkt på land till närmsta land eller ö. Beroende på en strands storlek på fetch kan bottensedimentet se annorlunda ut. Musslorna är bottenlevande och spenderar mycket tid nedgrävda i bottensedimenten. När musslorna är uppe och filtrerar på bottenytan sitter de halvt nergrävda med bakänden uppåt. I denna rapport presenteras stormusslornas förekomst och dess relation till stränders fetch. Mer kunskap om stormusslorna behövs för att kunna utveckla ett mer anpassat naturvårdsarbete för dem. Inventering av musslor har skett på 20 olika platser i sydöstra Vänernområdet. Denna studie visar att en trend till ett samband finns mellan förekomst av stormusslor och lokalens fetch. Fetchen påverkar den maximala tätheten som musslorna kan uppnå. Analys ger statistisk signifikans på att tätheten minskar med ökad fetch. Tidigare forskning visar på liknande resultat. Emellertid tycks fler variabler vara beroende faktorer för hur mycket och om fetchen påverkar musslorna. / Freshwater bivalves are important organisms in the ecosystems they live, they also function as an ecosystem service for the human society. Swedish freshwater bivalves are divided into two groups; one with freshwater clams Sphaeriidae, and freshwater mussel with polyphile bivalves that are larger. Freshwater mussel lives in lakes and rivers, in Lake Vänern four species of the Swedish freshwater mussel have been observed. Fetch is the length of the open water from a point on shore to the nearest land or island. The structure of the lake bottom sediment can vary dependent on what value of fetch a shore has. In this report the freshwater mussel’s relation to the shore fetch is presented. More knowledge of the freshwater mussel is needed to develop a more suitable conservation work for them.    Inventory of mussel have been done on 20 different places in the southeast area of Lake Vänern. The results in this study shows a trend towards a relation between presence of freshwater mussel and shore fetch. Analysis on the highest density of mussel when the fetch data is divided in different classes shows a statistic significance for reduced density of mussel with increased fetch. Previous research shows similar results. However, more variables seem to be dependent factors for how and if fetch affect mussel.

Aquaculture has been a way to produce fish as a protein source for thousands of years and over the past decades aquaculture has been the fastest expanding animal-based food sector in the world. This study focused on quantifying the flows of nitrogen and phosphorus in Atlantic Salmon farming and compared traditional open net farming with a more recent technique, land based recirculating aquaculture system (RAS). The aim was to quantify the difference in emissions of nitrogen and phosphorus between the two types of farming and to quantify the amount of nutrients that could be reused from the respective fish farm. Data were obtained from reports, scientific publications and an application for environmental permit (EIA) for the case Smögenlax Aquaculture AB. The same feed input and salmon output were assumed in the two systems and a substance flow analysis was used to quantify the flows of nutrients. The amount of produced salmon and fish feed/year were taken from Smögenlax Aquacultures EIA. The results showed that a RAS-based Salmon farm emits only 6 % of the nitrogen and 5 % of the phosphorus emitted to the recipient waters in comparison to an open net farm. RAS-based salmon farming also enables the reuse of 19 % more nitrogen and 47 % more phosphorus than an open net farm by using sludge and fish offal from the farm to create biogas and biofertilizers. RAS is still evolving to provide possibilities for large scale salmon farms on land to be both cost and environmental efficient and may in the future be the most common way to farm Atlantic Salmon.

Bacterioplankton provide important ecosystem functions by carrying out biogeochemical cycling of organic matter. Playing an important role in the microbial loop they help remineralize carbon and nutrients. Bacteria also interact with phytoplankton during phytoplankton blooms. However, fundamental understanding on the underlying molecular mechanisms involved in the degradation of phytoplankton-derived organic matter is still in its infancy. Therefore, we analysed data from a mesocosm experiment following a natural phytoplankton-bloom from an upwelling system in the North- East Atlantic Ocean. The purpose was to contribute a mechanistic understanding based on functional gene expression analysis of natural microbial assemblages. Our results show the difference in functional gene expression within a bacterial metacommunity and how this functional response drastically switches between bloom build up and senescence. Transcripts showed a broad change in gene expression involving major SEED categories, with the bloom senescence phase exhibiting a higher relative abundance in major categories such as Carbohydrates, Protein Metabolism and Amino Acids and Derivatives. Within these categories genes connected to carbon utilization and transport systems (Ton and Tol) as well as chemotaxis showed a higher abundance during bloom senescence. The change in functionality based on transcripts showed a different bacterial community composition appearing over a very short time. We thus conclude that the bacterial functional gene expression response between build-up and degradation bloom phases is remarkably different and associated with a change in the identity of bacteria with active expression. Our findings highlight the importance of bacterial substrate specialists with different functional roles during different time points of phytoplankton blooms.