abstract: Malaria is a vector-borne parasitic disease affecting tropical and subtropical regions. Regardless control efforts, malaria incidence is still incredible high with 219 million clinical cases and an estimated 660,000 related deaths (WHO, 2012). In this project, different population genetic approaches were explored to characterize parasite populations. The goal was to create a framework that considered temporal and spatial changes of Plasmodium populations in malaria surveillance. This is critical in a vector borne disease in areas of low transmission where there is not accurate information of when and where a patient was infected. In this study, fragment analysis data and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNPs) from South American samples were used to characterize Plasmodium population structure, patterns of migration and gene flow, and discuss approaches to differentiate reinfection vs. recrudescence cases in clinical trials. A Bayesian approach was also applied to analyze the Plasmodium population history by inferring genealogies using microsatellites data. Specifically, fluctuations in the parasite population and the age of different parasite lineages were evaluated through time in order to relate them with the malaria control plan in force. These studies are important to understand the turnover or persistence of "clones" circulating in a specific area through time and consider them in drug efficacy studies. Moreover, this methodology is useful for assessing changes in malaria transmission and for more efficiently manage resources to deploy control measures in locations that act as parasite "sources" for other regions. Overall, these results stress the importance of monitoring malaria demographic changes when assessing the success of elimination programs in areas of low transmission. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Microbiology 2014

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Routines for the checking process of construction documents differ and a common standard is not used broadly in the construction business. Problems in the checking process can be solved differently between projects. Today the organization BEAst has developed a standard for the checking process. The standard is being used by large construction companies but not yet broadly among consultancies.This investigation has been carried out together with Sweco Sweden who today are working with implementing BEAsts standard in their business. Sweco has their own version which mostly is based on BEAsts standard. The purpose of this investigation is to present a more efficient way of working with the checking process. The investigation examines if its temporally and economically profitable to continue work with the application of the standard within Sweco.The investigation is based on interviews, a poll and a workshop. The result creates a bigger understanding of BEAsts standard and purpose and also how it is used in practice. The results show that preferences differ greatly in how the checking process should be conducted. At the same time, the results also show that awareness of BEAst's standard in Sweco is low. But the standard is well received by those who used it in their work.The standard solves many problems within checking processes such as communication and documentation and shows the way for a more digital construction industry, but there are also problems. One conclusion is that there is a risk with the version creating additional work to develop, implement and manage. Additional work that can possibly be avoided by using BEAsts standard directly. / Rutiner för granskning av bygghandlingar ser olika ut och en gemensam standard används inte brett i byggbranschen. Problem som dokumentation av processer, kvalitetssäkringar och kommunikation hanteras på olika sätt och kan vara annorlunda för varje projekt. Idag har branschorganisationen BEAst en standard för hur processer i granskning ska gå till. Standarden används av stora byggentreprenörer men ännu inte brett på konsultföretag. Denna utredning har genomförts tillsammans med Sweco Sverige som idag arbetar med att tillämpa BEAsts standard i sin verksamhet. Sweco har en egen variant som till stor del är baserad på BEAsts standard. Syftet med denna utredning är att uppmärksamma ett effektivare arbetssätt inom granskning och ge återkoppling på Swecos variant av standarden. Utredningen undersöker om det ur tids- och ekonomiska perspektiv är lönsamt att fortsätta med detta arbete som berör tillämpningen av standarden. Utredningen är baserad på metoderna enkät, intervju och workshop. Enkäten har besvarats av ett urval anställda på Sweco Sverige. De intervjuade är eller har varit verksamma som projektörer eller projekteringsledare i byggbranschen. En intervju har också genomförts med BEAsts ordförande. Workshopen genomfördes tillsammans med handledare som arbetar med att utveckla Swecos variant. Resultatet ger en större förståelse över BEAst standard och syfte och hur den används i praktiken. Resultatet visar att preferenser skiljer sig stort kring hur granskning ska utföras. Samtidigt visar resultatet också att kännedom om BEAsts standard inom Sweco är låg. Men standarden är väl mottagen av de som använt den i sitt arbete. Standarden löser många problem inom granskning som kommunikation och dokumentation och banar vägen för en mer digital byggbransch. Men det framkommer också problem, för vissa är standarden en stor omställning som kan skapa motstånd. Swecos egna variant är under utveckling och skulle vara svår att implementera i verksamheten då företaget är konsultbaserat. En slutsats är att det finns risk att varianten skapar merarbete för att utveckla, implementera och förvalta. Merarbete som eventuellt kan undvikas genom att använda BEAsts standard direkt.

Fairy tales as a form of social acculturation can subvert and/or perpetuate potentially harmful social norms. In this essay, Chris Anne Wolfe’s lesbian romance novel Bitter Thorns (1994) and the film Shrek (2001) are analysed as adaptations of the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, with a focus on the extent to which they challenge and/or reinforce three fairy tale norms: women as tradeable objects, heteronormativity and idealised beauty. Both these texts can be seen as subversive, Bitter Thorns in how it challenges heteronormativity and Shrek in how it challenges the norm of idealised beauty. This subversion, however, is limited, as both texts do more to perpetuate fairy tale norms than to challenge them. They both reinforce the idea of women as objects for trade, Bitter Thorns perpetuates the norm of idealised beauty, and Shrek advocates heteronormative relationships and the dominance of heterosexual masculinity.

The Belle II detector is designed to collect data from the high luminosity electron-positron (e$^+$e$^-$) collisions of the SuperKEKB collider. It will explore the flavour sector of particle physics through precision measurements. The backgrounds of particles induced by the electron and positron beams will be much higher than in any previous \epem collider. It is important that these backgrounds be well understood in order to ensure appropriate measures are taken to protect the Belle II detector and minimize the impact of the backgrounds. In February 2016 electron and positron beams were circulated through the two 3 km vacuum pipe rings without being brought into collision during `Phase I' of SuperKEKB commissioning. Beam backgrounds were measured using Belle II's commissioning detector, BEAST II. BEAST II is composed of several small subdetectors, including helium-3 thermal neutron detectors. The BEAST II thermal neutron detector system and results from its Phase I running are presented in this dissertation. The Phase I experiment studies beam-gas interactions, where beam particles collide with residual gas atoms in the beampipes, and beam-beam interactions, where beam particles interact with each other. Simulations of these two types of backgrounds were performed using the Strategic Accelerator Design (SAD) and GEometry And Tracking (GEANT4) software packages. A method to account for the composition of the gas in the beampipes was developed in order to correctly analyse the beam-gas component of the background. It was also determined that the thermal neutron rates in the data on the positron beam were 2.18$^{+0.44}_{-0.42}$ times higher than the simulation of beam-gas interactions and 2.15$^{+0.34}_{-0.33}$ times higher for beam-beam interactions. The data on the electron beam were 1.32$^{+0.56}_{-0.36}$ times higher for beam-gas interactions and 1.91$^{+0.54}_{-0.48}$ time higher for beam-beam interactions. The impact of these studies on Belle II is discussed. / Graduate / samdejong86@gmail.com

This essay examines Angela Carter’s feminist rewritings of classical fairy tales. By examining the original fairy tales and comparing them to what Angela Carter published I aim to highlight a feminism that is subtle and non-binary. In the analysis I draw on ideas presented by Hélène Cixous as well as Simone de Beauvoir. Furthermore, a pedagogical reflection is included to show ways in which these stories could be incorporated in the upper- secondary school.

This project contributes to the research and development studies towards successful commissioning of the SuperKEKB electron-positron collider. This accelerator and storage rings complex aims at delivering the high-luminosity collisions of beams of electrons and positrons needed for the Belle II experiment. Such beams produce parasitic radiation—called “machine-induced backgrounds”, or simply “beam backgrounds” — that have detrimental effects on the experimental apparatus performance and durability. The Beast II effort is dedicated to measuring the beam backgrounds, and aims at testing the predictive power of the background models that were used in various phases of the Belle II design. A second objective is to ensure that the environment is safe for the detector prior to installing it around the beam lines. A major component of beam backgrounds consists of electromagnetic radiation. This study focusses on measuring this radiation at the location of the Belle II electromagnetic calorimeter. The measurements were achieved by placing scintillator crystals at positions representative of the Belle II calorimeter crystals that are the closest to the beam lines, and comparing the data with predictions for different operating parameters of the accelerator. Different phenomena related to machine backgrounds were observed: vacuum scrubbing, the electron-cloud effect, injection-related noise, beam-gas scattering and Touschek losses. Studies on the positron ring showed average background levels 13.5 +/- 3.5 times larger than simulation, whereas that ratio reached O(100-1000) for the electron ring. In the latter, the large uncertainty on the pressure measurements and the gas constituents limit the predictive power of the measurements. Radiation shields were also designed, fabricated, delivered and installed in the detector to protect the electromagnetic calorimeter from radiation coming from the beam lines. / Graduate

Background. Caryophyllaceae is a large and cosmopolitic flowering plant family, however the systematics of many of its basal groups has been unclear, due to a lack of unambiguous morphology. Some members of Caryophyllaceae are used medicinally, e.g. Corrigiola roots in Morocco. Monitoring the trade in medicinal plants is complicated due to the absence of useful identification characters in plant products such as roots, bark, and powders. This thesis aims at elucidating the systematics and the ethnobotany of some of the basal clades in Caryophyllaceae. Methods. A comprehensive sampling from herbarium as well as market and field collected material was used in systematic studies combining morphological investigation, molecular phylogenetic and molecular dating analyses. Results. The data show that Polycarpon is polyphyletic, that Sphaerocoma is sister to Pollichia and shows some intraspecific variation, that Sanctambrosia falls within the genus Spergularia, and that both Spergula and Spergularia are monophyletic. Preliminary data suggest that Polycarpaea is polyphyletic and should be split into three larger and several smaller genera, that the members of Paronychia subgen. Anaplonychia will need to be transferred to Herniaria to maintain monophyly, and that Caryophyllaceae emerged during the Paleocene. All the major extant lineages originated in the Oligocene and diversified later. Using molecular identification it was possible to identify around 50% of the Moroccan medicinal roots to species level and an additional 30% to genus level. Discussion and conclusions. The polyphyletic Polycarpon needs to be split into at least three separate genera, but no name changes were made pending further research. The two species of Sphaerocoma were merged into one species with two subspecies. The San Ambrosio Island endemic Sanctambrosia, the only tree-like plant in Caryophyllaceae, is probably the result of a long distance dispersal event and its woody habit and gynodioecy are probably caused by inbreeding depression. Sanctambrosia manicata is transferred to Spergularia. Molecular identification put into practice on traded medicinal roots has a somewhat lower success rate than most theoretical studies, indicating that a global barcoding database would need to include reference sequences from a broad range of populations for each species.

Mild psychological effects, such as sleep-deprivation, on an oppressed and tortured human being can be characterized as “normal”. However, Shame by Salman Rushdie uses magical realist style to describe the psychological effects of shame in a patriarchal society which is based on capitalistic class values. This essay will focus on the Marxist feminist reading of the novel with a psychoanalytical perspective which is going to help analyse the effects of the oppressed female characters, Bilquis Hyder, Sufiya Zinobia and Rani Harappa.  The essay focuses on different incidents in the lives of these characters with the help of critics such as Aijaz Ahmad and Timothy Brennan. Both have written critically about Rushdie. This essay will discuss the different aspects of Marxism, feminism as well as psychoanalysis and connecting them to the novel, which would give the answers as to what shame can do to a person’s psyche. The Beauty and the Beast fairy-tale gets a different perception in this story, as Sufiya Zinobia is both the characters in one.

"Forests Full of Beasts" analyzes late-Shakespearean thought as represented in "Timon of Athens" and "King Lear," focusing on expressions of madness. Applying an Aristotelian framework, each chapter examines the two plays through a different lens, applying the "Nicomachean Ethics," "Politics" and "Poetics" in turn. Looking at these plays through the "Ethic"s shows that Timon and Lear miss the mark of happiness through excessive action, and their madness is therefore construed as deliberately maintaining unsustainable behaviour. The Politics foregrounds humanity's social nature, and it is in their rejection of society's provisions and friendship that Timon and Lear are seen to be most mad. Following the Poetics' prioritization of plot, both plays are analyzed in terms of the unified whole, and their madness is seen as seamlessly interwoven with the overall action. The conclusion ties these analyses together, understanding Timon's and Lear's madness as the deliberate choice to pursue excessive, antisocial behaviour.