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Creating noise-pollution and other disturbances, marine traffic poses a great threat to marine mammals all over the world which may demonstrate through short- and long-term changes in behavior and distribution. The Covid-19 lockdown in 2020 provided a setting to study the effects of marine traffic on cetacean presence and interactive behavior. We investigated the effects of fluctuations in both general marine traffic and whale-watching vessels that resulted from lockdown. Observational data in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of southern Tenerife was used, which have been collected during whale-watching tours between 2017-2021. The analysis showed that the decrease in general marine traffic in 2020 was mirrored in a lower number of whale-watching vessels present during cetacean observations. This reduction in boat traffic had a significant effect on how often the animals would approach the boat or stay indifferent to the presence of the boat among the resident species, with a significant increase in boat approaches and a significant decrease in indifference to boats after lockdown. We did not find a difference in presence for either resident or non-resident species as a group after lockdown, however, there was a significant increase of one individual species - the Atlantic spotted dolphin - after lockdown. Even though the resident species are living in a protected area, our results suggest that they are still affected by a high frequency of boats and boat interactions. To enhance the wellbeing of both resident and visiting populations, further management should be implemented, such as spatial or temporal boat-free zones as well as improvements on how whale-watching is performed. / Sjöfarten utgör ett stort hot mot marina däggdjur över hela världen då den skapar buller och andra störningar som kan orsaka både korta och långsiktiga förändringar i djurens beteende och distribution. Covid-19 nedstängningen under 2020 skapade unika förhållanden för att undersöka vilka eventuella effekter valskådning och sjöfart har på valars förekomst och beteende. Vi undersökte effekter av fluktuationerna i sjöfart och valskådning som resulterade av nedstängningen. I vår studie använde vi oss av observationsdata som samlats in under valskådningsturer mellan 2017 och 2021 i Nordatlanten utanför Teneriffas södra kust. Våra analyser visade att minskningen av den allmänna sjöfarten 2020 återspeglades i ett färre antal valskådningsfartyg som var närvarande vid observationer av valar. Den minskade båttrafiken hade en signifikant effekt på hur ofta de residenta delfinerna närmade sig observationsbåten och hur ofta dom var likgiltiga till dess närvaro. Vi fann en signifikant ökning av närmanden till båten och en signifikant minskning av likgiltighet till båten efter nedstängningen. Vi fann ingen skillnad i förekomst av vare sig residenta eller migrerande arter som grupp efter Covid-19 nedstängningen, men däremot en signifikant ökning av en enskild art - tygeldelfiner - efter nedstängningen. Trots att de residenta arterna lever i ett skyddat område tyder våra resultat på att de påverkas av den höga frekvensen av båtar och båtinteraktioner.  Vår slutsats är att ytterligare förvaltning behöver implementeras för att förbättra välbefinnandet för både residenta och migrerande arter. Dessa åtgärder omfattar rumsliga eller tidsmässiga båtfria zoner samt förbättringar i utförandet av valskådningar.

development.3KLIMATSMART MAT OCH HÄLSA I SKOLANEN INTERVJUSTUDIE OM SKOLMAT FRÅN HÅLLBARHETS- SAMT MILJÖMÄSSIGA OCH HÄLSOMÄSSIGA PERSPEKTIV MED EXEMPEL FRÅN MALMÖ STADGALINA PREMOVSKAPremovska, G. Klimatsmart mat och hälsa i skolan. En intervjustudie om skolmat. Examensarbete i folkhälsovetenskap 15 poäng. Malmö Högskola: Hälsa och samhälle, Utbildningsområde folkhälsovetenskap, 2011.SAMMANFATTNINGSyftet med denna empiriska intervjustudie är att undersöka personalens kunskaper om och användandet av Ät S.M.A.R.T.-modellen i Malmö skolrestauranger. Studien syftar till att identifiera vilka hinder och möjligheter finns det med implementeringen av modellen politiskt, ekonomiskt, ekologiskt och kulturellt. Undersökningarna i denna studie baseras på matsedelsförändringar enligt Ät S.M.A.R.T.-modellen, utgiven av Samhällsmedicin vid Stockholms läns landsting 2001. I den modellen finns ett konkret förslag på hur matvanorna i skolorna bör förändras för att på sikt bli mer klimatsmarta med tanke på miljö och hälsa. Studien bygger på intervjuer som gjordes med fyra kökspersonal och två pedagoger vid fyra skolor i Malmö. Med intervjuerna avses att få en bättre förståelse för hur personalen försöker nå den aktuella förändringen av skolmaten. Jag använder en hermeneutisk ansats där jag lyfter fram intressanta synpunkter som uppkommer under intervjuerna. Som teoretiskt perspektiv jag utgått från är det salutogena perspektivet med fokus på KASAM (Känsla för Sammanhang). Resultatet visar att ekologiska livsmedel har ökat med ca 20 procent trots en snäv ekonomi. En förutsättning för att Malmö skolrestauranger ska tjäna på förslaget är att klimatsmart mat ska ersätta så kallade ”tomma kalorier”, glass, chips, godis, läsk, etc. Ät S.M.A.R.T.-modellen innebär dessutom att andelen kött ska minska och andelen vegetabilier ska öka, utan att öka den totala kostnaden. Slutsatsen är att central styrning och tydliga beslut främjar övergång till klimatsmart mat och ekologisk livsmedel. Det finns dock en del hinder, t.ex. försvåras upphandling av närproducerade livsmedel av lagen om offentlig upphandling.Nyckelord: ekologiska livsmedel, hållbar utveckling, hälsa, klimatsmart mat, skolmåltider. / 2CLIMATE FRIENDLY FOOD AND HEALTH IN SCHOOLAN INTERVIEW ON SCHOOL MEALS FROM THE SUSTAINABILITY AND ENVIRONMENTAL AND HEALTH PERSPECTIVES WITH EXEMPLES FROM MALMÖGALINA PREMOVSKAPremovska, G. Climate friendly food and Health in School. An interview on school meals. Degree Project, 15 Credit Points. Public Health Programme, Malmö University: Health and Society, Department of Public Health, 2011.ABSTRACTThe purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the staff’ s knowledge of the Eat S.M.A.R.T.- model in Malmoe school restaurants. My aim is to identify what obstacles and possibilities there are with the implementation of the model politically, economically, ecologically and culturally. The investigations in this study are based on the bill of fare changes under Eat SMART model, published by Community Medicine at Stockholm County Council 2001. This model is a concrete proposal on how eating habits in the school can be changed in order to become more climate-friendly in view of environment and the health. The study was based on interviews which were made with four kitchen staff and two educators at four schools in Malmö, Sweden. The interviews were made to indicate how school staffs work in order to change school meals in accordance with the Eat S.M.A.R.T model. In analysing the material the hermeneutic approach was used to highlight what was relevant for this study. As theoretical perspective I assumed the salutogenic perspective, with focus on the SOC (Sense of Coherence). The results show that organic food has increased by approximately 20 percent despite a tight economy. In order to make a profit, Malmo school restaurants should be able to replace the so called "empty" calories, ice cream, potato chips, candy, soft drinks, etc. The Eat SMART.-model also means to reduce the proportion of meat and increase the proportion of plants, without increasing the total cost. Accordingly, central governing and clear decision making are significant for the transition to climate friendly and sustainable eating and organic food. However, there are some obstacles with regard to the purchasing of locally produced food and the law for the Public Purchasing Act.Keywords: climate friendly food, health, organic food, school meals, sustainable development.

När det europeiska honungsbiet Apis mellifera domesticerades av människan uppskattades särskilda egenskaper och beteenden framför andra för att underlätta hanteringen av kupan. Skillnader mellan vilda och tama bisamhällen växte när aggressiva beteenden valdes bort och kupor som producerade mer honung blev mer eftertraktade. Globaliseringen har ökat möjligheterna att flytta bikupor och drottningar mellan olika världsdelar och hotar den genetiska mångfalden hos flera underarter av Apis mellifera, särskilt det Nordiska honungsbiet Apis mellifera mellifera. Studier kring underarternas beteende och anpassning till sin närmiljö är få, och många frågor kring skillnaderna kvarstår. Denna studies syfte var att undersöka hur tre underarter (A.m carnica, A.m. ligustica, A.m. mellifera) och en hybridsort (Buckfast) av Apis mellifera har anpassat sig till en lokal vid Nordens Ark i sydvästra Sverige och hur deras beteende skiljer sig åt under tidig vår. I studien filmades 16 bikupor med olika underarter 15 dagar i följd. Av 16 kupor filmades fyra varje dag enligt ett roterande schema. Kuporna filmades tre timmar per dag, en timme morgon, eftermiddag och kväll. Startpunkten för inspelningen lottades fram varje dag. Förekomsten av arbetarbin och drönare dokumenterades tillsammans med beteenden kopplade till vaktande av kupan, insamling av resurser, och självputsning. Datan analyserades i statistikprogrammet SPSS. Resultaten visade att underarternas beteenden skiljde sig kring förekomsten av drönare som återvände till kupan. Skillnaden för andra beteenden och förekomst av arbetarbin var inte signifikant men resultaten pekar på att ytterligare och längre studier är värdefulla och kan ge fler svar kring underarternas anpassning till klimatet kring Nordens Ark. / When the European honeybee Apis mellifera was domesticated by man certain traits were appreciated over others to ease handling of the hive. Differences between wild and tame bee communities grew when aggressive behaviours were rejected and hives that produced more honey became more desirable. Globalisation has increased the possibilities to move beehives and queens between different continents and threatens the genetic diversity of several subspecies of Apis mellifera, especially the Nording brown bee Apis mellifera mellifera. Studies of the subspecies’ adaptation to their native environment are few, and many questions regarding their differences remain. The aim of this study was to investigate how three subspecies (A.m carnica, A.m. ligustica, A.m. mellifera) and one hybrid (Buckfast) of Apis mellifera have adapted to a local at Nordens Ark in the southwest of Sweden and their behaviour in early spring. In the study 16 beehives with different subspecies were filmed 15 days in a row. Of the 16 hives four were filmed each day according to a rotating schedule. The hives were filmed for three hours per day, one hour morning, afternoon and evening. The starting point for the recording was randomised each day. Presence of worker bees and drones was documented along with behaviours connected to guarding of the hive, gathering of resources, and selfgrooming. The data was analysed in the statistical program SPSS. The results showed that the subspecies’ behaviours differed regarding the number of drones returning to the hive. The difference for other behaviours and presence of worker bees was not significant but the results hint that further and longer studies are valuable and can provide more answers regarding the subspecies’ adaption to the climate at Nordens Ark.

Background  Biologics are type of proteins that can be produced by expression in a foreign host for medical healthcare applications in humans. Monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) are type of biologics that are designed to specifically bind to one target, with a purpose to inhibit a certain molecule that could be associated with a disease process. Usually, the usage of mammalian cells as expression hosts are generally preferred for biologics production. Among the available choices of mammalian host cells, Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell line is considered to be the initial choice for biologics production due to their compatibility with human proteins and their scalability to grow in large scale.  Aims This project aims to establish a clone selection platform, to identify the best producing clone from a specific cell line and its clones from metabolic point of view (CHO-SDI-X, CHO-SDI-Y, CHO-SDI-Z). These cell lines were established through site-directed integration.  Specifically, the goal of the project is to:  ·   evaluate cell culture kinetics and metabolic profiles for each cell line in batch and fed-batch culture. ·   identify the most adequate feed rate for future clone selection platform based on these cell lines and fed-batch regime. Methods/Materials  Cells were thawed and passaged (seed trains) initially (target initial and end viable cell densities for each seed-train step were 0.5(±0.1) and 4 (±1) MC/mL, respectively), before cultured into batch and fed-batch mode. Secondly, cells were grown in batch mode and each cell line were grown in three biological replicates. Finally, during fed-batch mode, cell specific feed rate strategy was implemented as the feed strategy for the experiment. In addition, 3 different feed rates (0.5, 0.75 and 1.125 pL/cell/day) were tested to identify the adequate one for the cells in addition to measuring the produced metabolites. Samples were taken daily from each culture flask in both batch and fed-batch to measure viable cell density, viability, and metabolites (Gluc, Lac, Gln, Glu, NH4+).  Results The data generated from the batch and fed-batch culture revealed differences in the cell kinetics and metabolic profile between CHO-SDI-Z and the other two cell lines. Also, during batch experiment, different growth phases of each cell line including the exponential growth phase was identified. In addition, after screening different feed rates and testing the cells in fed-batch mode it was identified that 0.75 pL/cell/day was the most adequate feed rate, and 1.125 pL/cell/day drove the cells to die/crash suddenly after 12 days of continuous growing.  Conclusions: As a conclusion, the starting point of fed-batch regime were determined for each tested cell line. Also, the driving factors for the end of the exponential phase and end of stationary phase have been identified. Furthermore, it was concluded that CHO-SDI-X and CHO-SDI-Y had similar cell culture kinetics and metabolic profiles, while CHO-SDI-Z had different demeanour. Finally, the optimal feed rate was identified.

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Peas are small spherical seedpod of the pod fruit Pisum sativum. It is of great nutritional value containing vitamins, carbohydrates, proteins, and several minerals. A variety of diseases affects peas through a number of pathogens including insects, viruses, bacteria and fungi. Fungi and fungi like organism (oomycetes) are eukaryotic organisms known to be detrimental to plants. They are inconspicuous due to their small sizes and cryptic lifestyle in soil and are often difficult to detect. DNA barcoding uses sections of a gene to identify unknown species or parts of an organism. The official DNA barcoding marker for specie level identification of fungi, the nuclear ribosomal internal transcribed spacer ITS, has shown to contain less intraspecific variations than interspecific variation making it suitable for most fungal studies. In this study, DNA extracted from six naturally infected pea fields’ samples were amplified using two different primer pairs. ITS1Catta & ITS4ngsUni targeted fungi phylum; Ascomycetes, Zygomycetes and Basidiomycota while ITS1OO & ITS4ngs targeted phylum Oomycota. MinION sequencing was used to read the amplicons. Further taxonomic identification was done using the Kraken2 bioinformatics tool. Several reference databases were explored like UNITE, which contains fungal ITS, NCBI which covers plants, bacteria and fungi. The primer pair ITS1OO & ITS4ngs recovered 4,195 oomycetes reads while the primer pair ITS1Catta & ITS4ngsUni recovered 1983 ascomycetes and 370 basidiomycetes. MinION provides a fast and efficient alternative to current methods of identifying pea root rot causing fungi and oomycetes.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition in which a dysregulated immune response causes damage to the patient’s organs. The condition moves fast leaving little time for diagnosis and starting treatment. Early diagnosis would help save lives and reduce the amount of antibiotics used. The aim of this study was to compare manual and robotic extractions for miRNA extraction and to quantify miR-seps4, a possible biomarker for sepsis, from human plasma. During the first part of the study manual extractions done by hand and robotic extractions done using QIAcube (Qiagen) of miRNA using the miRNeasy Serum/Plasma Advanced Kit (Qiagen) were compared using the quantity and purity of RNA they produced. Then two-tailed RT-qPCR was optimised for human plasma spiked with synthetic miR-seps4. The final objective was to use these methods to test whether two-tailed RT-qPCR could be used to identify and quantify miR-seps4 from non-spiked human plasma using the absolute quantification method. The QIAcube (Qiagen) extractions gave a higher concentration of RNA while manual RNA extractions had a higher purity A successfully optimised standard curve was made using synthetic miR-seps4 though the melt curve showed contamination and possible non-specific products. Non-spiked RNA extractions showed successful amplification of miR-seps4 that could be quantified through the absolute quantification method. This makes miR-seps4 a good target for further research and a possible addition to a multi-marker panel for early diagnosis of sepsis.

Sepsis is a syndrome developed in response to infection when a body’s immune system cannot adequately respond to infection. To this day, sepsis holds a peak position in mortality rates worldwide. Currently, SOFA score and blood culturing as means to diagnose sepsis are standard. However, blood culturing is lengthy and sepsis can develop at a faster rate. Faster diagnostic of sepsis in form of biomarker identification directly from the blood is one possible solution. One of the possible biomarker candidate is miRNA, a small non-coding RNA that participates in the regulation of many biological mechanisms of the human body. The aim of this work was to improve extraction of small RNA including miRNA from patient blood plasma via manual extraction using miRNeasy Advanced Kit (Qiagen) and robotic extraction using the same kit and QIAcube machine while comparing two methodologies. All samples containing extracted small RNA including miRNA were analysed with a Qubit 4.0 (Thermo Fisher Scientific) and DS-11+spectrophotometer (DeNovix). Furthermore, two-tailed RT-qPCR was investigated for potential to quantify synthetic and naturally occurring miRSeps-5 extracted from blood plasma. PCR System Machine was used to obtain Cq-values and melting curves. In order to use absolute quantification to quantify microRNA standard curve was optimized achieving a 116% efficiency and correlation coefficient R2=0.97. This work shows encouraging results of using two-tailed RT-qPCR to detect miRSeps-5 extracted from human plasma for future biomarker research.