M42 aminopeptidases are dinuclear enzymes widely found in prokaryotes but completely absent from eukaryotes. They have been proposed to hydrolyze peptides downstream the proteasome or other related proteolytic complexes. Their description relies mainly on the pioneering work on four M42 aminopeptidases from Pyrococcus horikoshii. Their quaternary structure consists of twelve subunits adopting a tetrahedral-shaped structure. Such a spatial organization allows the compartmentalization of the active sites which are only accessible to unfolded peptides. The dodecamer assembly results from the self-association of dimers under the control of the metal ion cofactors. Both oligomers have been shown to co-exist in vivo and heterododecamers with broadened substrate specificity may even occur. Yet, the molecular determinants behind the dodecamer assembly remain unknown due the lack of a high-resolution structure of a stable dimer. In addition, the bacterial M42 aminopeptidases are still ill-described due to the paucity of structural studies. This work focuses mainly on the characterization of TmPep1050, an M42 aminopeptidase from Thermotoga maritima. As expected, TmPep1050 adopts the genuine tetrahedral-shaped structure with twelve subunits. It also displays a leucyl-aminopeptidase activity requiring Co2+ as a cofactor. In addition to its catalytic function, Co2+ has a role in the enzyme thermostability and oligomerization. The absence of Co2+ provokes the disassembly of active TmPep1050 dodecamers into inactive dimers. The process, however, is reversible since Co2+ triggers the self-association of dimers into dodecamers, as shown by native MS. The main achievement of this work is the determination of the first high-resolution structure of a dimer, allowing to better understand the dimer-dodecamer transition. Several structural motifs involved in oligomerization are displaced or highly flexible in the TmPep1050 dimer structure. Furthermore, a loop bringing two catalytic relevant residues is displaced outside the catalytic site. These residues are the catalytic base and a ligand involved in the Co2+ binding at the M1 site. The metal ion binding sites have been further investigated to define how they influence the oligomerization of TmPep1050. A mutational study shows that the M1 site strictly controls the dodecamer formation while the M2 site contributes only partly to it. A strictly conserved aspartate residue of the M2 site second shell also plays an important structural role in maintaining the active site integrity. Indeed, its substitution prevents the formation of dodecamer probably due to the lack of stabilization of the active site loop. The characterization of TmPep1050 supports that bacterial M42 aminopeptidases probably share the quaternary structures and dodecamer assembly with their archaeal counterparts. The dimer structure highlights several structural modifications occurring in the dimer-dodecamer transition. Yet, based on current knowledge, no general rules can be drawn for the role of the M1 and M2 sites in oligomerization. Besides, the physiological function of the M42 aminopeptidases is under-examined albeit the proposed link to the proteasome. In this work, this has been investigated using the Escherichia coli M42 aminopeptidases as a model. Yet, no phenotype has been associated to the deletion of their coding genes. Preliminary results have shown that the three enzymes (i) display a redundant substrate specificity, (ii) could be localized partly to the membrane, and (iii) form heterocomplexes. Further experiments are still required to crack the function of these M42 aminopeptidases. / Option Biologie moléculaire du Doctorat en Sciences / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

The aim of this study was to see what the fundamental efforts were to bring about a democratic electoral system in Somalia? What are the significant obstacles in relation to the planned electoral system and what can the clan, the constitution and external actors mean in this context? What efforts can be made to introduce a democratic electoral system?  This study was conducted by using five semi-structured interviews and material collected on Somalia’s history, current state, and clan society. This paper concludes that there are different factors such as the International Community, the federal member states, Clan representatives, and major donors, which have had an effect on the democratization process in Somalia. Furthermore, it shows that the main problem is the application of the Constitution that is being hindered by the political elite and the federal member states. This research suggests several measures that must be enforced to carry out a democratic election, 1. A will from the political elite to speed up the process around the new electoral system, 2. The Constitution process must continue and be implemented, 3. Stable institutions, laws and regulation must be implemented, 4. The country’s security must be strengthened.  This study discovers that Somalia is in the decision phase in accordance with Rustow’s transition theory, where the country is slowly but surely applying democratic principles and rules into the Constitution.

The thesis deals with the topic of the development of presidential political clans in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It covers the entire rule of the first two presidents (Nursultan Nazarbayev and Islam Karimov) from their ascension to their posts shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union and declarations of independence of both states, and also the current rule of their respective successors (Kassym-Jomart Tokayev and Shavkat Mirziyoyev). It predominantly focuses on the power and social status of their closest relatives in these clan- based structures. Special attention was paid to their potential roles in state affairs after the resignation (or death) of their patrons.

To build successful new ventures or operate corporate companies, it is essential to consider the right company culture and employee benefits that fit the expectation of the employees and relevant to the operating industries and markets. On the other hand, efficient employee branding could significantly enhance talent acquisition and improve the firm performance. In general, company culture and employee benefits play important roles in shaping the employee branding. However, the main question is whether certain types of company culture and employee benefits could contribute to a better employee branding. This research study aimed to investigate the relationship of different types of company culture/employee benefits and employee branding. To this end, I first did literature review to understand the core ideas about company culture, employee benefits and employee branding. Then, I collected, decoded and analyzed the information about the written information of company culture and employee benefits available on the company official website as well as the numerical ratings of the company on the recruitment website. Next, I ran Welch’s t-tests and Pearson’s correlation tests by using a relatively smaller size of 40 companies to investigate their relationship and formulate empirical discussion. Based on the statistically significant results from Welch's t-tests and Pearson’s correlation tests, it is appropriate to suggest that companies with Clan/Adhocracy culture and concrete benefits have better employee branding.

Titel: Styrning inom svenska ekonomi- och handelshögskolor. -Marknadsstyrning, byråkratisk styrning eller klanstyrning? Bakgrund: I den forskning som finns kring styrning inom högre lärosäten förespråkas klan- och kulturstyrning som den styrform som bör användas eftersom högre lärosäten karaktäriseras av hög kunskap och samarbete. Samtidigt visar empirisk forskning att styrning inom högre lärosäten allt mer karaktäriseras av outputmätningar vilket leder till kontroverser. Flera av de studier som finns på ämnet är dessutom baserade utifrån ett medarbetarperspektiv vilket skapar ett gap i teorin kring hur frågan bemöts utifrån ett ledarskapsperspektiv. Syfte: Studiens syfte är att, utifrån ett ledarskapsperspektiv, kartlägga den styrning som sker inom svenska ekonomi- och handelshögskolor. Utöver detta ska studien även förklara huruvida olika situationsfaktorer påverkar styrningen samt hur dessa påverkar. Metod: Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i en kvalitativ studie där flera intervjuer har gjorts för att ge studien en omfattande och nyanserad bild av styrningen på svenska ekonomi- och handelshögskolor. Slutsats: Studiens resultat har visat att det förekommer en blandning av marknadsstyrning, byråkratisk styrning samt klanstyrning inom svenska ekonomi- och handelshögskolor. Studien har även visat att styrningen skiljer sig åt när det kommer till utbildning respektive forskning. Inom forskningen är marknadsstyrningen dominerande medan utbildningen har en större variation av styrformer. Det har också visat sig att flera av studiens situationsfaktorer har inverkan på den styrning som sker. / Title: Governance within Swedish economics and business schools. - Market mechanisms, Bureaucratic mechanisms or Clan mechanisms? Background: In current research on organizational control in higher education institutions, clan- and culture mechanisms is advocated as the form of organizational control that should be used due to the fact that higher education institutions are characterized by high knowledge and cooperation. At the same time, empirical research shows that organizational control within higher education institutions is increasingly characterized by output measurements. Several of the studies that concern the subject are also based on an employee perspective, which creates a gap in the theory of how the issue is addressed from a leadership perspective. Purpose: The aim of the study is to, based on a leadership perspective, chart the organizational control that takes place in Swedish economics and business schools. In addition, the study should also explain whether different situational factors affect the control and how these affect. Method: The study takes its starting point in a qualitative study in which several interviews have been made to give the study an extensive and nuanced picture of the organizational control at Swedish economics and business schools. Conclusion: The results of the study have shown that there is a mixture of market mechanisms, bureaucratic mechanisms and clan mechanisms within Swedish economics and business schools. The study has also shown that the organizational control differs when it comes to education and research. In research, market mechanisms is dominant, while education has a greater variety of forms of mechanisms. It has also been found that several of the study's situation factors have an influence on the organizational control that is taking place.

<p>This work applies intersectionality to five Somali women self-narratives and focuses on their identities and positions in Swedish society, but also their relation to Somali society. Since people constructs in relation to the environment, this work studies the impact of environmental confirmations of their own self. Intersectionality is brought into the social work with an operational attempt, and shows how critics of power and interplay between theories and empirics can provide new knowledge. Intersectionality also demands some alterations of the social constructionists’ idea of the ego. Therefore this work outline a model of analysis that considers the critic of power. According to this work, intersectionality implies that social work is essentially about power. The women’s egos seem to be closely united different strongly. The more different identifications the women describes and the more ambivalent they are allowed to be in different milieus, the greater assets has the women in their ability to move between milieus and to pass between positions of power. But the tighter united some of their identifications are in their egos; the firmer is their assumptions of what constitute a good behaviour. And the stronger united the ego is, the space to pass through positions of power in different arenas is shrinking.</p><p>This work emphasizes the importance of making shifts of power in identification categories visible in order to localize resistance strategies among exposed individuals. This work also suggest that social work should consider the supplementary vulnerable situation that signify the position in intersection between power orders and contradictory norms, since that could lead to too simplified conclusions that create additional isolation. Being sensitive to the experience and resolution of these women’s own experiences and resolutions is therefore crucial in achieving good social work. Accordingly, lack of knowledge is an obstacle to resist discrimination and oppression. Another conclusion is that social work and social politics should aim to strengthen the ego of immigrant women in order to release their driving forces that in turn may lead to participation, not only to the Swedish society. These Somali women appear as peace endeavours, whose political voices has been marginalised both in the Somali and the Swedish context, which obstacle peace making in the Somali society.</p>

This work applies intersectionality to five Somali women self-narratives and focuses on their identities and positions in Swedish society, but also their relation to Somali society. Since people constructs in relation to the environment, this work studies the impact of environmental confirmations of their own self. Intersectionality is brought into the social work with an operational attempt, and shows how critics of power and interplay between theories and empirics can provide new knowledge. Intersectionality also demands some alterations of the social constructionists’ idea of the ego. Therefore this work outline a model of analysis that considers the critic of power. According to this work, intersectionality implies that social work is essentially about power. The women’s egos seem to be closely united different strongly. The more different identifications the women describes and the more ambivalent they are allowed to be in different milieus, the greater assets has the women in their ability to move between milieus and to pass between positions of power. But the tighter united some of their identifications are in their egos; the firmer is their assumptions of what constitute a good behaviour. And the stronger united the ego is, the space to pass through positions of power in different arenas is shrinking. This work emphasizes the importance of making shifts of power in identification categories visible in order to localize resistance strategies among exposed individuals. This work also suggest that social work should consider the supplementary vulnerable situation that signify the position in intersection between power orders and contradictory norms, since that could lead to too simplified conclusions that create additional isolation. Being sensitive to the experience and resolution of these women’s own experiences and resolutions is therefore crucial in achieving good social work. Accordingly, lack of knowledge is an obstacle to resist discrimination and oppression. Another conclusion is that social work and social politics should aim to strengthen the ego of immigrant women in order to release their driving forces that in turn may lead to participation, not only to the Swedish society. These Somali women appear as peace endeavours, whose political voices has been marginalised both in the Somali and the Swedish context, which obstacle peace making in the Somali society.

No description available.

Background. The research on management in Swedish home care has been conductedmainly from sociological perspectives where structural conditions have been of interest (see for example Hagerman et al., 2013; Andersson, 2014; Österlind, 2013). The conditions impacting on management are described as differing ideals where the main ideals are the care perspective and the cost perspective (see for example Andersson, 2014; Österlind, 2013). The conflict between ideals create tensions between ideology and practice and different expectations (Antonsson, 2013) and may also create problems, dilemmas and paradoxes (Österlind, 2013). The rules impacting on the home care activities are bureaucratic rules stemming from the state and municipality. However, Trydegård (2000) argues that at the same time there is room for autonomy and path-dependence in the home care units. Purpose and research approach. There seems to be a lack of studies on management control in home care, and more especially no study combining a discourse, structures and theories on management control. The purpose of this thesis is to explore management control in home care in the relation between structures and managers’ interpretative repertoires in a social-constructionist perspective. The purpose is also to create a prototype model for further research. The ontological positioning and theoretical framework are building on Giddens’ structuration theory (1979, 1984) in which structures are seen as both the medium and outcome of social interaction and rules are important. The units of analysis are the managers’ accounts on management control in semi-structured interviews. The accounts are analysed in a so called case cluster analysis (McClintock et al., 1979) in the software program NVivo. The codes are building on Ouchi’s theory of management control (1979) as ‘input control’, ‘behaviour control’, ‘output control’ and ‘clan control’, and also building on Giddens’ structuration theory (1978, 1984) defined as 8 characteristics of rules, ‘normative sanctions’, ‘signification of meaning’, ‘authoritative’ or ‘allocative resources’. Findings. The findings reveal that home care is highly bureaucratic in input and output control by the use of formal rules stemming from municipality or state. In behaviour control home care has a medium-low degree of bureaucracy if exercised through ‘signification of meaning’ and medium-high when exercised through ‘authoritative resources’. In clan control home care has a low degree of bureaucracy and can either be positive or negative depending on how informal leaders in the unit impact on cooperation between care personnel and if there is trust and a good communication between manager and care personnel. Two main patterns of structuration appear: creation of structures for an efficient process flow of home care to increase efficiency, and co-creation of new rules for behaviour to increase cooperation. Managers focus on different situations of management control depending on conditions in the home care unit and own interpretations. Two interpretative repertoires are identified; the discourse on hard matters is created in relation to matters that are more rigid in structure, such as legislation and municipal goals and that are difficult to interpret differently, whereas soft matters are created in discourse around dilemmas and human or relational aspects of control.

Within-population behavioural variation can greatly affect the ecology of a species and the outcome of evolutionary processes. This study aimed to determine how variable sperm whale social and vocal behaviour is between both individuals and their social units. The population of whales off Dominica is small and isolated from communities in neighbouring waters. Female and immature whales live together in social units containing about 7 animals. I analysed their social relationships and their ‘coda’ communication signals using an unparalleled dataset of social and vocal interactions at the level of the individual. Within units, calves were significant nodes in their social unit’s network, and thus I provide quantitative support for the hypothesis that communal calf care acts as the primary evolutionary driver for group formation in this species. Social relationships within and between units were diverse, while the spatial spread of individuals within units and their travel speeds were similar among all of the units. I identified long-term patterns of association between units consistent over decadal time scales. Social units had characteristic vocal repertoires, but all were dominated by the ‘1+1+3’ and ‘5R’ coda types. Differences between units resulted from some units using specific 4-click coda types. Units and individuals used different accents on their ‘5R’ codas, but the ‘1+1+3’ coda was stereotyped across all individuals and units studied. The repertoires of different units were as similar as units within vocal clans in the Pacific. My results support the hypothesis that the ‘5R’ coda may function in individual identification. The stability of the ‘1+1+3’ coda may be the result of selection for a marker of clan membership. Individual repertoires differed consistently across years; and contrary to an existing hypothesis, new mothers did not vary their repertoire to be more distinct after giving birth. However, calves did use a class-specific ‘3+1’ coda. In summary, sperm whale social and vocal behaviour vary between individuals and among units. Variation in the social and vocal behaviour of female sperm whales results from a trade-off between individuality and conformity within units and clans.