O exílio é um tema recorrente, embora pouco explorado, em Albert Camus. Sua obra é organizada em dois ciclos de criação: o absurdo e a revolta. Apesar de situado pelo autor no ciclo da revolta, propõe-se neste trabalho uma nova leitura de La Peste, obra que permite captar em um único texto a multiplicidade da temática do exílio em Camus, caracterizando-a como livro de transição entre esses dois conceitos, com a lucidez como elemento comum. O homem absurdo se percebe como tal pela consciência que tem de seu universo. Para o homem revoltado, a lucidez permite o combate. Em La Peste, o exílio, sob três aspectos, físico-social, psicológico e metafísico, integra a condição humana metafísica, em contraponto à condição histórica, tornando possível compreender tanto sua perspectiva como a do reino neste autor. / Exile is a recurring subject, though little explored, in Albert Camus. His work is organized in two creation phases: absurdity and rebellion. Even though situated by the author in the rebellion phase, this work proposes a new reading of La Peste, which allows seizing in only one text the thematic multiplicity of exile in Camus, characterizing it as a book of transition between these two concepts, with lucidity as their common feature. The absurd man thus perceives himself by means of the conscience he has of its universe. For the rebellious man, lucidity allows struggle. In La Peste, exile, under three aspects, physical-social, psychological and metaphysical, integrates the metaphysical human condition, in counterpoint to the historical condition, making it possible to understand its perspective, as well as the perspective of the kingdom, in this author.

Coral reef ecosystems are in rapid decline due to global and local anthropogenic factors. Being among the most diverse ecosystems on Earth, a loss will decrease species diversity, and remove food source for people along the coast. The coral together with its symbionts (i.e. Symbiodinium, bacteria, and other microorganisms) is called the ‘coral holobiont’. The coral host offers its associated symbionts suitable habitats and nutrients, while Symbiodinium and coral-associated bacteria provide the host with photosynthates and vital nutrients. Association of corals with certain types of Symbiodinium and bacteria confer coral stress tolerance, and lack or loss of these symbionts coincides with diseased or bleached corals. However, a detailed understanding of the coral holobiont diversity and structure in regard to diseases and health states or across global scales is missing. This dissertation addressed coral-associated symbiont diversity, specifically of Symbiodinium and bacteria, in various coral species from different geographic locations and different health states. The main aims were (1) to expand the scope of existing technologies, (2) to establish a standardized framework to facilitate comparison of symbiont assemblages over coral species and sites, (3) to assess Symbiodinium diversity in the Arabian Seas, and (4) to elucidate whether coral health states have conserved bacterial footprints. In summary, a next generation sequencing pipeline for Symbiodinium diversity typing of the ITS2 marker is developed and applied to describe Symbiodinium diversity in corals around the Arabian Peninsula. The data show that corals in the Arabian Seas are dominated by a single Symbiodinium type, but harbor a rich variety of types in low abundant. Further, association with different Symbiodinium types is structured according to geographic locations. In addition, the application of 16S rRNA gene microarrays to investigate how differences in microbiome structure relate to differences in health and disease demonstrate that coral species share common microbial footprints in phenotypically similar diseases that are conserved between regional seas. Moreover, corals harbor bacteria that are species-specific and distinct from the diseased microbial footprints. The existence of conserved coral disease microbiomes allows for cataloging diseases based on bacterial assemblage over coral species boundaries and will greatly facilitate future comparative analyses.

This thesis expands upon the notion that Thucydides’ plague narrative in his History of the Peloponnesian War punctuates his argument for the unique greatness of the Peloponnesian War. Through the plague, Thucydides displays the collapse of Greek society’s standards and practices. He does this by describing a plague which does not conform to 5th century BCE Greek medical ideas. Balance, human art, and divine intervention all fail in their attempts to restore the health of the individual and society. Thucydides portrays the plague as a narrative aggressor whose intent is to topple Athens and its ideals. Lucretius’ plague narrative, because it narrates the same historical moment but from a different perspective, is then discussed in order to demonstrate how other authors have used Thucydides’ technique.

Yersinia pestis, a gram-negative bacterium, is the causative agent of plague. Y. pestis is a zoonotic pathogen that occasionally infects humans, and is endemic in the western United States. History gives evidence of three main plague pandemics. The first, originating in Egypt in 541AD, is known as the Justinian plague. The second, perhaps most well-known, is thought to have emerged in 1347AD in China, and is called the Black Death. The third, and current plague pandemic, also emerged in China in 1855. In 1899, Y. pestis was established in California, and the plague in other parts of America evolved from this initial introduction. In order to understand evolutionary patterns, we sequenced and analyzed 22 novel Y. pestis genomes from New Mexico. Performing a multiple genome alignment was the first step of our computational pipeline, after which evolutionary patterns were elucidated. Results from this study include predictions of four genes under negative selection pressure. Three of these genes were located on the Y. pestis chromosome, the fourth on the pCD1 virulence plasmid. This study also revealed 42 sites displaying statistically significant skew in the observed residue distribution when comparing sequences based on the year of isolation, and nine significant sites when comparing sequences based on the host species. Phylogenetic tree reconstruction showed a monophyletic pattern for sequences collected in the United States. Taken together, these analyses shed light on the evolutionary history of this pathogen in the southwestern US over a focused time range.

Detta produktionsarbete har undersökt spelet Plague Inc som ett verktyg i matematikklassrummet samt elevers attityd till digitala spel i undervisningen. Undersökningen har gjorts i en klass med 12 elever på gymnasiet, där de med hjälp av instruktioner och konstruerade uppgifter spelade spelet på sina telefoner och löste givna uppgifter under spelets gång. Två fokusgrupper valdes ut, som observerades och videoinspelades. Undersökningen omfattade även en skriftlig enkät om attityder och tankar kring spel i matematikundervisningen. Enkätsvaren visar att majoriteten av eleverna ställer sig positiva till spel i undervisningen och att de blir mer motiverade när undervisningen därigenom varieras. Elevaktiviteterna under spelets gång registrerades för att därigenom försöka synliggöra de förmågor som Skolverket har som mål för i matematikundervisningen. / This thesis studies the game Plague Inc as a tool in the mathematics classroom, including students´ attitudes towards digital games in the teaching of mathematics. The survey was made in a class consisting of 12 students in upper secondary school, where they with help from instructions and constructed tasks, played the game on their phones and solved written assignments. Two focus groups were chosen, observed and video-recorded. A poll was also conducted on the students´ attitudes and thoughts toward games in the mathematics practice. The result from the poll showed that most of the students had a positive attitude towards games in class and that they were more motivated when the teaching was varied. A registration of the students´ activities, when playing the game, was also made to try to detect the abilities that Skolverket lists as goals for the teaching of mathematics.

The earth has always had a shifting climate with some periods having a colder climate then what is considered normal. This essay aims to investigate how the research of cold periods have changed. The purpose with this study is to investigate the most common beliefs researches has for the events of the climate catastrophe 536 and what factors lead to a possible population reduction. I will investigate three different reasons for this: Volcanic eruptions, plague, and climate. Another cold period the “little ice age”, 1300-1850, is used as an example and a theoretic comparison to the catastrophe of year 536 because the “little ice age” is a well-documented cold period of the later historical era. These two periods are interesting because they are booth cold periods. The first cold period lasted for a couple decades while the second cold period lasted for five hundred years. The bad climate situation depends of several different factors especially the fall in summer temperatures because the sun was hidden in a dust veil. The dust veil had been created after the big eruptions. The result of this study is that in general, the research has gone from more simple research to a more complex when knowledge of the complexity of the situation has evolved. The newer research has better access to natural science sources. The most common believes is that the volcanic eruptions or the Justinian plague were the biggest reason for a possible population reduction.

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The causative agents of plague (Y. pestis), glanders (B. mallei) and melioidosis (B. pseudomallei) are included in critical agents of bioterrorisim. They belong to the most intensively studied agents during cold war, specially in the former Soviet Union (FSU). Mostly what is known about these agents, particularly (Y. pestis ) is not available in English language publications. Many of the studies are written in Russian language and published in Russian scientific journals. Thus, the work is designed to evaluate, published and unpublished Russian language written data obtained, in comparisions to the current state of global knowledge on the pathogens in concern.

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