Invasive alien species are recognized as a major problem worldwide. They affect native flora and fauna negatively, resulting in loss of biodiversity and increased economic costs of the species’ themselves and management efforts. One of the most widely distributed invasive plant species – the Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) – is inflicting damage to native plants in Sweden by overshadowing due to its tall stature and capacity to increase population numbers quickly over long distances. The purpose of this study was to examine the distribution of Himalayan balsam in urban versus rural areas in south, central, and northern Sweden. Five land cover classes were also compared to investigate potential differences in where Himalayan balsam is frequently observed. Species observations from Species Observation System (Artportalen by SLU Swedish Species Information Centre) were combined with land cover data from the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency to assess the distribution of Himalayan balsam over different cover classes. The results showed no significant differences for urban versus rural areas nor latitude, but some of the land cover classes were significantly different from one another. Himalayan balsam observations in forests on wetlands are significantly more reported compared to all other classes, and exploited lands and open lands had more reported observations than forests outside wetlands. Observations by the public are often characterised by opportunistic reporting behaviour, ultimately leading to bias in which species are reported. In conclusion, this study tested means to assess the distribution of Himalayan balsam among land cover classes and its results are consistent with other studies showing Himalayan balsam favours in moist habitats over other land cover classes. / Invasiva främmande arter ses som ett stort hot runt om i världen. Inhemsk flora och fauna blir kontinuerligt negativt påverkad av invasiva arter vilket resulterar i förlust av biodiversitet och ökade ekonomiska kostnader. En av de mest utspridda invasiva växtarterna – jättebalsamin (Impatiens glandulifera) – skadar inhemska växtarter i Sverige genom att överskugga dem samt skapa stora bestånd genom sin kapacitet att spridas långa distanser. Denna studies syfte var att undersöka jättebalsaminens utbredning i stads- och lantliga miljöer, samt geografiska områden i södra, centrala och nordliga delar av Sverige. Fem marktäckeskategorier undersöktes också för att se potentiella skillnader på habitat där jättebalsamin har rapporterats befinnas sig. Data från Artportalen (SLU Artdatabanken) användes i kombination med marktäckesdata från Naturvårdsverket. Studiens resultat fann inga signifikanta skillnader mellan stadsmiljöer och lantliga miljöer. Inga signifikanta skillnader kunde hittas för geografiska områden i södra, centrala och nordliga Sverige. Studien fann däremot signifikanta skillnader i rapporterade observationer bland marktäckesklasserna där skogar på våtmarker hade fler observationer per km2 jämfört med skogar utanför våtmarker, exploaterade marker och öppna marker. Observationer från allmänheten är ofta präglad av opportunistiska beteenden gällande rapporteringar, vilket kan leda till partiska data där vissa arter rapporteras medan andra ignoreras. Sammanfattningsvis testade denna studie utbredningen av jättebalsamin på marktäckesklasser och var förenlig med tidigare studier som visar att jättebalsamin är vanligare förekommande i fuktiga habitat jämfört med andra marktäckesklasser.

Syftet med detta examensarbete är att undersöka yrkesverksamma lärares upplevelser av möjligheter och utmaningar i sin miljö- och hållbarhetsundervisning. Detta då vi genom egna erfarenheter genom reaktioner från vänner och bekanta eller i samtal med lärare under vår vfu uppfattat No-ämnen, där även miljö- och hållbarhetsundervisningen ingår, som för komplext och abstrakt för att kunna läras ut i åldrarna F-3. I vårt arbete har vi studerat lärare i årkurs F-3 för att undersöka vilka utmaningar och möjligheter som upplevdes i miljö- och hållbarhetsundervisning. Vi har även analyserat traditioner i miljöundervisningen för att diskutera hur komplexiteten i hållbarhetsfrågor kommer fram. För att kunna genomföra vår undersökning använde vi oss av semistrukturerade intervjuer som efter transkribering användes i en innehållsanalys. I resultatet fann vi att lärarnas förmåga att använda närmiljön fungerade som en möjlighet att praktiskt förankra undervisningen samt lägga den på en passande nivå för eleverna. Under utmaningar var det bristen på tid som tydligast framkom.Normerande miljöundervisning med inslag av en faktabaserad tradition, är det perspektiv som dominerar i lärarnas berättelser. Den mer komplexa pluralistiska traditionen var däremot inte så tydlig. / The purpose of this study is to investigate the teachers' perceptions of opportunities and challenges in the environmental and sustainability education. This because through our own experiences and reactions from friends, acquaintances but also conversations with teachers during our internship, we have perceived the subject of science to be conceived as too complex and abstract to be taught in primary school. In our study, we have interviewed teachers in grades K-3 to examine the challenges and opportunities experienced in environmental and sustainability education. We have also analyzed the traditions of environmental education to discuss how the complexity of sustainability issues is portrayed. To carry out our study we used semi-structured interviews and after transcribing them they were used in a content analysis. In the result, we found that teachers' ability to use the local environment served as an opportunity to anchor the practical teaching and put it on a suitable level for the students. The lack of time was the most prominent challenge reported by the teachers. Normative environmental education with elements of a factual tradition, is the perspective that dominates the teachers' stories. The more complex pluralistic tradition, however, was not so clear.

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Denna studie genomfördes längs med Nissans vattensystem i Jönköpings län mellan januari och april år 2023. Fältabetet utfördes i 19 lokaler på Sveaskogs mark som omfattas av Jönköpings Länsstyrelses nya vattenvårdsavtal. Ett av avtalets huvudmål är att utveckla och bevara ekologiskt funktionella kantzoner, det område av vattendragsfåran mellan lägsta och högsta vattenstånd samt övrig mark med direkt påverkan på vattendragets ekologi. Syftet i detta arbete har varit att följa upp ett delmål som syftar till att främja återväxten av lövträd i de skyddade kantzonerna. I denna studie har uppkommande trädplantor mellan 30-100 centimeter noterats i cirkelprovytor i de 19 lokalerna. Statistiska analyser utfördes sedan på den insamlade datan för att bedöma eventuella skillnader mellan de 11 lokaler som åtgärdats enligt avtalet jämfört med 8 som inte åtgärdats ännu. Även virkesvolymen för de olika områdena mättes som ett sätt att bedöma skillnaderna i ljusförhållanden.Resultaten av de statistiska analyserna visar att det kommer upp ett större antal lövträd i de åtgärdade lokalerna än i de oåtgärdade. Tidigare forskning tyder på att detta beror på den ökade ljustillgången.

Land use changes globally have significant impacts on flora and fauna. In South Africa, extensive land is used for grazing by both domestic livestock and farmed native grazers. However, the effects of different grazing types on vegetation and fauna remain poorly understood. The Northern Cape, the country's largest province with a substantial agricultural sector, lacks comprehensive insect research. This study aimed to investigate moth diversity in an unstudied area, assessing species composition, dung beetle abundance, vegetational patterns, and the influence of abiotic factors and trap types on catches of moth in areas with varying grazing practices. Habitat types and habitat preferences were also examined. The research was conducted in the mid-north region of the Kalahari, Northern Cape province, between February and April 2023. Moths were captured using three different light sources, three times a week, and a subset of moths were counted and registered. The findings revealed the presence of at least 142 macromoth morphospecies, with higher abundance and species richness in areas grazed by domestic animals compared to native grazers. Dung beetle abundance was also greater in these areas. Notably, different habitats exhibited variations in moth occurrence, with specific morphospecies showing preferences for particular habitats. Plant species richness was higher in areas grazed by native grazers, while vegetational cover was greater in areas grazed by domestic animals. The study could show influence of moonlight, temperature, and windspeed on moth catches, and trap types affected the number of morphospecies captured. Surprisingly, the results contradict previous studies that suggested higher diversity in areas grazed by native grazers. Possible explanations include differences between the two areas in how beneficial the surrounding areas are, differences in abiotic factors, environmental productivity, habitat heterogeneity and plant species composition. Further studies of differences between areas with different grazing types in similar regions are needed to validate the findings of this study.

Hormones are integral molecules in the human body, controlling most body systems and maintaining homeostasis in the body. They function as signal molecules for communication between cells, and are often secreted by one tissue with another as target. Protein hormones make up the majority of the hormones in the body, are mostly transported in the bloodstream, and bind to receptors on the cell surface since they can not diffuse through cell membranes. Hormones and their associated proteins are linked to many diseases, and could therefore have a lot of potential as biomarkers. With the use of the company Olink’s Proximity Extension Assay (PEA) technology the concentrations of human proteins in blood can be measured. These proteins can be combined into different sets, called panels, to measure biomarkers related to specific diseases or conditions. This project aimed to identify the protein hormones of the human body, and investigate their associated proteins and the pathways and potential diseases they were related to. Suggestions of new panels based on disease areas that were found to be particularly related to protein hormones were also to be put forward. Databases such as UniProt, Reactome, String, Signor, Olink Insight, and the Human Protein Atlas were used to investigate protein hormones and their associated proteins. The result of the research was compiled into three different panels: the overall Protein Hormone panel, the Wellness panel, and the Diabetes panel. These panels were based on the disease areas commonly found associated with protein hormones, and that were deemed to be of interest to Olink and to the research community. The research also resulted in a table detailing all found protein hormones with additional info on pathways and diseases, normal concentrations of the proteins in blood or plasma, and the associations between the hormones and other proteins. The financial viability and marketability of the suggested panels were also investigated in a business case. It was determined that the development of the new panels had potential to be of significant importance to research efforts, healthcare providers, and individual patients. While there are some risks associated with developing and marketing new products, it was concluded that the economical potential of the panels make them an opportunity worth considering for Olink.

Long-term warming experiments in arctic tundra have resulted in reduced moss cover and increased vascular plant cover. As mosses have a major impact on microclimatic conditions, changes in community composition can potentially alter direct and indirect drivers of productivity and decomposition, which are low in arctic ecosystems. This can potentially change the carbon balance. Therefore, it is of importance to investigate how the effects of warming on ecosystem processes depend on the identity of the moss species dominating the vegetation. Furthermore, because subarctic climate is expected to get warmer and wetter, it is essential to examine how warming effects depend on variation in precipitation as well. Thus, Gross Primary Production (GPP) and Ecosystem Respiration (Reco) fluxes, moss growth, and decomposition rate, were measured in plot pairs along a natural precipitation gradient in subarctic tundra Sweden. Each pair was dominated by one of three common moss species (Hylocomium splendens, Pleurozium schreberi and Sphagnum spp.), and were subjected to moss removal and Open Top Chamber (OTC) warming treatment combinations. Moss growth measurements were taken as a measure of productivity and Tea Bag Index was used as a measure of decomposition rate. Warming effects on GPP depended on both species and precipitation; Hylocomium and Sphagnum had highest productivity in warmed high-precipitation plots, whereas the effect was negative in all cases for Pleurozium. No significant interactions were found for the other response variables, but there was a positive effect of warming on Reco across all treatments, as well as a negative effect on decomposition. Warming induced increases in GPP and respiration, and decrease in decomposition rate, could imply that the increase in CO2 emissions from arctic ecosystems will be smaller than predicted, as the sequestration of CO2 in that case would exceed what is being emitted. Still, it is a complex matter and therefore crucial to further investigate the role of moss species in relation to warming effects on ecosystem processes.

Cyprodinil and pyraclostrobin are widely used pesticides to protect many plants from attack of microorganisms and fungal diseases. Although cyprodinil and pyraclostrobin exist in the aquatic environment at low concentration, their leftovers in the ecosystems lead to oxidative damage and interfere development in aquatic animals at environmental-relevant concentration. To figure out the combined effect of cyprodinil and pyraclostrobin, mortality and morphology were investigated in zebrafish embryos exposed to 0.1 and 1μM of cyprodinil, pyraclostobin, and their mixture. Also, gene expression profiles were investigated following exposure to both the compounds and their mixture. Mortality and morphology data showed that the mixture is extremely toxic to zebrafish embryos as it increased mortality in concentration-dependent manner and interfered development of zebrafish embryos at 72 hpf. For gene expression analysis, 0.01μM of cyprodinil, pyraclostobin, and their mixture were used. A total of 47 genes were analyzed. Genes involved in apoptosis, cell cycle arrest, DNA damage repair, drug metabolism, stress response, immune response, and lipid metabolism and transport were analyzed. Upregulation of bax for pyraclostrobin suggests that this chemical could induce mitochondrial apoptotic pathway in zebrafish embryos at 144 hpf. Upregulation of cyp1a for cyprodinil indicates that it could produce ROS and cause oxidative damage in zebrafish embryos. Altered expression of several genes for mix suggests that the mixture of cyprodinil and pyraclostrobin have inhibitory effect on gene expression. Overall, the present study suggests that the mixture of cyprodinil and pyraclostrobin could delay of zebrafish embryonic development, increase mortality of zebrafish embryos, and regulate the expression of several genes.

Today, a lot of proteomic research is aimed at discovering disease specific proteins. This requires theavailability of high-throughput, ultra-sensitive protein detection methods. Compartmentalized immunosequencing(cI-Seq) is a proximity-independent immuno-polymerase chain reaction (IPCR) based proteindetection method. Antigen recognition in cI-Seq is mediated by antibody pairs in which one of theantibodies is conjugated to a DNA-probe. The affinity recognition events occur in emulsion droplets inwhich the DNA-probes will be amplified through emulsion PCR (emPCR) and thereafter analyzed usingMassively Parallel Sequencing (MPS). The amplifiable nature of the DNA-probes improves the sensitivityof the detection, while the use of emulsion droplets and MPS increases the multiplex capacity andthroughput. Ultimately, cI-Seq enables analysis and detection even of lowly abundant proteins therebyincreasing the probability of discovering novel disease specific proteins. In this project, conjugation of DNA probes to antibodies was performed through two different approaches;Covalent Conjugation and Conjugation using Biotin and NeutrAvidin. Both of these approaches showedadvantageous and disadvantageous features. However, neither of them succeeded in producing stableconjugates in an efficient and reproducible manner. After conjugation, the DNA-conjugated antibodieswere used in immune complex formation. However, the immune complexes either failed to form or wereformed in an inefficient manner.

Syftet med denna undersökning var att ta reda på vilken förståelse elever i skolår 5 och 6 har om begreppen HIV och AIDS. Vidare ville vi undersöka vilken skillnad det fanns mellan de två skolåren. Eftersom vi valde att göra en kvantitativ undersökning, blev enkät som underökningsmetod vårt val. 106 elever deltog i undersökningen, 50 elever i skolår 5 och 56 elever i skolår 6. Resultatet visade att många elever i skolår 6 hade förståelse för begreppen men endast en elev i skolår 5 hade den förståelse som vi sökte.