To produce male Muscovy only for fatty liver and meat-type production is an important economic goal in animal husbandry, although the sex-determining mechanism in poultry remains to be elucidated. Manipulation of sex-determining gene(s) in poultry provides enormous opportunities on the development of sex pre-selection reproductive systems. DSX and MAB-3 genes in Drosophila and C. elegans are conserved across the human, mice, chickens, fish, turtles, and reptiles revealing an ancient sex-determining locus DMRT1. Thus the Z-linked, DMRT1 in chicken is an excellent candidate regulatory gene controlling similar aspects of sexual development in poultry. This dissertation is aimed to clone and characterize Muscovy DMRT1 gene for further application in sex pre-selection. Partial cDNA sequences of Muscovy DMRT1 was determined and revealed 95% identity and 83% with chicken and red-eared slider turtle DMRT1 cDNA sequences. DMRT1 orthologs among various species were analyzed by Phylip program and phylogenetic tree was constructed by MEGA2 programs. Results indicated that Muscovy, chicken and red-eared slider turtle DMRT1 revealing 95%, and 83% identity at cDNA and 61%, 54% identity at amino acid level.

The evaluation of environmental and genotypic effects on fruit physical and chemical characteristics enables assessment of the feasibility of selecting diploid and/or triploid cultivars for either specific or more diverse locations. Isolation and characterization of genes encoding enzymes in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway provides fundamental genetic information which can facilitate breeding of watermelon cultivars having desirable flesh colors and enhanced beneficial carotenoids. For the environmental studies, the effects of deficit irrigation on lycopene content, total soluble solids, firmness, and yield of diploid and triploid watermelon were evaluated in different locations and growing seasons. Irrigation regimes were 1.0 evapotranspiration (ET), 0.75 ET, and 0.5 ET. To investigate if there is a consistent response in cultivars across diverse locations, studies were conducted in three distinct Texas regions. Deficit irrigation reduced total marketable yield, and increased the yield of small fruits. Location and irrigation regimes had major influences on yield. Soluble solids content increased with deficit irrigation at 0.5 ET in triploids, but not in diploids. Flesh firmness also increased in triploids compared to diploids. Lycopene content increased with maturity at all irrigation regimes and cultivars. This work confirms that deficit irrigation directly reduces yield, but does not reduce lycopene and fruit quality of the triploids used in this study. From the genetic studies, a total of eight genes encoding enzymes in the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway were isolated and characterized. Two members of the phytoene synthase (PSY) gene family were identified; PSY-A was expressed in all type of tissues, but PSY-B transcript was detected only in ovary, leaf, and root tissues. Gene expression of carotenoid isomerase (CRTISO) was not detected in salmon yellow. A color inheritance study of watermelon flesh indicated that a single gene might determine color difference between canary yellow and red without an inhibitory effect. A cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) marker developed from the SNP marker tagging two different lycopene β-cyclase (LCYB) alleles cosegregated perfectly with color phenotypes. It was concluded that color determination may be due to a reduced activity of LCYB enzyme in red, whereby a phenylalanine is conserved among canary yellow and valine is conserved among red watermelon.

Two hypotheses currently exist regarding to the determining factors for sexual development and differentiation in birds. One is based on the unbalanced sex chromosome, meaning that avian sex determination is dominated by ¡§Z-chromosome dosage¡¨. The other brings up (reconsider this) the key factor of ¡§W chromosome¡¨ which is a particular sex chromosome in female birds (ZW). In the previous studies, we constructed a female-subtract-male cDNA library before morphological gonad differentiation. After sequencing and annotation, a total of 279 expression sequence taqs (ESTs) were identified, with potentially higher expression levels in females. By utilizing quantitative RT-PCR, 16 potential ESTs and three marker transcripts (HINT1, FET1 and WDR36), which identified to be involved in sexual development at 3, 5, 7, 9 days post-coitum (dpc) was analyzed in chicken embryos. Results indicated that AGR2, CPT2, DUSP19, HINTW, LOC771368 and EY53070791 had higher expression levels in female than in male embryos at 3 and 5 dpc; FET1 expression level in female embryos gradually increased from 3 to 9 dpc. Moreover, both HINT1 and WDR36 were higher expressed in male than in female embryos across 3 to 9 dpc. However, HINT1 exhibited higher expression levels starting at early stage, whereas WDR36 at later stage. Next, we constructed HINT1-GFP fusion protein and overexpressed this protein in chicken B-cell line (DT40), resulting in upregulation of WDR36 expression. On the contrary, overexpressed HINTW-GFP fusion protein in DT40 cells had decreased WDR36 expression level. Moreover, we designed a small hairpin RNA by utilizing RNA interference technique to knockdown expression of HINTW, which resulted in WDR36 upregulation. Finally, we then estimated the regulation of WDR36 promoter activity through analyzing HINT1-GFP overexpression. Results had shown that HINT1-GFP can improve WDR36 promoter activity. Therefore, we suppose that HINT1 can regulate WDR36 transcription via WDR36 proximal promoter region. Ongoing HINT1 responsive element(s) must be identified to characterize whether HINT1 or HINTW regulates WDR36.

<p>Rätten till självbestämmande har traditionellt sett inneburit att staters suveränitet respekterats. Konceptet har dock kommit att applicerats på andra plan i större utsträckning, då man har argumenterat för rätten till nationellt självbestämmande. En gemensam kultur, eller liknande, har på så vis fungerat som underlag för secessionsrörelser. Secession kan ha allvarliga konsekvenser för de involverade politiska enheterna. Det kan även vara ett koncept svårt att implementera i verkligheten då det berör territoriella aspekter såväl som ifrågasätter vilka som hör till den utbrytande rörelsen. En teoretisk ram användbar för utvärdering av secession har därför sammanställts i denna uppsats, baserad på tre typer av secessionsteorier som applicerats på och jämförts med fallet Montenegro. Ramen bygger på en teoretisk diskussion rörande definitioner av nationalism, nationer och identitet. Dessa definitioner grundas på en civil och medborgerlig förståelse av nationalism, där identitet beskrivs som en dynamisk företeelse. Secessionsramen har därefter applicerats på fallet Montenegro som nyligen blivit en självständig stat. En utvärdering av fallet har sedan bedrivits, baserad på en historisk översikt av landet. För att understryka komplexiteten med secession presenteras sedan argument mot secession som inte bör betraktas som en lösning på etniska konflikter. Alternativa lösningar på sådana presenteras därefter vilket ger en insikt i multiculturalism. Sådana lösningar innebär alla en risk för att etniska gränser etsas fast istället för löses upp. Montenegros secession kan dock betraktas som legitim då relativts stabila demokratiska och liberala institutioner gått att finna även innan secessionen. Folkomröstningen var även den legitim och influerad av medborgarskap snarare än etnicitet.</p> / <p>The principle of self-determination traditionally refers to respect for state sovereignty. It has been increasingly employed to lower level communities as they have argued their right to national self-determination. National groups have, based on a common culture or likewise, made claims to secession. Secession can have severe consequences for either one of the two political units. It can also be extremely difficult to implement as it involves territorial aspects and the fundamental question of who belongs to the national group wishing to secede. A framework for evaluating the legitimacy of secession is developed in this thesis, based on three general types of secession theories applied and compared to the case of Montenegro. The framework builds upon a theoretical background defining what is meant by nationalism, nations and identity. The language used in this essay is therefore that of constructivism, rooted in the civic idea of nationalism. The belief that human identities are dynamic and subject to change is a crucial assumption. With the aid of an historical presentation of Montenegro, an evaluation of the region’s independence is made. To underline why secession should be implemented with care, arguments against secession are then presented. Secession should not be confused with a solution to ethnical tensions. Alternatives to secession are thus demonstrated, showing the complexity of the multiculturalist field in general. Multicultural policies risk fixing ethnical lines rather than dissolving them. The secession of Montenegro is legitimate as relatively stable democratic and liberal tradition existed prior to independence. The referendum in Montenegro was, more over, determined by a well organised referendum where civil elements dominated over</p>

<p>Inertial sensors and magnetometers are often used for attitude determination of moving platforms. This thesis treats an alternative method; GPS-based attitude determination. By using several GPS-antennas, and with carrier phase measurements determining the relative distance between them, the attitude can be calculated.</p><p>Algorithms have been implemented in Matlab and tested on real data. Two commercial GPS-based attitude determination systems have also been tested on a mobile platform and compared to a navigation grade Inertial Navigation System (INS). The results from the tests show that GPS-based attitude determination works well in open areas, but would require support from additional sensors in urban and forest environments.</p>

<p>A capture step with protein A is the most common purification step in the downstream purification process of monoclonal antibodies. It is therefore of great importance to increase the knowledge of the interactions involved in this purification technique. The purpose of this master thesis project was to determine the affinity of protein A domains to IgG subclasses by surface plasmon resonance (SPR).</p><p>Besides the five homologous IgG-binding protein A domains (E, D, A, B, and C) an engineered domain, similar to domain B and used in the protein A media MabSelect Sure™ (GE Healthcare) was included in the study. The domains were expressed in E.coli, affinity purified and immobilized onto sensor chip surfaces by amine coupling. The antibodies used in the interaction analyses were of the human IgG subclasses 1, 2, 3, and 4. Affinity determination was performed by kinetic analyses with the SPR-biosensor Biacore™ 2000.</p><p>All human IgG subclasses except IgG3 were shown to bind to all protein A domains including the monomer of the SuRe ligand. The equilibrium constants, KD-values, obtained were all in the low nanomolar range. For IgG1 and IgG4, no significantly differences in the affinity to any of the protein A domains were found, except for domain E where there might be quality issues of the prepared domain. Furthermore, a detected quality issue with the commercial IgG2 made it impossible to determine the KD-values for this subclass with any reliability.</p>

<p>Föreliggande studie undersökte en eventuell skillnad i fysisk aktivitet mellan inre (intrinsic) och yttre (extrinsic) motiverade gymnasieelever med utgångspunkt från SDT-teorin (Self-Determination Theory) samt även eventuella köns- och åldersskillnader. Enkätformulär med items från IMI- (Intrinsic Motivation Inventory) och EMI- (Extrinsic Motivation Inventory) skalan för motivation tillsammans med det korta IPAQ-formuläret för fysisk aktivitet delades ut till 194 friskole-gymnasieelever från yrkesinriktade program. Resultatet visade att elever som var mer inre motiverade också var mer fysiskt aktiva. Ingen könsskillnad fanns för fysisk aktivitet eller för inre motivation. Inom IMI-subskalan för självständighet hade kvinnorna ett signifikant högre medelvärde än männen. Resultatet stöder forskning inom SDT, främst Buckworth (2007). Könsskillnaden kan rimligtvis antas bero på sociokulturella faktorer. Tillämpad metod kan tillämpas i praktiken inom skolidrotten för att underlätta lektionsplaneringen i syfte att skapa ett bestående intresse för fysisk aktivitet.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 111-116).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 153-164). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2003. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 101-117). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.