Inledning I detta avsnitt redogör vi för tidigare forskning om kunskapssyn och förhållningssätt i förskolan. Vi beskriver utvecklingspedagogikens- och Reggio Emilia filosofins grunder. Materialets betydelse i barnens vardag uppmärksammas och att materialet som barnen möter påverkar deras möjligheter till olika utforskande. Syfte Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur pedagogerna arbetar med förskolans material tillsammans med barnen i de yngre åldrarna, 1-3 år. Studien undersöker också vad pedagogerna uttrycker för tankar/syn om förskolans material. Vidare syftar studien till att jämföra utbudet och tillgängligheten av materialet på Reggio Emilia inspirerade förskolor och traditionella förskolor. Metod I studien har det gjorts schematiska observationer och intervjuer i två traditionella och två Reggio Emilia inspirerade förskolor. Det har använts både kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod. Observationer gjordes för att få syn på materialutbudet, tillgängligheten av materialet samt vilken interaktion som skedde. För att kunna få tag på förskollärarnas tankar om materialets betydelse för barns lärande har det gjorts intervjuer. Resultat Resultatet visar att det mesta av förskolans material inte är tillgängligt för barnen. Gällande materialutbudet så finns det mest av material som kan användas på ett särskilt sätt, (fast material). Material som går att variera och förändra behöver det finnas mera utav i utbudet för att barnen ska få möjligheter att agera med dessa. Det upptäcktes skillnader i vad pedagogerna på de traditionella förskolorna och de Reggio Emilia inspirerade förskolorna hade för pedagogiska tankar och arbetssätt i mötet med barnen och materialet. På de traditionella förskolorna utgicks det ifrån ämneskunskaper när det valdes material till skillnad från de Reggio Emilia inspirerade förskolor som hade barns kollektiva lärande och lärprocesserna i fokus.

Metastasis is the main cause of cancer morbidity and mortality. Despite its clinical significance, several fundamental questions about the metastatic process in humans remain unsolved. Does metastasis occur early or late in cancer progression? Do metastases emanate directly from the primary tumor or give rise to each other? How does heterogeneity in the primary tumor relate to the genetic composition of secondary lesions? Addressing these questions in representative patient populations is crucial, but has been difficult so far. Here we present a simple, scalable PCR assay that enables the tracing of tumor lineage in patient tissue specimens. Our methodology relies on somatic variation in highly mutable polyguanine (poly-G) repeats located in non-coding genomic regions. We show that poly-G mutations are present in a variety of human cancers. Using colon carcinoma as an example, we demonstrate an association between patient age at diagnosis and tumor mutational burden, suggesting that poly-G variants accumulate during normal division in colonic stem cells. We further show that poorly differentiated colon carcinomas have fewer mutations than well-differentiated tumors, possibly indicating a shorter mitotic history of the founder cell in these cancers. We collect multiple spatially separated samples from primary carcinomas and their metastases and use poly-G fingerprints to build well-supported phylogenetic trees that illuminate each patient's path of progression. Our results imply that levels of intra-tumor heterogeneity vary significantly among patients.

The discourse regarding cultural differences has mainly focused on dissimilarities between countries (inter-cultural variations). However, this thesis will suggest that intra-cultural variations also occur within national borders. Especially in developing countries, exposed and influenced by other cultures. The purpose with this thesis is therefore to reveal how culture is perceived on the eastern coast of China compared to the typical view of Chinese culture as a whole. The study has been made by conducting e-mail based surveys with the Swedish company Ericsson, Swedish Chamber of Commerce and the Swedish Trade Council. The result indicates a distinct difference in culture between east coast cities and inland China. Conclusively, intra-cultural variations appeared to be present in the studied country.

The purpose of this thesis is to analyse the pattern of intra-industry trade (IIT) between Sweden and EU 15 during the time period 1980-2002. Focus is put on the Swedish manu-facturing industry, which has been divided into the forest, metal and machinery industries. With help of the Grubel-Lloyd index, values have been calculated in order to measure the size of IIT with the other Member States and in product groups. Theories about two-way trade argue that countries with similar characteristics have more IIT. The results from the empirical findings show that the Swedish IIT is higher with nearby countries such as Denmark, Finland and Germany. Similar for these countries are the factor endowments, GDP per capita, culture, language, and the closeness to Sweden. The forest industry has more net trade than IIT. In the metal and machinery industries, the IIT is as large as the net trade. Regarding two-way trade within product groups, the analysis proved that products which can be differentiated into more sub-groups have more IIT. A large part of the products have higher net trade than IIT.

The purpose of the thesis is to determine whether Russia has changed its intra-industry trade pattern with Sweden between the years of 1997 and 2003. To be able to see any changes five products, vehicles, grain, forest, optical instruments and jewellery has been chosen. With the Grubel-Lloyd index the products will be analysed and the index will also measure the extent of the intra-industry trade between Sweden and Russia Theories predict that countries with similar factor endowments and income tend to have a two-way trade which would indicate that Russia is starting to catch up to the industrialised countries, in this thesis that would be Sweden. The theory of income effects predicts that when consumers are getting a larger budget they will start to move away from the most necessary goods and towards more luxury good consumption.

Investigators have shown that elephants exhibit consistent individual differences in behavior by rating elephants using personality adjectives. These adjectives, however, are not based on pre-defined measurements of the behaviors performed. Instead, they are based on the observers’ interpretations of an animal’s behavioral patterns, therefore making them subject to observer bias. Furthermore, elephants have a capacity for learning; thus, they may alter their behavioral patterns over time. This behavioral plasticity in itself might be a way of measuring consistent behavioral differences among individuals. With this in mind, I approached elephant personality as a multivariate problem. I used behavioral observations collected from female elephants in Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa. Instead of grouping behaviors into subjective categories prior to analysis (as is often done in studies of elephant behavior), I used ordination methods to determine which correlations among behaviors were important for defining personality. Ordination methods were performed on matrices of the behavior data set and on subsets of behaviors for each age class. I calculated the angular differences among major axes of covariation from the ordinations of subsets to determine if the behaviors that defined personalities differed by age class. I also defined personalities by centroids (in multidimensional space) for non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) scores of each individual and dispersion of NMDS scores for each individual as a measure of behavioral plasticity. I analyzed the effects of plasticity and age on personality of individual elephants using a non-parametric multivariate analysis of variance. Major axes of covariation were not well defined and therefore not useful in describing differences among groups. The interaction of age and behavioral plasticity did have a significant effect on the personalities of individuals as defined by ordination centroid scores. This suggests that incorporating plasticity may be a helpful measurement in quantifying consistent behavioral differences among individuals.

Šis magistro darbas yra iš esmės pirmasis mėginamas detaliau išanalizuoti savivaldybių dalyvavimo sutartiniuose teisiniuose santykiuose koncepciją. Net ir pripažįstant, kad savivaldybės dalyvavimo sutartiniuose teisiniuose santykiuose koncepcija, paremta viešųjų interesų atstovavimu, slypi Lietuvos teisės tradicijoje, be to, yra nulemta socialinės savivaldybių prigimties, reikia pripažinti, kad esminiai pokyčiai, nustatantys aiškius savivaldybių dalyvavimo sutartiniuose teisiniuose santykiuose principus, buvo priimti pastarąjį dešimtmetį. Prie tokių esminių pokyčių derėtų priskirti savivaldybės, kaip juridinio asmens, galinčio savarankiškai ir savo vardu sudaryti civilines sutartis ir įgyti civilines teises bei pareigas, pripažinimas, aiškaus savivaldybių sutarčių kontrolės mechanizmo nustatymas, ribojimų sudaryti tam tikras civilines sutartis pagrindimas, ultra vires doktrinos esmės suformavimas. Savivaldybės, kaip viešieji asmenys, per tam tikras institucijas vykdo dvejopas funkcijas. Be tam tikrų valdžios, t. y. viešojo administravimo, funkcijų, tiek valstybė, tiek savivaldybės vykdo ir ūkinę komercinę veiklą, dalyvaudamos civiliniuose teisiniuose santykiuose kaip civilinių teisinių santykių subjektai. Viena pagrindinių ir labiausiai paplitusių savivaldybės dalyvavimo civiliniuose teisiniuose santykiuose formų yra civilinių sutarčių sudarymas per atitinkamas savivaldybės institucijas. Savivaldybės sudaroma civilinė sutartis bendriausia prasme yra savivaldybės, kaip atskiro... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / It could be thought that this dissertation is one of the first efforts to define the concept of the participation of Local Government in private legal relationship. The concept of the participation of Local Government in private legal relationship, based on representation of public interests (these interests reflect the local community), shall not be clarified as the invention of recent years. It could be said that this concept comes from Lithuanian legal tradition, and what is more, participation in private legal relationship is closely related to social nature of Local Government. However, most of the achievements, which set principles of the participation of Local Government in private legal relationship, were adopted in recent decade. These achievements could be defines as the separate legal personality of Local Government (not of the representative institution of Local Government), which clearly defined the liability of Local Government for its own contractual duties, reforms made on the control regime of the contracts of Local Government, clarification of the doctrine of ultra vires. Local Government, as the public legal person, through its representative institutions acts in two different ways. On the one hand, Local Government shall perform duties as the subject of public administration, but on the other hand, Local Government shall perform duties in accordance with representation of the interests of local community and enter into private legal relationship. Legal... [to full text]

Circulation and associated variability in the Intra-Americas Sea (IAS) are examined using observations and numerical models. Vertically integrated transport variations through the Yucatan Channel in the model are found to be related to the intrusion of the Loop Current into the Gulf of Mexico. We argue that the transport variations are part of a “compensation effect” by which transport variations through the Yucatan Channel are at least partly compensated by flow around Cuba. Numerical experiments show that the transport variations result from the interaction between the density anomalies associated with the Loop Current intrusion and the variable bottom topography. The compensation effect is found to be associated with baroclinic (2-layer) flow through the Yucatan Channel at timescales longer than a month, while at shorter timescales (less than a month) the vertical structure of the flow is barotropic. An index, that can be computed from satellite data, is proposed for measuring the impact of the Loop Current intrusion on the transport variability through the Yucatan Channel. This index is shown to be significantly correlated at low frequencies (cutoff 120 days) with the cable estimates of transport between Florida and the Bahamas. We argue that it is the geometric connectivity between the Yucatan Channel and the Straits of Florida between Florida and the Bahamas that accounts for the relationship. A three-dimensional, data-assimilative, ocean circulation model is developed in order to simulate circulation, hydrography and associated variability in the IAS from 1999 to 2002. The model performance is assessed by comparing model results with various observations made in the IAS during this period. Model results are used to study the role played by Caribbean eddies in the dynamics of monthly to seasonal (with timescales of 30-120 days) circulation variability in the IAS. It is shown that the variations in vertically integrated transport between Nicaragua and Jamaica are linked to the interaction of Caribbean eddies with the Nicaraguan Rise. The mechanism can be explained in terms of the form drag effect acting across the Nicaraguan Rise.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of intra-set rest intervals (ALT) and traditional resistance (STD) training in hypertrophic resistance training. 22 males (25 +/- 5yrs, 179.71 +/- 5.0cm, 82.1 +/- 10.6kg, 13.6 +/- 4.3% fat, 6.5 +/- 4.5yrs training) were matched according to baseline characteristics and randomly assigned to a STD or ALT 12 week hypertrophic training protocol. Body composition, strength (1RM bench and squat); power (60% 1RM bench and squat); and vertical jump were assessed at baseline, 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Muscle biopsy for myosin heavy chain (MHC) was performed pre and post training. A 2 x 4 (Group x Time) ANOVA was used to assess changes in body composition. A 2 x 4 (Group x Time) ANCOVA covaried by baseline performance measures was used to assess differences in strength and power characteristics. A 2 x 2 (Group x Time) ANCOVA covaried for baseline percentage MHC was used to determine differences pre and post training. Both groups experienced increases in FFM with no differences between groups (62.6 +/- 7.9, 63.4 +/- 7.6, 64.2 +/- 7.4, 64.2 +/- 7.5kg; p>0.05). No time effects were noted in percent fat (13.6 +/- 4.3, 14.1 +/- 4.7, 14.0 +/- 4.6, 14.3 +/- 4.6%fat; p>0.05). Increase in FFM was associated with a decrease in MHCIIX, (ALT, -37.9 +/- 24.1%; STD, -23.4 +/- 23.8%; p = 0.001) and an increase in MHCIIA (ALT, 32.0 +/- 28.8%; STD, 25.4 +/- 29.1%; p = 0.001) with no difference between groups. A significant interaction was observed with the ALT group experiencing greater gains in both 1RM bench (STD 104.1 +/- 27.6, 102.7 +/- 29.0, 107.0 +/- 25.3, 113.2 +/- 27.3; ALT 110.9 +/- 20.1, 117.5 +/- 23.7, 120.8 +/- 22.6, 126 +/- 22.8; p<0.05) and 1RM squat (STD 123.3 +/- 39.3, 139.6 +/- 38.8, 160.2 +/- 36.1, 171.8 +/- 34.5; ALT 130.1 +/- 25.1, 152.6 +/- 24.8, 179.8 +/- 24.5, 193.9 +/- 24.2kg; p<0.05). The ALT group experienced greater gains in power in both the bench (STD 560 +/- 122, 541 +/- 105, 572 +/- 122, 593 +/- 135W; ALT 575 +/- 102, 586 +/- 123, 646 +/- 103, 658 +/- 113W; p<0.05) and vertical jump (STD 1378 +/- 237, 1418 +/- 214, 1452 +/- 210, 1470 +/- 215W; ALT 1389 +/- 179, 1434 +/- 152, 1470 +/- 149, 1537 +/- 150W;p<0.05), with gains in squat power approaching significance (STD 625 +/- 245, 704 +/- 233, 723 +/- 227, 830 +/- 232W; ALT 632 +/- 171, 734 +/- 179, 783 +/- 188, 914 +/- 207W; p<0.10). The use of intra-set rest intervals in programs designed to elicit hypertrophy results in greater gains in strength and power with no significant difference in lean mass or MHC composition after a 12 week resistance training program designed to elicit hypertrophy.

Pinus radiata D. Don is an economically important plantation species to New Zealand that is susceptible to the wood quality flaw 'intra-ring checking'. Intra-ring checking is a term used to describe radial fractures that can occur in the earlywood portion of a growth ring, altering the appearance and resilience of the wood, thereby decreasing its economic value. This thesis presents a study that was part of a broad, ongoing collaborative investigation directed at understanding wood quality issues, with the long term goal of enhancement of future radiata pine crops. These investigations are funded by the Wood Quality Initiative Ltd., and involve basic science, field trials and engineering studies related to intra-ring checking. Specifically, the present study was designed to establish the effects of the mineral nutrients boron, calcium and magnesium on wood formation, to determine whether they are associated with intra-ring checking. This research was carried out in three stages. Firstly, the ultra-structural and biochemical properties of wood with intra-ring checking were examined to determine if specific features of the cell wall were associated with the incidence of intra-ring checks. Electron microscopy techniques revealed that the CML/S1 region of the cell wall often showed a decrease in CML lignin staining and S1 striations in wood with intra-ring checks. However, Klason and acetyl bromide assays did not show a change in lignin content. In order to understand how changes in the CML/S1 region of the cell wall may occur, methods were required that would allow for the observation of wood formation in a controlled environment. In the second stage of this study, an organ culture technique was successfully developed to allow for the growth of radiata pine cambial tissue, sandwiched between phloem and xylem, on a defined nutrient medium. This nutrient medium was manipulated, using ion-binding resins, to control the amount of boron, calcium and magnesium available to the growing tissues, to determine if variations in wood formation could be induced. In the final stage of this research, an extensive comparative examination of different techniques that could be used for the observation and measurement of selected wood properties was undertaken, in order to determine the efficacy of the organ cultures to study wood formation in an altered nutrient environment. Wood properties were examined for various stages of xylogenesis, beginning with cell division and expansion, followed by cell wall deposition, and lastly with the onset of lignification in order to define the success of the culture technique. Electron microscopy investigations suggested that in the presence of very little boron the CML/S1 wall showed darker striation deposits, while an increase in calcium availability, resulted in a more defined CML/S1/S2 wall region compared to the controls. Further examination of the cell walls suggested that pectin esterification and possibly lignification could also be increased by limited boron availability. However, in many of the observed and measured parameters of wood properties, a great deal of complex 'between-tree' and 'within-culture' variation was observed. The results show that elucidation of the association between nutrient availability and the incidence of intra-ring checking can not be established from this organ culture study. In a concurrent study, the preliminary investigation of arabinogalactan-proteins (AGPs) in radiata pine was undertaken. Radiata pine AGPs were positioned in the compound middle lamella of xylem cells, suggesting potential roles in cell-cell adhesion or cell-cell signalling. For the first time, radiata pine AGPs were isolated and characterized in terms of their protein and carbohydrate composition, both of which yielded features typical of AGPs in other plant species. Unique to radiata pine AGPs was the presence of a large proportion of 5-linked arabinose. While the precise function(s) of AGPs are unknown, the results obtained in this research have established a basis for further investigation into the potential for their involvement in wood formation. Overall, new tools have been established to facilitate future research on radiata pine, a commercially important species, and novel results have been obtained concerning the mechanisms of wood formation therein.