<p>The third domain of life, Archaea is one of the three main evolutionary lineages together with the Bacteria and the Eukarya domains. The archaea are, despite their prokaryotic cell organisation, more closely related to eukaryotes than to bacteria in terms of the informational pathways (DNA replication, transcription and translation). Organisms from the archaeal hyperthermophilic genus <i>Sulfolobus</i> thrives in a hot (80°C), acidic (pH 2-4) and sulphur-rich environment.</p><p>In my thesis, I have used a variety of different approaches to study the <i>Sulfolobus</i> cell cycle. After dilution of a stationary phase cell culture with fresh medium, synchronous cell cycle progression was obtained. From the synchronised cell culture experiment we could conclude that the major cell cycle events (nucleoid segregation, cell division and chromosome replication) were tightly coupled to each other and to cellular mass increase. </p><p>Inhibitors of the elongation stage of chromosome replication, and of cell division, as well as drugs arresting the cell cycle in the post-replicative phase, were found in an in vivo screening of a range of antibiotics. The cell cycle was found to be regulated such that the previous cell cycle step had to be successfully accomplished before the next could initiate, except for DNA replication which could occur without an intervening cell division event.</p><p>The replication pattern of <i>Sulfolobus solfataricus</i> was analysed using a marker frequency assay. From the results, we were able to determine that a single origin is utilized in vivo, that the replication directionality is bidirectional, and also an approximate location of the replication origin within the genome.</p><p>Intracellular virus production in vivo of SIRV2 (<i>Sulfolobus islandicus</i> rod-shaped virus2) in <i>Sulfolobus islandicus</i> was also analysed. The effects on the host cell were determined, including loss of cell viability, inhibited initiation of replication at virus infection and DNA degradation and loss of cell integrity at the time of virus release. Also, for the first time intracellular virus DNA was visualized with flow cytometry.</p>

Increased knowledge of stock mixing and migration patterns of Atlantic bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) is required to appropriately manage and conserve declining populations. The nursery origin of giant bluefin tuna present in the Gulf of St. Lawrence was identified using stable carbon (δ13C) and oxygen (δ18O) isotopes in sagittal otoliths. Anthropogenic and natural processes are capable of impacting atmospheric and oceanic concentrations of δ13C and δ18O, affecting otolith concentrations. Therefore, inter-decadal variation of δ13C and δ18O in the otolith cores (corresponding to the first year of life) of bluefin tuna was examined prior to stock predictions and temporal variability was detected in both isotope ratios. Significant changes in both δ13C and δ18O were recorded in the otolith cores of individuals with birthdates between 1947 and 2003. Both δ13C and δ18O varied significantly as a function of year of birth, with δ13C decreasing and δ18O increasing over the time period investigated (-2.39×10-2 and 5.78×10-3 per year, respectively). The rate of change in otolith δ13C was nearly identical to the reported rates of atmospheric δ13C depletion, recently attributed to the burning of fossil fuels (referred to as the Suess effect). Observed shifts in otolith δ18O were less pronounced and likely linked to changing physicochemical conditions (i.e. salinity) in oceanic reservoirs over the time period investigated. The results show that otolith cores of bluefin tuna effectively track inter-decadal trends and record past oceanic δ13C and δ18O levels. After adjusting for inter-decadal trends, the isotopic composition of milled otolith cores of giants from three decades (1970s, 1980s, 2000s) and three regions were compared to otolith δ13C and δ18O values of yearling bluefin tuna collected from eastern and western nurseries. Maximum likelihood estimates indicated that 99% of bluefin tuna caught in the Gulf of St. Lawrence fishery originated from the western nursery, with no significant differences among the decades and regions examined. Results suggest that little to no mixing of eastern and western populations of adult bluefin tuna occurs in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, making it important for the management and conservation of the declining western population.

Diese Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit den Konstruktionen literarischer Figuren in Bezug auf die kulturellen Konstruktionen von „race“ und Gender. Die beiden hier besprochenen Romane „Quicksand“ und „Passing“ von Nella Larsen zeigen Hauptprotagonistinnen mit interrassischen Identitäten, die auf einer schwarzen und weißen Elternschaft beruhen und sich damit an den bis in die späten 1970er Jahre in den USA tatsächlich existierenden sog. Rassenmischungsverboten (Anti-Miscegenation Laws) sowie an schwarzen Weiblichkeitsentwürfen reiben. Aus kultureller wie auch aus literarischer Perspektive sind diese Identitäten interessant, da sie lange als „schwarz“ und nicht als „interrassisch“ eingeordnet wurden und eigene interrassische Identitätsentwürfe damit weitenteils fehlen. Eine Ausnahme ist die Figur der Tragischen Mulattin, die in Kapitel 3 besprochen wird. Die Arbeit blickt nach einer Darlegung kultureller Prozesse der Identitätsbildung auf interrassische Figuren in der Literaturgeschichte, Identitätsentwürfe in der Harlem Renaissance, Vorstellungen von Weiblichkeit und Sexualität und schließlich auf die Praxis des Passing (dem Verschleiern eines Teils der Herkunft zu Gunsten eines anderen). / This paper is concerned with the construction of literary figures in their relations to the concepts of „race“ and gender. “Quicksand” and “Passing” deal with interracial main protagonists whose identities rest on black, white, and interracial parentage. Their identities enable both novels to implicitly deal with the Anti-Miscegenation Laws, which existed until the late 1970s and to discuss constructions of femininity. From both a cultural and a literary perspective interracial identities are of interest because for a long time they were categorized as “black” causing a lack of conceptions of interracial identities. An exception is the literary figure of the “tragic mulatto” which will be discussed in chapter 3. This paper offers a survey of identity forming processes in cultural terms, interracial figures in literary history, identity conceptions as they were valid in the Harlem Renaissance, conceptions of femininity and sexuality, and finally the act of passing as a cultural performance.

<p>Diss. Stockholm : Handelshögskolan, 2012</p>

The origin of voluntary organizations has not been studied much in sociology. This study develops a three-phase model of a voluntary organization origin and three case studies are conducted to try out the model. The aim of the study is to describe and analyze the birth of a voluntary organization and its development. The empiric material has been gathered in three voluntary organizations from the mid-80'ies. The organizations are Noaks Ark (working with HIV), 5i12-rörelsen (working with refugees) and Farsor och Morsor på Stan (working with teenagers in Stockholm city). All three organizations still exist. The empiric material has been collected though interviews and other written materials. The theoretical model is divided into three phases, the preorigin phase, the phase of origin and the maturity phase. Each phase has its special character and there is no automatic transference to the next phase. In the first phase - the preorigin phase - the key notion is the entrepreneur or the agitator. The entrepreneur or the agitator sees a problem in society. Often this is coupled with a personal experience of the problem and a desire to do something about it. They gather more knowledge in the area, meet other people and develop an idea of how to solve the problem. In the phase of origin the key notion is the organizer. The leader has to have knowledge of organizing; how to organize people and how to mobilize resources. The organizers are often charismatic and use their charisma to gather people around their idea. In the maturity phase all the distinctive marks of a voluntary organizations can be seen. The key notion is the members' need for security and continuity. The members can also develop a personal need for the organization. The dependence on the founder or the leader decreases in significance, and bureaucracy is developed. Forces outside and inside the organization influence the voluntary organization and it is shaped by its history and surrounding. It is argued that the emergence of a voluntary organization is dependent on three things that has to coincide, discontent and an idea how to relieve it, resources and an organizer. The empiric findings support the three-phase model. In theory the phases are distinctive but in the case studies the phases could overlap.

The third domain of life, Archaea is one of the three main evolutionary lineages together with the Bacteria and the Eukarya domains. The archaea are, despite their prokaryotic cell organisation, more closely related to eukaryotes than to bacteria in terms of the informational pathways (DNA replication, transcription and translation). Organisms from the archaeal hyperthermophilic genus Sulfolobus thrives in a hot (80°C), acidic (pH 2-4) and sulphur-rich environment. In my thesis, I have used a variety of different approaches to study the Sulfolobus cell cycle. After dilution of a stationary phase cell culture with fresh medium, synchronous cell cycle progression was obtained. From the synchronised cell culture experiment we could conclude that the major cell cycle events (nucleoid segregation, cell division and chromosome replication) were tightly coupled to each other and to cellular mass increase. Inhibitors of the elongation stage of chromosome replication, and of cell division, as well as drugs arresting the cell cycle in the post-replicative phase, were found in an in vivo screening of a range of antibiotics. The cell cycle was found to be regulated such that the previous cell cycle step had to be successfully accomplished before the next could initiate, except for DNA replication which could occur without an intervening cell division event. The replication pattern of Sulfolobus solfataricus was analysed using a marker frequency assay. From the results, we were able to determine that a single origin is utilized in vivo, that the replication directionality is bidirectional, and also an approximate location of the replication origin within the genome. Intracellular virus production in vivo of SIRV2 (Sulfolobus islandicus rod-shaped virus2) in Sulfolobus islandicus was also analysed. The effects on the host cell were determined, including loss of cell viability, inhibited initiation of replication at virus infection and DNA degradation and loss of cell integrity at the time of virus release. Also, for the first time intracellular virus DNA was visualized with flow cytometry.

As globalization influences today’s world markets, many brands are becoming international and global. When a brand is in an international market it creates an opportunity for perceived brand origin to influence the consumers. Brand origin effect refers to the different ways that the perceived origin of a brand influences the consumers, for example, the consumer brand equity or purchase behaviour. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate brand origins effect on brand image and brand awareness. There has been research on this in the past; however, only few of them have focused on emerging markets. Therefore, we will investigate the brand origin effect in emerging markets. The study is performed in Ecuador, and the data is collected through structured interviews within the target population. The dissertation was done in collaboration with the Swedish company Husqvarna. Therefore, it was the brand awareness and image of Husqvarna in particular that was studied. The results of this dissertation indicate that there are relationships between the variables brand origin, brand image and brand awareness. First of all, there were indications that consumers in emerging markets prefer brands from developed countries. The second relationship that the results indicate is that a more positive image of perceived brand origin means a more positive image of brand image. The last relationship is that a more positive image of perceived brand origin, leads to a higher sense of brand awareness. However, it is necessary to mention that none of these relationships could be proven to be significant through statistical testing. As a result of this, this dissertation provides a good foundation for future research where the relationships should be further studied.

The aim of this study was to examine how adoptive parents related to parenting and how they related to their children’s biological origin. Issues that were used were how adoptive parents described their own parenting, how they described their own thoughts about their children eventually wanting to search their biological origin and how adoptive parents described the child´s country of birth attitudes towards adoptees wishes to search their biological origin. The method used was qualitative research interviews. The theory that was used for analyzing the collected data was attachment theory. Results from the study showed that the interviewees had different opinions on how adoptive parenting was understood. The varying interview answers from the interviewees show that there is no general picture of what is specific to be an adoptive parent compared to a biological parent. At the same time, the data shows that all interviewees had experienced specific situations about their parenting that distinguishes them as adoptive parents. The results also showed that the adoptive parents are very positive about their children biological origin. Furthermore, results also showed that attitudes towards adoptees wishes to search their biological origin vary depending on the country of birth.

This thesis examines the influence of investor protection and legal origin on equity market size. Previous studies have shown a relationship between legal origin and equity markets as well as quality of law. We examine whether there are any relationship between stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP, private property rights, anti director rights and legal origin. We use data from 49 countries in our sample that is collected from the World Bank, Heri-tage foundation and La Porta et al. (1998). Our study is based upon a cross-sectional re-gressions and a variance analyzes. Our results show that property rights as well as anti director rights have a positive relation-ship to stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP. We could not find any signifi-cant results in our regressions that stock market capitalization as a percentage of GDP can be explained by legal origin. We consider previous conducted studies regarding legal origin to have exaggerated legal origins’ impact on equity markets. Equity markets are more related to the level of develop-ment in countries, no matter legal origin.

Denna studie undersöker om Sverige som produktland ger ett mervärde åt produkter relaterade till Sverige på den australiensiska markanden. Studien är grundad på en enkätstudie som utfördes på 67 personer i Toowoomba, Australien. Kopplingen till ett lands mervärde ligger i kundens uppfattning till de land de förknippar produkten med, något som kan förstärkas eller minskas. Studien visar att över 90 % av de tillfrågade kände till Ericsson, IKEA och Volvo medan drygt hälften kände till Absolut. De hade alla en starkare produktnisch än Sverige som nation. Det gör att jag bedömer att dessa företag/varumärken inte drar någon större fördel av ursprungsbemärkningen ”made in Sweden”. Ett varumärke som svenska företag/produkter, med begränsade resurser, kan dra nytta i introduktionsstadiet för att skapa ett större igenkännande bland kunder. / This study examines to what extent Swedish products receive any added-value as a result of their relationship to Sweden on the Australian market. The work is based upon a survey with 67 people in Toowoomba, Australia. An added-value is connected to a country by customers’ thoughts of that country in relation to the products they produce, something which can be magnified or extracted. This survey shows that over 90% of the respondents knew Ericsson, IKEA and Volvo and more then half knew Absolut. These companies all had a stronger product niche than Sweden as a hole whereby I do not find that these companies/brands gain directly from the country-of-origin effect of “made in Sweden”. Something a new company/brand could use to gain stronger recognition, with limited recourses, in the introduction stage to the new market.