Abstract The purpose of this work is to contribute knowledge about the transition of children from preschool to preschool classes. The experiences of pedagogical staff, parents and children are described, based on four deepening questions. The questions are about what the actors experience as positive and what the difficulties were in the transition process, and they also cover the differences of children and collaboration between actors. The method consists of qualitative interviews with parents, children, and pedagogical staff. The interviews concern the experiences of transition from the different actors. The results show the importance of a solid transition plan, the emphasis on good first contact between pedagogical staff and children, and a good parent-teacher relationship. Meetings concerning the handover between parents and pedagogical staff, and the opportunity for children to visit their new school before the school start, are also important factors for a good transition. What is seen as problematic is the lack of time for teachers to visit the children in preschool and preschool classes, difficulties to find suitable times for teacher meetings between preschool and preschool classes and the responsibility of the meetings concerning the handover. Children are different, and adapting the handover to each individual is important. The teachers responsible for the preschool classes need to get information regarding the children from preschool teachers and parents. The conclusions are that work regarding transition is important for parents and children’s security, and that a close cooperation between parents, children, and pedagogical staff is central. This way, experiences, perspectives, and knowledge of the individual child can be shared. Key words: differences of children, preparative work, collaboration, transition from preschool to preschool class. / Sammanfattning Examensarbetets syfte är att bidra med kunskap om processen vid barns övergång från förskola till förskoleklass. Arbetet beskriver erfarenheter hos pedagogisk personal, föräldrar och barn. Fyra frågeställningar har formulerats för att fördjupa syftet. Frågorna handlar om vad aktörerna ser som positivt och problematiskt i övergången, samt barns olikheter och samverkan mellan aktörerna. Metoden i den här studien är kvalitativa intervjuer med föräldrar, barn och pedagogisk personal. Intervjuerna berör de olika aktörernas tankar och erfarenheter av övergången. Resultatet visar att det som är positivt i övergången är en tydlig övergångsplan, bra första kontakt mellan pedagogisk personal och barn samt en trygg föräldra- och lärarrelation. Överlämningssamtal mellan pedagogisk personal och föräldrar och att barnen i förväg får besöka den nya skolan är också viktiga moment i övergången. Det som ses som problematiskt är lärarnas tidsbrist för att besöka barnen i förskola och förskoleklass, mötestider mellan lärare inom förskola och förskoleklass samt ansvaret för överlämningssamtalet. Barn är olika och att anpassa övergången efter individen är viktigt. Lärarna för förskoleklasserna måste få information om barnen från förskola och föräldrar. Slutsatserna är att arbetet i övergången är viktigt för föräldrar och barns trygghet samt att samarbete mellan föräldrar, barn och pedagogisk personal är betydelsefullt. Detta för att lära av varandras verksamheter, erfarenheter, synsätt och framförallt få kunskap om det enskilda barnet. Nyckelord: barns olikheter, förberedande arbete, samverkan, övergången förskola till förskoleklass.

Synthetic oligonucleotides, which are short strings of DNA or RNA, are a grooving area of importance for the pharmaceutical industry and for companies that manufacture diagnostic components. The manufacturing process of synthetic oligonucleotides involves many complex processes that use separation and purification techniques like ion-exchange chromatography, ion-pair reversed phase chromatography and ultra-performance liquid chromatography. In this study, the focus lies on the purification process, where the main aim is to develop a separation and purification method for modified oligonucleotides that can be applied on different scales, from an analytical to a preparative scale. Three modified oligonucleotides, and one unmodified with 44 bases, provided by Scandinavian Gene Synthesis (Västerås, Sweden), were analysed and purified on an ultra-performance liquid chromatography and on a preparative-system. Several parameters were investigated, e.g. mobile phase composition, gradients and concentration. Practical analysis and purification were made in two scales; analytical and semi-preparative.  The results showed that the samples contained impurities that were hard to separate from the main sample. The scaling-up tests showed that, with increasing concentration, the impurities become more aggregated with the main product. Fraction analysis showed that several pure fractions were collected from the semi-preparative purification, and therefore some amount of pure sample were collected from the semi-preparative run. In conclusion, the method developed in this master thesis worked well as a significant amount of samples were purified in the semi-preparative purification, and the method worked on modified and unmodified oligonucleotides, containing different amount of modifications. / Syntetiska oligonukleotider, vilket är korta strängar av DNA eller RNA, är ett framväxande område i läkemedelsindustrin och för företag som tillverkar diagnostiska komponenter. Tillverkningsprocessen för syntetiska oligonukleotider involverar många komplexa processer som använder separation- och reningstekniker som jonbyteskromatografi, jonparskromatografi och ultra-performance kromatografi. I denna studie ligger fokus på reningsprocessen där det huvudsakliga syftet är att utveckla en separation- och renings metod för modifierade oligonukleotider som kan appliceras på olika skalor – från analytisk till preparativ skala.  Tre modifierade oligonukleotider, samt en omodifierad med 44 baser, tillhandahållet av Scandinavian Gene Synthesis (Västerås, Sverige), analyserades och renades på ett ultra-performance kromatografi system och ett preparativt reningssystem. Flertal parametrar undersöktes, bland annat mobilfasens komposition, gradienter och koncentration. Analys och rening utfördes i två skalor; analytisk och semi-preparativ skala.  Resultatet visade att proverna innehöll föroreningar som var svåra att separera från huvudkomponenten. Uppskalningstesterna visade att föroreningarna blandade sig mer med huvudkomponenten då koncentrationen ökade. Fraktionsanalyser visade att flera rena fraktioner blev ihopsamlade från den semi-preparativa reningen, som därav visade att en betydelsefull mängd rent prov blev renat i den semi-preparativa reningen. Sammanfattningsvis, den metod som utvecklats i denna uppsats fungerade bra då betydelsefulla mängder oligonukleotider kunde renas till olika grad vid den semi-preparativa reningen, samt att metoden fungerade för både modifierade och icke-modifierade oligonukleotider som innehöll olika mängder modifikationer.

A proteína A de superfície de pneumococo (PspA) é encontrada na superfície de todas as cepas de Streptococcus pneumoniae e candidata promissora para novas vacinas pneumocócicas. Foi desenvolvido um processo de purificação da PspA4Pro cujas etapas iniciais foram: ruptura da biomassa celular, precipitação do homogenato obtido com o detergente brometo de cetiltrimetilamônio (CTAB) e remoção do precipitado por centrifugação. Foram avaliadas cromatografias de troca iônica (aniônica, catiônica), afinidade por metais, interação hidrofóbica e mista de troca catiônica e hidrofóbica. Utilizando precipitação com CTAB, cromatografia de troca aniônica, crioprecipitação em pH4,0 e cromatografia de troca catiônica atingiu-se a pureza requerida de PspA4Pro (>95%) com recuperação entre 14% e 33%. O processo alcançou níveis aceitáveis de endotoxina no produto final e a PspA4Pro purificada foi reconhecida por anticorpos anti-PspA4, manteve sua atividade e sua estrutura secundária. / Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is found in all Streptococcus pneumoniae strains and is a promising candidate to be used in new pneumococcal vaccines. A purification process for PspA4Pro which inicial steps were: cell disruption, precipitation of the homogenate with the cationic detergent cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and pellet removal by centrifugation. The chromatographic techniques tested were ion exchange (anionic and cationic), immobilized metal affinity, hydrophobic interaction and mix mode with hydrophobic and cationic ligands. Using CTAB precipitation, anion exchange chromatography, crioprecipitation in pH4.0 and cation exchange chromatography the PspA reached the required purity (>95%) with recovery between 14% and 33% . The process reached acceptable levels of endotoxin in the final product and the purified PspA4Pro was recognized by anti-PspA4 antibodies and manteined its activity and secondary structure.

No description available.

La chromatographie bidimensionnelle préparative suscite de plus en plus d'intérêt dans l'élucidation d'échantillons complexes car elle permet de collecter un grand nombre de molécules à haute pureté et quantitée récupérée. Bien que la chromatographie liquide (LC) soit souvent choisie en deuxième dimension, la chromatographie de partage centrifuge (CPC) à de multiples avantages qui en font une technique de choix pour la première dimension. Dans le but de purifier plusieurs molécules d’intérêt dans les matrices végétales, le couplage «comprehensive» CPCxLC représente une technique à fort potentiel. Après avoir expliqué son intérêt et les enjeux liés à la séparation préparative en mode «comprehensive», le développement d’une telle séparation est étudiée selon trois axes. Tout d’abord, une purification de deux molécules d’intérêt dans la plante Edelweiss est réalisée à l’échelle industrielle grâce à la réalisation de cartographies 2D au laboratoire. Cette application permet de montrer l’intérêt du couplage et de mettre en évidence les verrous liés aux conditions de transfert total des fractions en deuxième dimension. Dans une deuxième partie, la séparation CPCxLC en mode « comprehensive » est développée avec le transfert total de l’échantillon en deuxième dimension pour la purification de cinq composés cibles présents dans la plante Edelweiss. Les points clés de la séparation CPCxLC, à savoir le temps d’échantillonnage et le transfert en deuxième dimension, sont étudiés au regard du couplage LCxLC afin de garantir une qualité de séparation permettant la récupération totale des composés. Enfin, la troisième partie consiste à la mise en place d’une méthodologie de sélection des systèmes CPCxLC basée sur l’évaluation quantitative du potentiel des systèmes bidimensionnels à apporter de la distance entre les pics. Cette procédure de sélection est développée sur l’échantillon Cyclopia genistoides avec l’objectif d’isoler huit composés cibles / Preparative two-dimensional chromatography is gaining interest in the elucidation of complex samples as it allows the collection of a large number of molecules with high recovered purity and quantity. While the second dimension is often selected to be liquid chromatography (LC), centrifugal partition chromatography (CPC) is a technique with multiple advantages representing a suitable first dimension. In order to purify several molecules of interest in plant matrices, the comprehensive CPCxLC represents a technique with high potential. After explaining its interest and the issues related to the preparative separation in comprehensive mode, the development of such a separation is studied according to three axes. Firstly, a purification of two targeted molecules in Edelweiss plant is carried out at industrial scale thanks to the realization of 2D-contour plot. This application allows to expose the interest of the separation and to highlight the locks related to the conditions of total transfer of the fractions in second dimension. In a second part, the comprehensive CPCxLC separation is developed with the total transfer of the sample in second dimension applied to the purification of five target compounds from Edelweiss plant. The key points of the CPCxLC separation, namely the sampling time and the second dimension transfer, are studied with regard to the LCxLC separation in order to ensure a separation quality allowing the total recovery of the compounds. Finally, the third part consists in the implementation of a CPCxLC system selection methodology based on the quantitative evaluation of the potential of two-dimensional systems to generate distance between peaks. This selection procedure is developed on the sample Cyclopia genistoides with the objective of isolating eight target compounds

<p>In this study two medicinal plant species, namely Galenia africana and Elytropapus rhinocerotis, the former belonging to the family Aizoceae and the latter belonging to the family Asteraceae, have been investigated and different compounds isolated and characterized. Both species are important plants used in traditional medicine in Africa and particularly in South Africa. Flavanoids are secondary metabolites found in plants. They have a protective function against UV radiation and have a defence against invading illnesses due to their important antioxidant activity. Much of the food we eat and some beverages we drink contain flavonoids. The aim of this study was to investigate the electrochemistry of flavanoids isolated from these species.</p>

Brominated organic compounds (BOCs) of both natural and anthropogenic origin are abundant in the environment. Most compounds are either clearly natural or clearly anthropogenic but some are of either mixed or uncertain origin. This thesis aims to identify some naturally produced BOCs and to develop a method for analysis of the bromine isotopic composition in BOCs found in the environment. Polybrominated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PBDDs) in the Baltic Sea are believed to be of natural origin although their source is unknown. Since marine sponges are major producers of brominated natural products in tropical waters, BOCs were quantified in a sponge (Ephydatia fluviatilis) from the Baltic Sea (Paper I). The results showed that the sponge does not seem to be a major producer of PBDDs in the Baltic Sea. In this study, mixed brominated/chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins were however discovered for the first time in a background environment without an apparent anthropogenic source. The use of nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) is unusual in analytical environmental chemistry due to its sample requirements. Preparative capillary gas chromatography was used to isolate a sufficient amount of an unidentified BOC from northern bottlenose whale (Hyperoodon ampullatus) blubber (Paper II) to enable NMR analysis for identification of the compound. The bromine isotopic composition of BOCs may give information on the origin and environmental fate of these compounds. The first steps in this process are the development of a method to determine the bromine isotope ratio in environmentally relevant BOCs (Paper III) and measuring the bromine isotope ratio of several standard substances to establish an anthropogenic endpoint (Paper IV). / At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 3: Manuscript. Paper 4: Manuscript.

Isoelectric trapping (IET) has become an accepted preparative-scale electrophoretic separation technique. However, there are still a number of shortcomings that limit its utility. The performance of the current preparative-scale IET systems is limited by the serial arrangement of the separation compartments, the difficulties in the selection of the appropriate buffering membranes, the effect of Joule heating that may alter separation selectivity and a lack of methods for the determination of the true, operational pH value inside the buffering membranes. In order to bolster the current membrane pH determination methods which rely on the separation of complex ampholytic mixtures, a fluorescent carrier ampholyte mixture was synthesized. The use of a fluorescent mixture allows for a reduced load of carrier ampholytes, thereby reducing a possible source of error in the pH determinations. A mixture of carrier ampholytes tagged with an alkoxypyrenetrisulfonate fluorophore was shown to have suitable fluorescence and ampholytic properties and used to accurately determine the pH of high pH buffering membranes under actual IET conditions. In a more elegant solution to the difficulties associated with pH determinations, a method utilizing commercial UV-transparent carrier ampholytes as the ampholyte mixture to be separated was developed. By using commercial carrier ampholytes and eliminating the need to synthesize, purify, and blend fluorescently tagged ampholytes, the new method greatly simplified the determination of the operational pH value of the buffering membranes. In order to address the remaining limitations, a new system has been developed that relies on (i) parallel arrangement of the electrodes and the collection compartments, (ii) a directionally-controlled convection system for the delivery of analytes, (iii) short anode-to-cathode distances, (iv) short intermembrane distances, and (v) an external cooling system. This system has been tested in four operational modes and used for the separation of small molecule ampholytic mixtures, for the separation of protein isoforms, and direct purification of a target pI marker from a crude reaction mixture.

<p>In this study two medicinal plant species, namely Galenia africana and Elytropapus rhinocerotis, the former belonging to the family Aizoceae and the latter belonging to the family Asteraceae, have been investigated and different compounds isolated and characterized. Both species are important plants used in traditional medicine in Africa and particularly in South Africa. Flavanoids are secondary metabolites found in plants. They have a protective function against UV radiation and have a defence against invading illnesses due to their important antioxidant activity. Much of the food we eat and some beverages we drink contain flavonoids. The aim of this study was to investigate the electrochemistry of flavanoids isolated from these species.</p>

This thesis concerns the development and validation of methods for the industrially important area of adsorption isotherm parameter estimation in preparative, nonlinear high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Preparative chromatography is a powerful separation method to get pure compounds from more or less complex liquid mixtures, e.g., mixtures of mirror-image molecules. Computer simulations can be used to optimize preparative chromatography, but then competitive adsorption isotherm parameters are usually required. Here two methods to estimate adsorption isotherm parameters are treated: (i) the perturbation peak (PP) method and (ii) the inverse method (IM). A new theory for the PP method was derived and led to a new injection technique which was validated experimentally. This injection technique solved the severe problem with vanishing peaks and enabled us to use the PP method to estimate binary competitive adsorption isotherms valid over a broad concentration range. Also, the injection technique made it possible to estimate competitive adsorption isotherms for a quaternary mixture for the first time. Finally, an interesting perturbation peak phenomenon, known as the “Helfferich Paradox”, was experimentally verified for the first time. The IM is a relatively new method to determine adsorption isotherm parameters. It has the advantage of requiring very small samples, but also requires an advanced computer algorithm. An improved implementation of this computer algorithm was developed and tested experimentally. Also, a variant of the IM called “the inverse method on plateaus” was tested experimentally and the estimated adsorption isotherm parameters were shown to be valid over a broader concentration range than those estimated with the standard IM.