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In the last century fossil fuel combustion has resulted in acidification and elevated metalcontent in Swedish lakes. To counteract anthropogenic acidification, Sweden began a fullscale liming treatment program in the mid 1970’s. Even though the pH in lime treated lakesincreases after treatment, lake productivity does not always recover. The hypothesis of thisstudy was that increased metal input to the sediment decreases available phosphorus (P) in thewater. In this study, sediment cores were taken from three different types of lakes: limed,limed with fertilizer (added P), and acid (reference) lakes in southwest Sweden to investigatethe possible link between low production (P availability) and sediment metal content inacidified and limed lakes. Sediment was investigated for metal content and experimentalphosphorus (P) additions were conducted to determine P sorption characteristics. Lowequilibrium P concentration and high maximum P sorption in the experiments indicates thatthe sediment will adsorb P from the water column making the already nutrition pore waterless productive, driven mainly by high concentrations of aluminium and iron in sedimentlayers effected by both acidification and lime treatment. There were also indications that limeaddition will elevate P sorbing metals in the sediment of acidified lakes, which can lead toless P in the water column. Perhaps making modification (i.e. P addition) to the treatmentmethod is important for success in restoring acidified lakes.

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Apis mellifera are a key contributor to many different and important ecosystems around the world which is something it has in common with other pollinator species. In a very unfortunate turn of events, these pollinator species show a decline in numbers. The decline of which can be partially attributed to human interference through actions that creates habitat loss and pesticide exposure. With the Apis mellifera being an integral part of numerous ecosystems and important for agriculture, their decline is concerning. Research into the Apis mellifera has shown that their gut microbiota has a large impact on their health. With the health of the Apis mellifera being more important than ever before, research into their gut microbiota is of key importance. The aim of this study was to investigate the gut microbiota in different individuals from the same hive and compare them. Investigation of the gut microbiota was achieved through 16S rRNA sequencing of the mid and hindgut with the use of Nanopore sequencing. Results of the sequencing showed high similarities with regards to the bacterial species found, however there were varying proportions of the species in the individuals. The observed similarities were investigated though PCA which confirmed this observation. In conclusion, individuals from the same hive show large similarities in bacterial species with proportions differing being a natural part of the Apis mellifera lifecycle.

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Tracing back Paleozoic taxa to study the origin and structure of jaws and teeth is one of the common means of studying the evolutionary relationships of early vertebrates. It can analyze the oral structure from an anatomical perspective, and the evolution of predatory relationships can also be inferred through such information. Species in different habitats have adapted to specific ecological niches, foraging strategies and defense mechanisms. Therefore, comparing the jaw bones and the arrangement of the teeth is an excellent access point for studying the evolutionary relationships of taxa.  From a morphological point of view, one of the main differences between the oral structures of the two crown-groups of jawed vertebrates (gnathostomes) osteichthyans and chondrichthyans is the arrangement of their teeth and the morphological structure of their lower jaw. According to Dearden and Giles (2021), the mandibles of bony fishes and tetrapods (Osteichthyes) will absorb part of the tooth base and after the teeth are lost, they will be replaced to the outside of the dermal bone and above the endoskeletal jaw cartilage, becoming part of the external tooth arc and the internal tooth arc. Meanwhile, in cartilaginous fish such as sharks, rays and chimaeras, the teeth would grow on the jaw cartilage in a direction that is parallel to the labial tooth and their teeth would also shed and be replaced in this same pattern (Dearden and Giles, 2021). Acanthodians, possibly the earliest gnathostome group, have some shark features and some bony fish features. Recent study indicate that the belong to the chondrichyan stem (Brazeau, 2009), thereby being important for understanding chondrichthyan evolution. However, due to the fact that their unmineralized endoskeletons are rarely fossilized, their evolutionary relationship with modern gnathostomes still leaves a lot of unresolved research to be done, and the structure of their oral structure is one of them.   From the fossil record, it can be tentatively concluded that teeth and jaw bones first appeared in the late Silurian period (approximately 425 million years ago) (Choo, 2014). The subsequent Devonian period (approximately 420-360 million years ago) was the main period of evolution of the growth and replacement mechanism of the mandibular dentition. This period is also when species diversity and functional differentiation of gnathostomes began. Both of these time periods have high research value in the evolutionary history of gnathostomes.  There are many potential reasons for the evolution and diversification of gnathostomes, such as changes in habitat, improvement of defense mechanisms, simplification or complication of food webs, or changes in species' feeding habits (herbivory, carnivory, omnivory, etc.). Comparing and analyzing the changes in the oral structures of gnathostomes in different periods can provide certain explanations for some of the hypotheses (Friedman, 2021).  The existence of computed tomography technology has brought great advancement to the study of anatomical models of jawed vertebrate tooth structures. We can continue to address many questions such as the arrangement of teeth, cartilage structure, and the degree of vascularization of bones through the combination of computed tomography and 3D modeling (Wang, 2019).  This study was based on samples of fossil dental jaw bones from the Silurian collected from Ohessaare cliffs on the island of Saaremaa, Estonia. One specimen was selected and scanned using computed tomography. It was 3D-modelled and compared with available data from younger dental jaw bones from the Devonian-Permian. The anatomical similarities and differences were explored and compared with several jaw bones from different periods (Dearden and Giles, 2021. Rücklin et al., 2021). Placed in a phylogenetic context, this new data was verified to be consistent with the actual results from the previous research on stem-chondrichthyan jaw bones.

Copy number alterations are the most commonly observed genome alteration. I sought to find an amplified target for collateral lethality-based treatment that is “hyperactivated” and expressed at a higher rate than expected. Using a list of previously identified hyperactivated genes, I filtered the targets based on function and location, amplification status of various cancer types, and targetability. Oncogenes that were present in the final phase of selection were investigated using data from DepMap to see if their sensitivity to inhibitors increased with expression and copy number. Mouse double minute 2 homolog (MDM2) had a strong correlation increasing sensitivity with both expression and copy number whereas Kirsten rat sarcoma virus (KRAS) had no correlation. The pair were then used as positive and negative controls to see if other genes with low molecular weight inhibitors had the same profile. Lysine Demethylase 5B (KDM5B) and ribosomal protein S6 kinase B1 (RPS6KB1) were identified as possible targets for their correlations in breast cancer and pan-cancer respectively.

Background: Attentiveness is a fundamental function of the brain. Deficits in attentional performance is a major cause for individual and societal burden. An important region involved in attention is striatum, inside of which there is dopamine: a key neurotransmitter in the regulation of attention. The dopamine transporter (DAT) is abundant in dorsal striatum (DS) and ventral striatum (VS) and DAT acts as a modulator of dopamine signaling. Abnormal DAT expression is identified as one of the causes of attentional dysfunction in several neuropsychiatric diseases. This project aimed to parse the relationship between DAT expression and attentional performance in a sustained visual attention task, as well as DAT’s relationship to amphetamine (AMPH) sensitivity. Methods: To test for attention 15 male Sprague-Dawley rats were trained and tested in a signal detection task (SDT) to gather attentional data and to measure change in performance after AMPH administration. To quantify DAT in striatum, this project used immunohistochemistry to measure fluorescent intensity, a measurement representing the corresponding DAT expression level. To support findings, the project used drift diffusion models (DDMs) to enhance our understanding of the decision-making process affected by DAT expression. Results: The results showed non-significant correlations between DAT density in DS and VS and premature responses and accuracy in the SDT. The data also showed that the DAT DS:VS expression ratio significantly correlates to AMPH sensitivity. Conclusion: We concluded that increased DAT expression in striatum can predict worse accuracy and increased premature response times during a SDT. The project also found that the ratio of DAT expression in dorsal and ventral striatum can predict changes in accuracy after AMPH administration.