| 6251. |
- Svensson, Ola, 1971, et al.
(author)
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Offspring recognition and the influence of clutch size on nest fostering among male sand gobies, Pomatoschistus minutus
- 2010
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In: Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology. - Heidelberg : Springer. - 0340-5443 .- 1432-0762. ; 64:8, s. 1325-1331
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- When parental care is costly, parents should avoid caring for unrelated young. Therefore, it is an advantage to discriminate between related and unrelated offspring so that parents can make informed decisions about parental care. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that male sand gobies (Pomatoschistus minutus) recognize and differentially care for their own offspring when given a choice between a nest with sired eggs and a second nest with eggs sired by an unrelated male. The sand goby is a species with exclusive and costly paternal care. Male parasitic spawnings (e.g., sneaking) as well as nest takeovers by other males are common. Our results show that nests containing sired eggs were preferred and received significantly more care, as measured by nest building and nest occupancy, than nests with foreign eggs even when males cared for both nests. These findings suggest that males respond to paternity cues and recognize their own clutches. Relative clutch size also had a significant effect on male parental care. When sired clutches were larger than foreign clutches, males preferred to care for their own nest. In the few cases where males chose to take care of foreign nests, the foreign clutch was larger than their own clutch. Taken together, our results provide evidence that both paternity cues and clutch size influence parenting decisions among male sand gobies.
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| 6252. |
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| 6253. |
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| 6254. |
- Svensson, Patrik
(author)
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From Optical Fiber to Conceptual Cyberinfrastructure
- 2011
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In: Digital Humanities Quarterly. - : The Alliance of Digital Humanities Organizations. - 1938-4122. ; 5:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- There is currently an infrastructure turn with very real implications for the humanities and digital humanities. It comes not only with presumed technology or infrastructure, but also with certain assumptions, discursive patterns, and models. This paper analyzes these critically and advocates a humanities-based notion of cyberinfrastructure, not necessarily built on a science-and-engineering paradigm or exclusively grounded in existing humanities infrastructure. It is argued that we need to maintain a critical stance while simultaneously engaging in the exploration of research issues and technologies. There is often a gap between the material details of infrastructure and underlying, foundational ideas, and it is suggested that a model based on conceptual cyberinfrastructure and design parameters can be one way of connecting the ideational level with actual implementation. HUMlab at Umeå University serves as a case study.
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| 6255. |
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| 6256. |
- Svensson, Patrik, 1970-
(author)
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The Landscape of Digital Humanities
- 2010
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In: Digital Humanities Quarterly. - 1938-4122. ; 4:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The digital humanities is increasingly becoming a "buzzword", and there is more and more talk about a broadly conceived, inclusive digital humanities. The field is expanding and at the same time being negotiated, and this article explores the idea of a broadly conceived landscape of digital humanities in some depth. It is argued that awareness across this landscape is important to the future of the field. The study starts out from typologies of digital humanities, a "flythrough" of the landscape, and a discussion of what being a digital humanist entails. The second part is an exploration of four concrete encounters: ACTLab at University of Texas at Austin, the Humanities Arts Science Technology Advanced Collaboratory (HASTAC), the Humanities Computing Program at the University of Alberta, and Internet Studies. In the third part of the article, it is suggested that a model based on paradigmatic modes of engagement between the humanities and information technology can help chart and understand the digital humanities. The modes of engagement analyzed are technology as a tool, study object, expressive medium, exploratory laboratory and activist venue.
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| 6257. |
- Svensson, Sara L, et al.
(author)
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Midkine and Pleiotrophin have bactericidal properties : preserved antibacterial activity in a family of Heparin-binding growth factors during evolution
- 2010
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In: Journal of Biological Chemistry. - 0021-9258 .- 1083-351X. ; 285:21, s. 16105-16115
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Antibacterial peptides of the innate immune system combat pathogenic microbes, but often have additional roles in promoting inflammation and as growth factors during tissue repair. Midkine (MK) and pleiotrophin (PTN) are the only two members of a family of heparin-binding growth factors. They show restricted expression during embryogenesis and are up-regulated in neoplasia. In addition, MK shows constitutive and inflammation-dependent expression in some non-transformed tissues of the adult. In the present study, we show that both MK and PTN display strong antibacterial activity, present at physiological salt concentrations. Electron microscopy of bacteria and experiments using artificial lipid bilayers suggest that MK and PTN exert their antibacterial action via a membrane disruption mechanism. The predicted structure of PTN, employing the previously solved MK structure as a template, indicates that both molecules consist of two domains, each containing three antiparallel beta-sheets. The antibacterial activity was mapped to the unordered C-terminal tails of both molecules and the last beta-sheets of the N-terminals. Analysis of the highly conserved MK and PTN orthologues from the amphibian Xenopus laevis and the fish Danio rerio suggests that they also harbor antibacterial activity in the corresponding domains. In support of an evolutionary conserved function it was found that the more distant orthologue, insect Miple2 from Drosophila melanogaster, also displays strong antibacterial activity. Taken together, the findings suggest that MK and PTN, in addition to their earlier described activities, may have previously unrealized important roles as innate antibiotics.
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| 6258. |
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| 6259. |
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| 6260. |
- Svenungsson, Elisabet, et al.
(author)
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A STAT4 risk allele is associated with ischaemic cerebrovascular events and anti-phospholipid antibodies in systemic lupus erythematosus
- 2010
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In: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases. - : BMJ. - 0003-4967 .- 1468-2060. ; 69:5, s. 834-840
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Objective To investigate whether the risk allele for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in the signal transducer and activator of transcription factor 4 (STAT4) gene, defined by the single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) rs10181656(G), is associated with vascular events and/or presence of prothrombotic anti-phospholipid antibodies (aPL) in patients with SLE. Methods Two independent groups of unrelated patients with SLE of Swedish ethnicity (n=424 and 154) were genotyped, and occurrence of previous manifestations of ischaemic heart disease (IHD), ischaemic cerebrovascular disease (ICVD) and venous thromboembolic events (VTE) was tabulated. aPL values were measured by ELISA. Matched controls (n=492 and 194) were genotyped. Results The STAT4 risk allele was more frequent in patients with SLE with previous arterial events (combined OR (ORc)=1.5, 95% CI 1.1 to 2.0) compared to patients without such events. The association was mainly attributable to an accumulation of the risk allele among patients with ICVD (ORc=2.3, CI 1.6 to 3.3). There was no association with IHD or VTE. The presence of two or more aPLs was associated with the risk allele (ORc=1.6, 95% CI 1.2 to 2.0). In multivariable-adjusted logistic regression analyses treatment for hypertension, at least one STAT4 risk allele, older age, IgG anti-cardiolipin antibodies and longer SLE duration remained independently associated with previous ICVD (p≤0.02 for all). Conclusion Patients with SLE with the STAT4 risk allele had a strikingly increased risk of ICVD, comparable in magnitude to that of hypertension. The results imply that a genetic predisposition is an important and previously unrecognised risk factor for ICVD in SLE, and that aPLs may be one underlying mechanism.
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