| 1. |
- Aasmundsen, Hans Geir
(författare)
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Pentecostalism, Globalisation and Society in Contemporary Argentina
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In Argentina, Pentecostalism had a breakthrough in the early 1980s, and today more than 10 per cent of the population are Pentecostals. The revival coincided with a socio-political transformation of Argentinean society. After half a century of dictatorships and Peronism, democracy was restored, and structural changes paved the way for a certain “autonomisation” of politics, law, economy, science and religion. The "new" form of society that developed resembles what in this study is called a Western model, which to a large degree is currently being diffused on a global scale. This work examines the new religious sphere and how Pentecostals relate to society at large, and the political and judicial sphere in particular. Social systems theory and an idea of communication as constitutive of social spheres, such as religious, political and judicial ones, form the theoretical foundation for the study. Methods that have been used are fieldwork, interviews and analyses of written material. It is concluded that evangelization and transformation are of major concern to Pentecostals in contemporary Argentina and that this follows a global trend. Evangelisation has always been important to, even a hallmark of, Pentecostalism. What has become as important is the urge for transformation, of the individual, the family and society. This leads to increased socio-political engagement. However, Pentecostals do not have a “fixed” idea of how society should be organised, i.e., they do not yet have a full-fledged political theology, a public theology or what could be called a Pentecostal ideology. This is mainly because they experience a lack of “compatibility” between the Pentecostal and the political communication. Their approaches to socio-political concerns seem to be based on an understanding of certain “values” as the fundamental building block of society.
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| 2. |
- Abdul-Hussein, Saba
(författare)
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Cellular studies of neuromuscular disorders related to the sarcomeric proteins
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Sarcomere is the basic unit of cardiac and skeletal muscle contraction and its proper function requires an invariant organization of this structure. Mutations in sarcomeric proteins are known to cause increasing number of different cardiac and skeletal muscle diseases. The front line in research on muscle diseases is at present to define the genetic background and pathogenesis of these diseases. The potential for development of effective therapies depends on elucidation of the molecular and cellular impact of the mutations on morphological abnormalities and muscle weakness that accompany pathogenesis. In paper I we identified an unexpected skeletal muscle myopathy in an infant with fatal cardiomyopathy due to a homozygous mutation in MyBPC3. The ectopic expression of cardiac MyBPC was restricted to abnormal type 1 muscle fibres, indicating that the muscle pathology was caused by a dominate-negative effect of mutant MyBPC3. In paper II we addressed the expression profile of a panel of sarcomeric components during myogenesis, with a focus on proteins associated with a group of congenital disorders. The analyses were performed in cultured human skeletal muscle myoblasts and myotubes. We identified early expression of certain isoforms involved in congenital diseases, suggesting the possibility of an early role for these proteins as constituent of the developing contractile apparatus during myofibrillogenesis. In paper III we used human tissue-culture cells as a model to investigate the primary trigger for β-tropomyosin-related myopathies and the basis for the histological changes seen in muscle biopsies of patients. Protein localization and pathobiology caused by dominant TPM2 mutations were investigated by transfecting human myoblasts and C2C12 with WT and mutant EGFP-fusion β-TM constructs. Abnormal aggregation of β-TM variants and their localization within the thin filaments was observed in myoblasts and differentiated myotubes. We demonstrated that histopathological phenotypes associated with β-TM mutants might be accounted for the variable response to the cellular environment influenced by physiological context, in combination with the time course of expression of mutant protein rather than the alteration of amino acid itself. Our results confirmed that cell cultures of human skeletal muscle are an appropriate tool and environment closer to the reality in human skeletal muscle and more reliably mimic the disease conditions. In paper IV we identified and characterized a new human protein aggregate myopathy and cardiomyopathy associated with combined mutations in isogenes TRIM63 and TRIM54, encoding muscle specific ring finger proteins, MuRF1 and MuRF3, respectively. Our morphological and cellular investigation suggested that the disease is caused through impaired organization of the microtubule network and sarcomeric M-band proteins. The results from this study have deepened the understanding of pathogenesis of a group of sarcomeric
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| 3. |
- Abraham, Getahun Yacob
(författare)
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Education for Democracy? : Life Orientation: Lessons on Leadeship Qualities and Voting in South African Comprehensive Schools
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study takes as its starting point how teachers understand, interpret and teach social development aspects of Life Orientation in South African comprehensive schools. The specific focus is on lessons on leadership qualities and voting for third grade learners in four schools, each dominated by either Black, Coloured, White or mixed groups of learners. Field work with an ethnographic approach and a qualitative strategy was used to gain access to empirical data. Policy and curriculum documents, guidelines and textbooks were used. Classroom observations in four classes and interviews with 14 third grade teachers were conducted. Theoretical concepts of construction, deconstruction and reconstruction are applied. Ulf P Lundgren’s Frame Factor Theory is used to study school organization. Basil Bernstein’s Pedagogical Devices are considered when examining the different levels of pedagogical activities. To be a teacher in South Africa one needs to attend at least two years of teacher education after completing high school. Teachers in the classes studied underwent their teacher education during apartheid years. Due to limited in-service training, they sometimes experience problems of understanding and interpreting the learning area, which they usually tackle by consulting documents, colleagues or school authorities. The learners’ understanding varied based on their family background and type of school they attended. There were enormous differences in material, financial and organisational resources between classes and schools. The resources for teaching leadership qualities and voting were not, however, different between the classes. The lessons were teacher dominated and direct transmission was used as a method. The way teachers facilitated the lesson on leadership qualities and voting varied but all showed some democratic shortcomings. Apart from answering questions, learners were neither invited nor encouraged to participate to further their understanding of the theme. Limited aspects of leadership qualities were discussed, individual leaders’ roles were emphasised and the teachers picked candidates for class leaders in three of the classes. It was also evident that the class environments were not suitable for critical or creative thinking and democratic upbringing. The schools reproduced norms, values, languages and cultures of the different groups. Officially, teachers emphasised the common national South African identity. This emphasis on national identity could disguise the injustice some groups experience in society.
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| 4. |
- Adriaenssens, Bart, 1979
(författare)
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Individual variation in behaviour: personality and performance of brown trout in the wild
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Individuals from the same population often show very different behaviour. These differences, when consistent across time, are referred to as animal personality or behavioural syndromes. Explaining the occurrence of animal personality from an evolutionary perspective has however proven a difficult issue to tackle. This thesis studies aspects of individual behavioural variation and personality in brown trout (Salmo trutta). More specifically, I investigate (1) to what extent variation in behaviour is consistent within and across contexts, (2) environmental and genetic effects on behaviour, (3) how this affects performance in the wild, and (4) whether this understanding can be used to improve rearing methods of supplementary hatcheries. I found brown trout to express a wide variation of behaviours and provide evidence that much of this behavioural variation is associated in bigger behavioural syndromes. As a result, separate behaviours of brown trout cannot be considered as isolated units, but combine into clusters that sometimes are associated with non-behavioural measures such as body size or growth rate. Variation was further influenced by both inherited and environmental effects. First, individuals from different maternal and paternal origin differed in size, aggressiveness and response to novel prey or novel food. These results suggest that maternal and/or genetic effects influence behaviour and growth in brown trout (I). Second, reduced rearing densities in a hatchery increased the response to novel prey, food search ability in a maze and predator response (II). And third, hatchery trout were more successful foragers than wild conspecifics, yet showed less repeatable explorative behaviour across time (III). Personality traits were generally poor predictors of growth and survival upon release, suggesting that several behavioural strategies can be successful in nature. Nevertheless, in paper IV, slow exploring individuals grew faster than more bold trout. Furthermore, parr reared at reduced densities were twice as likely to survive in the stream as trout reared at high densities. In conclusion, my results contradict simple associations between risk taking behaviour and growth-mortality tradeoffs under natural conditions. This challenges the recent view that individual differences in growth strategies can explain variation in behaviour and suggests more heterogeneous links between personality and life-history in nature (V). In addition, I show that reduced rearing hatchery densities facilitate the development of adaptive behaviour in brown trout, a finding that may have implications for current rearing methods in supplementary hatcheries.
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| 5. |
- Agnesdotter, Carina, 1969
(författare)
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Dikt i rörelse. Ingrid Sjöstrand och poesins retorik i kvinnornas fredsrörelse 1979–1982
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Poetry has held a significant position in the argumentation employed by the social movements of Sweden ever since their growth during the later decades of the nineteenth century. This tradition lived on in the new social movements that from the late 1970’s opposed atomic energy and nuclear weapons. Using a number of poems by the writer Ingrid Sjöstrand (born 1922) as a point of departure, this thesis investigates rhetorical actions performed with the aid of poetry in situations involving the organisation Kvinnokamp för fred (Women’s Struggle for Peace) from its inception in 1979 through 1982. The central questions addressed are the following: What characterizes the rhetorical situations to which the poems relate and how do the poems relate to them? What are the purposes of the poems? How, i.e. with what rhetorical and literary approaches and strategies, do the poems present their arguments? To what degree and in what ways do rhetorical and aesthetic functions interact? What information do the poems present about the pertinent movements? How do the poems contribute to the movements’ production of knowledge? In the first chapter, Kvinnokamp för fred and the rhetorical position of the poems are considered from the perspective of the women’s movement. Kvinnokamp för fred dealt with the broad issues of human survival with specific emphasis on the ideologies of radical feminism and the feminist cultural movement. Three poems on sisterhood are analyzed in the second chapter. The relationship of these poems to the women’s movement is focused, as are their contributions to the production of knowledge concerning the concept sister and to the construction of collective identity within the movement. Chapter three describes the rhetorical situation from the perspective of alternative movements. In Sjöstrand’s socially critical texts the causes of society's problems are linked to the short-sighted rationality directed at economic results that governs modern society. The fourth chapter deals with two poems against nuclear power specifically directed toward readers and listeners with roots in the workers' movement. The emphasis here is on how the poems are adapted to the situation and constructed to appeal to this specific audience. Three poems against nuclear armament are discussed in chapter five. The poems’ methods of persuasion are spotlighted as is the relationship between aesthetics and rhetorics. The most important results of the thesis are summarized in the concluding chapter. Sjöstrand’s poems of use are characterized by their implementation of compressed forms of classical rhetorical concepts in their argumentation. Through this technique, Sjöstrand weaves together rhetorical and esthetic functions in the poems. The complexity and the limited concretization of the poems' arguments allows for a collaborative audience, thus contributing to the poems' rhetorical effectiveness and cognitive functions. The analyses reveal how these poems contribute to the creation of awareness, readiness to act and collective identity, and in so doing provide a platform for a concluding discussion on the nature and characteristics of the literary genre poetry of use.
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| 6. |
- Ahlberg, Daniel, 1982
(författare)
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Asymptotics and dynamics in first-passage and continuum percolation
- 2011
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis combines the study of asymptotic properties of percolation processes with various dynamical concepts. First-passage percolation is a model for the spatial propagation of a fluid on a discrete structure; the Shape Theorem describes its almost sure convergence towards an asymptotic shape, when considered on the square (or cubic) lattice. Asking how percolation structures are affected by simple dynamics or small perturbations presents a dynamical aspect. Such questions were previously studied for discrete processes; here, sensitivity to noise is studied in continuum percolation. Paper I studies first-passage percolation on certain 1-dimensional graphs. It is found that when identifying a suitable renewal sequence, its asymptotic behaviour is much better understood compared to higher dimensional cases. Several analogues of classical 1-dimensional limit theorems are derived. Paper II is dedicated to the Shape Theorem itself. It is shown that the convergence, apart from holding almost surely and in L^1, also holds completely. In addition, inspired by dynamical percolation and dynamical versions of classical limit theorems, the almost sure convergence is proved to be dynamically stable. Finally, a third generalization of the Shape Theorem shows that the above conclusions also hold for first-passage percolation on certain cone-like subgraphs of the lattice. Paper III proves that percolation crossings in the Poisson Boolean model, also known as the Gilbert disc model, are noise sensitive. The approach taken generalizes a method introduced by Benjamini, Kalai and Schramm. A key ingredient in the argument is an extremal result on arbitrary hypergraphs, which is used to show that almost no information about the critical process is obtained when conditioning on a denser Poisson process.
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| 7. |
- Ahlberg Helgee, Ernst, 1981
(författare)
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Improving Drug Discovery Decision Making using Machine Learning and Graph Theory in QSAR Modeling
- 2010
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- During the last decade non-linear machine-learning methods have gained popularity among QSAR modelers. The machine-learning algorithms generate highly accurate models at a cost of increased model complexity where simple interpretations, valid in the entire model domain, are rare. This thesis focuses on maximizing the amount of extracted knowledge from predictive QSAR models and data. This has been achieved by the development of a descriptor importance measure, a method for automated local optimization of compounds and a method for automated extraction of substructural alerts. Furthermore different QSAR modeling strategies have been evaluated with respect to predictivity, risks and information content. To test hypotheses and theories large scale simulations of known relations between activities and descriptors have been conducted. With the simulations it has been possible to study properties of methods,risks, implementations and errors in a controlled manner since the correct answer has been known. Simulation studies have been used in the development of the generally applicable descriptor importance measure and in the analysis of QSAR modeling strategies. The use of simulations is spread in many areas, but not that common in the computational chemistry community. The descriptor importance measure developed can be applied to any machine-learning method and validations using both real data and simulated data show that the descriptor importance measure is very accurate for non-linear methods. An automated method for local optimization of compounds was developed to partly replace manual searches made to optimize compounds. The local optimization of compounds make use of the information in available data and deterministically enumerates new compounds in a space spanned close to the compound of interest. This can be used as a starting point for further compound optimization and aids the chemist in finding new compounds. An other approach to guide chemists in the process of optimizing compounds is through substructural warnings. A fast method for significant substructure extraction has been developed that extracts significant substructures from data with respect to the activity of the compound. The method is at least on par with existing methods in terms of accuracy but is significantly less time consuming. Non-linear machine-learning methods have opened up new possibilities for QSAR modeling that changes the way chemical data can be handled by model algorithms. Therefore properties of Local and Global QSAR modeling strategies have been studied. The results show that Local models come with high risks and are less accurate compared to Global models. In summary this thesis shows that Global QSAR modeling strategies should be applied preferably using methods that are able to handle non-linear relationships. The developed methods can be interpreted easily and an extensive amount of information can be retrieved. For the methods to become easily available to a broader group of users packaging with an open-source chemical platform is needed.
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| 8. |
- Ahlman, Christer
(författare)
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Vänskap, värden, vandel: Avvikelser och återhämtningsstrategier hos Göteborgs första generation ungdomsnarkomaner
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this dissertation is to investigate how and why a sample of young people who were criminals and drug addicts in the 1960s – Gothenburg’s first generation of young drug junkies – could get up on their feet and then sustain an orderly life. The empirical material consists of recorded and transcribed life history interviews with 15 individuals, 10 of whom had rather central positions within Gothenburg’s first generation of young drug addicts. Three of the remaining five have had close and lasting contacts and relations with the same social circle, while two have had similar experiences from other places. Several of these persons were interviewed both in the 1980s, when they had been drug-free for ten years, and then again in the 2000s, when they were about 60 years old. The connection between relationship and dialogue becomes methodologically important, since several of the interviewees have been the author’s friends and acquaintances. Autobiographical literature and the author’s own memories supplement the transcribed interviews. In the dissertation, the individuals’ entry into the circle of drug users is explained by the cultural environment and spirit of the times, and by the material conditions and situations that surrounded them in Gothenburg in the 1950-60s, but also by broken families and deficient parental attachment. The interviewees’ recollections indicate that they were provided moral cornerstones as children, which in combination with a demanding and exhausting lifestyle fuelled their willingness to break away from their drug-saturated existence. The conflict between internalised ethics and a deviant lifestyle has in such stages of transition often manifested itself in experiences of burnout and psychotic breakdowns. Their recovery has in many cases been characterised by a series of relationships with partners leading a more organised life, and these periods have served as effective training. Rather than resulting in a new lasting period of deviance, the interviewees’ possible relapse attempts have provided dull and dreary experiences. In fact, they have reinforced their recognition of themselves as ‘normal’. Their lasting and intensive drug use has not led to a life-long identification or ex-role as drug addict, compared with their class and gender roles or other deep roles. During the years following their recovery period, most of the interviewees have had longstanding family commitments and partner relations as well as decent working and housing conditions. At the time of the interviews in the first decade of the 21st century, all of them displayed a distanced and controlled relation to drugs (apart from tobacco).
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| 9. |
- Ahlstrom, Linda
(författare)
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Improving Work Ability and Return to Work among Women on Long-term Sick Leave
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis was to gain new knowledge of factors and interventions that improve work ability and return to work (RTW) among women on long-term sick leave from human service organizations (HSOs). The specific aims of the studies were: to evaluate the associations between the self-rated Work Ability Index (WAI) and Work Ability Score (WAS), and the relationship with prospective sick leave, symptoms, and health (Paper I); to investigate whether intervention with myofeedback training or intensive muscular strength training could decrease pain and increase work ability among women with neck pain (Paper II); to examine the associations between workplace rehabilitation and the combination of supportive conditions at work with work ability and RTW over time (Paper III); and to explore experiences, views, and strategies in the rehabilitation process for RTW (Paper IV). This thesis is based on a prospective cohort study (n=324) and a randomized controlled study (RCT) (n=60, participants with neck pain). Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used. The data collection consisted of questionnaires, laboratory-observed data, register-based data, and interviews. The results showed a very strong association between WAI and WAS, and results predicted future sick leave degree, health-related quality of life, vitality, neck pain, self-rated general health, self-rated mental health, behavioral stress, and current stress (Paper I). In the RCT (Paper II), individuals in the myofeedback intervention group increased their vitality and work ability over time and individuals in the intensive musculoskeletal strength training group increased their WAI, WAS, and mental health over time. WAI, WAS, and RTW increased over time among individuals provided with workplace rehabilitation and supportive conditions at work (Paper III) such as a sense of feeling welcome back at work, influence at work, possibilities for development, degree of freedom at work, meaning of work, quality of leadership, social support, sense of community, and work satisfaction. Women described (Paper IV) how they were striving to work and how they had different views, strategies, and approaches in the rehabilitation process for RTW. They expressed a desire to work, their goals for work, and their wishes for work. In the rehabilitation process for RTW they described their interaction with stakeholders as either controlling the interaction or struggling in the interaction. They described strategies to cope with RTW in terms of yo-yo (fluctuating) working: yo-yo working as a strategy or yo-yo working as a consequence. This thesis identifies factors of importance in improving work ability and RTW among women on long-term sick leave from HSOs. For women with neck pain, the intervention study showed feasibility of the intervention and demonstrated improved work ability and decreased pain (Paper II). The intensive muscular strength training program, which is easy for the individual to learn and perform at home, was associated with increased work ability. The results regarding rehabilitation highlight the importance of integrating workplace rehabilitation with supportive conditions at work to increase work ability and improve RTW (Paper III). Women expressed that they were striving to work and that they wanted to work (Paper IV). These women were “going in and out” of work participation (yo-yo working) as a way to handle the rehabilitation process. For assessing the status and progress of work ability among women on long-term sick leave, the single-question WAS may be used as a compliment to the full WAI as a simple indicator (Paper I).
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| 10. |
- Ahlström, Aisling, 1976
(författare)
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Prediction of embryo viability by morphology and metabolomic profiling
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Abstract The ultimate challenge for all in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics is to develop the ability to select for transfer the best single embryo first, from the patient’s cohort of embryos, thereby maximising the chance of pregnancy while the incidence of multiple pregnancies is kept to a minimum and fewer transfer cycles are required. This ambition has driven extensive research and development into methods that can be used to predict embryo viability. The aims of this thesis were to investigate two non-invasive methods; one new method of metabolomic profiling using Near Infrared (NIR) spectroscopy to analyse spent embryo culture media and the most routine method of morphological grading at the blastocyst stage. In our initial study we investigated metabolimic profiling by NIR spectroscopy and demonstrated that there were distinct differences between NIR spectral profiles of spent embryo culture media of implanting embryos and non-implanting embryos on day 5 of development. These differences were successfully used in a predictive model to calculate viability scores that were positively correlated (R2 = 0.82, P = 0.03) to implantation rates. In addition, viability scores were not related to morphology indicating that this method could be used as an adjunct to current morphological selection criteria. We also showed, by a method of cross-validation, that a predictive algorithm was accurate even when used at different clinics using different blastocyst culture media. These findings, in addition to other published studies, suggest that selection of embryos with high NIR viability scores could potentially improve implantation rates. Unfortunately, when the application of this technology was tested in a prospective randomized controlled trial (RCT) for selection of embryos on day 2 and day 5 for transfer, its use in adjunct to morphology did not significantly improve the ongoing pregnancy rate when compared to morphology alone (34.8% versus 35.6%, P = 0.97). As such, NIR spectroscopy, in its current form, did not improve selection of the most viable embryo for transfer. These results demonstrate the importance of performing RCT’s before committing to the clinical application of any new technology or treatment. We also investigated the independent predictive strength of morphological parameters used to predict blastocyst viability in both fresh and frozen-thawed cycles. We found through our retrospective studies looking at blastocyst morphology and prediction of live birth found that trophectoderm (TE) morphology was the most important predictor after fresh single blastocyst transfer cycles and one of the most important predictors after frozen thawed transfer cycles. Expansion grade was found to be the other most important predictor of live birth after frozen-thawed transfer cycles. The inner cell mass (ICM) in both studies was not shown to be one of the most significant predictors of live birth. We have shown, for the first time, the predictive strength of TE grade over ICM for selecting the best blastocyst for embryo replacement. It may be that, even though ICM is important, a strong TE layer is essential at this stage of embryo development, allowing successful hatching and implantation. Furthermore, we found that for thawed blastocysts degree of re-expansion was the most important post thaw morphological predictor of live birth. In conclusion, we have been able to show that morphology is a strong predictor of embryo viability and by understanding the predictive strength of each parameter being used in a grading system, we can better use these parameters when making our decisions. Furthermore, there is still a need for alternative methods to predict embryo viability, but these new methods should be validated in properly conducted studies before clinical implementation, as shown by the conflicting results in our two studies when testing the NIR technology platform.
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