| 1. |
- Pelger, Susanne, et al.
(författare)
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Popular Science Writing to Support Students’ Learning of Science and Scientific Literacy
- 2016
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Ingår i: Research in science education. - Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands. - 0157-244X .- 1573-1898. ; 46:3, s. 439-456
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In higher natural science education, the scientific report is the prevailing genre of writing. Despite the fact that communicative skills are highly valued in working life, earlier studies have shown deficiencies among science students. In this paper, we highlight the need for varied communication training, in particularly arguing for the possibilities that students’ popular science writing offers. Our study was based on a questionnaire answered by 64 degree project students in biology. The questions focused on the students’ own experiences of writing about their projects for the general public and what contribution the writing made to their learning of science. A vast majority of the students expressed that the writing helped change their perspectives and that they saw their subject and project in a different light. Many of the students described that the popular science writing made it easier for them to put the science content in a context, to better understand the aim of their own work, and the implications of their findings. We discuss the positive effects that popular science writing may have on students’ subject matter understanding and development of scientific literacy. Our concluding remark is that popular sciencewriting is a useful tool for reflection and that it adds significant value to the students’ capacity to change perspectives, understand their subject and develop scientific literacy. © 2015 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
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| 2. |
- Berglund, Björn, et al.
(författare)
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Efficient removal of antibiotics in surface-flow constructed wetlands, with no observed impact on antibiotic resistance genes
- 2014
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Ingår i: Science of the Total Environment. - Amsterdam : Elsevier. - 0048-9697 .- 1879-1026. ; 476-477, s. 29-37
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recently, there have been growing concerns about pharmaceuticals including antibiotics as environmental contaminants. Antibiotics of concentrations commonly encountered in wastewater have been suggested to affect bacterial population dynamics and to promote dissemination of antibiotic resistance. Conventional wastewater treatment processes do not always adequately remove pharmaceuticals causing environmental dissemination of low levels of these compounds. Using constructed wetlands as an additional treatment step after sewage treatment plants have been proposed as a cheap alternative to increase reduction of wastewater contaminants, however this means that the natural microbial community of the wetlands becomes exposed to elevated levels of antibiotics. In this study, experimental surface-flow wetlands in Sweden were continuously exposed to antibiotics of concentrations commonly encountered in wastewater. The aim was to assess the antibiotic removal efficiency of constructed wetlands and to evaluate the impact of low levels of antibiotics on bacterial diversity, resistance development and expression in the wetland bacterial community. Antibiotic concentrations were measured using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and the effect on the bacterial diversity was assessed with 16S rRNA-based denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Real-time PCR was used to detect and quantify antibiotic resistance genes and integrons in the wetlands, during and after the exposure period. The results indicated that the antibiotic removal efficiency of constructed wetlands was comparable to conventional wastewater treatment schemes. Furthermore, short-term treatment of the constructed wetlands with environmentally relevant concentrations (i.e. 100-2000 ng x 1(-1)) of antibiotics did not significantly affect resistance gene concentrations, suggesting that surface-flow constructed wetlands are well-suited for wastewater treatment purposes. (c) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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| 3. |
- Berglund, Johan C, 1978, et al.
(författare)
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Measuring strategies for smooth tool steel surfaces
- 2008
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Ingår i: Proceedings. - Aachen : Shaker Verlag. - 1610-4773. - 9783832269128 - 3832269126 ; , s. 110-119
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Comparisons between different measuring strategies were made on three types of smooth tool steel surfaces. Three replica materials were tested to study possibilities within replication techniques. An optical interferometer as well as a mechanical stylus was used to evaluate the surfaces. The results showed that the tested replica materials generated good representations of both the form and the surface roughness (Sq > 300 nm). The evaluated surfaces were quite homogeneous, thus, few measurements are needed to get representative results. However, it was found that caution must be taken regarding manually polished surfaces which can be less homogenous and therefore require more measurements to get representative results.
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| 4. |
- Egeskog, Andrea, 1981, et al.
(författare)
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Actions and opinions of Brazilian farmers who shift to sugarcane : an interview-based assessment with discussion of implications for land-use change
- 2016
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Ingår i: Land use policy. - Kidlington : Elsevier. - 0264-8377 .- 1873-5754. ; 57, s. 594-604
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sugarcane ethanol systems can deliver large greenhouse gas emissions savings if emissions associated with land-use change are kept low. This qualitative study documents and analyzes actions and opinions among Brazilian farmers who shift to sugarcane production. Semi-structured interviews were held with 28 actors associated with sugarcane production in three different regions: one traditional sugarcane region and two regions where sugarcane is currently expanding. Most farmers considered sugarcane a land diversification option with relatively low economic risk, although higher risk than their previous land use. Beef production was considered a low-risk option, but less profitable than sugarcane. In conjunction with converting part of their land to sugarcane, most farmers maintained and further intensified their previous agricultural activity, often beef production. Several farmers invested in expanded production in other regions with relatively low land prices. Very few farmers in the expansion regions shifted all their land from the former, less profitable, use to sugarcane. Very few farmers in this study had deforested any land in connection with changes made when shifting to sugarcane. The respondents understand "environmental friendliness" as compliance with the relevant legislation, especially the Brazilian Forest Act, which is also a requirement for delivering sugarcane to the mills. Indirect land-use change is not a concern for the interviewed farmers, and conversion of forests and other native vegetation into sugarcane plantations is uncontroversial if legal. We derive hypotheses regarding farmers' actions and opinions from our results. These hypotheses aim to contribute to better understanding of what takes place in conjunction with expansion of sugarcane and can, when tested further, be of use in developing, e.g., policies for iLUC-free biofuel production.
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| 5. |
- Eriksson, Martin, 1970, et al.
(författare)
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Community-Level Analysis of psbA Gene Sequences and Irgarol Tolerance in Marine Periphyton
- 2009
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Ingår i: Applied and Environmental Microbiology. - Washington, D.C. : American Society for Microbiology. - 0099-2240 .- 1098-5336. ; 75:4, s. 897-906
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study analyzes psbA gene sequences, predicted D1 protein sequences, species relative abundance, and pollution-induced community tolerance in marine periphyton communities exposed to the antifouling compound Irgarol 1051. The mechanism of action of Irgarol is the inhibition of photosynthetic electron transport at photosystem II by binding to the D1 protein. The metagenome of the communities was used to produce clone libraries containing fragments of the psbA gene encoding the D1 protein. Community tolerance was quantified with a short-term test for the inhibition of photosynthesis. The communities were established in a continuous flow of natural seawater through microcosms with or without added Irgarol. The selection pressure from Irgarol resulted in an altered species composition and an inducted community tolerance to Irgarol. Moreover, there was a very high diversity in the psbA gene sequences in the periphyton, and the composition of psbA and D1 fragments within the communities was dramatically altered by increased Irgarol exposure. Even though tolerance to this type of compound in land plants often depends on a single amino acid substitution (Ser(264)-> Gly) in the D1 protein, this was not the case for marine periphyton species. Instead, the tolerance mechanism likely involves increased degradation of D1. When we compared sequences from low and high Irgarol exposure, differences in nonconserved amino acids were found only in the so-called PEST region of D1, which is involved in regulating its degradation. Our results suggest that environmental contamination with Irgarol has led to selection for high-turnover D1 proteins in marine periphyton communities at the west coast of Sweden.
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| 6. |
- Jansson, Fredrik, et al.
(författare)
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Democratic revolutions as institutional innovation diffusion : rapid adoption and survival of democracy
- 2013
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Ingår i: Technological forecasting & social change. - New York : Elsevier BV. - 0040-1625 .- 1873-5509. ; 80:8, s. 1546-1556
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent ‘democratic revolutions’ in Islamic countries call for a re-consideration of transitions to and from democracy. Transitions to democracy have often been considered the outcome of socio-economic modernization and therefore slow and incremental processes. But as a recent study has made clear, in the last century, transitions to democracy have mainly occurred through rapid leaps rather than slow and incremental steps. Here, we therefore apply an innovation and systems perspective and consider transitions to democracy as processes of institutional, and therefore systemic, innovation adoption. We show that transitions to democracy starting before 1900 lasted for an average of 50 years and a median of 56 years, while transitions originating later took an average of 4.6 years and a median of 1.7 years. However, our results indicate that the survival time of democratic regimes is longer in cases where the transition periods have also been longer, suggesting that patience paid in previous democratizations. We identify a critical ‘consolidation-preparing’ transition period of 12 years. Our results also show that in cases where the transitions have not been made directly from autocracy to democracy, there are no main institutional paths towards democracy. Instead, democracy seems reachable from a variety of directions. This is in line with the analogy of diffusion of innovations at the nation systems level, for which assumptions are that potential adopter systems may vary in susceptibility over time. The adoption of the institutions of democracy therefore corresponds to the adoption of a new political communications standard for a nation, in this case the innovation of involving in principle all adult citizens on an equal basis.
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| 7. |
- Parker, James, 1980-, et al.
(författare)
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Effects of nine weeks isokinetic training on power, golf kinematics, and driver performance in pre-elite golfers
- 2017
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Ingår i: BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation. - London : BioMed Central. - 2052-1847. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BackgroundIt has previously been shown that isotonic strength training can improve driver performance among golfers, though few studies have investigated effects of strength training on swing kinematics together with driver performance. In this study we investigated whether isokinetic rotational training could improve driver performance and swing kinematic variables amongst elite golfers.MethodsTwenty competitive pre-elite golfers (handicap better than −3.0), 13 men and 7 women, were split into two groups, one group received the isokinetic power training (IK) alongside their normal isotonic pre-season strength-training and the other group continued with their normal isotonic pre-season strength-training regime (IT). The IK group completed 12 sessions of isokinetic power training on a standing rotation exercise (10% body weight at 1 m/s) and barbell squat (25 kg plus 10% body weight at 0.5 m/s). The IT group continued with their normal isotonic pre-season strength-training regime. Participants were tested for rotational power, lower body power, golf swing kinematics, and driver performance before and after a nine-week training period.ResultsAfter the nine-week training period both the IK and the IT groups increased their dominant side rotational force and power (effect sizes between 0.50–0.96) and magnitude based inference indicated that IK had a likely (> 80%) more beneficial increase in dominant side rotational force and power. For swing kinematics, IK had a likely (> 80%) more beneficial improvement in lead arm speed and acceleration compared to the IT group. For driver performance, IK had a possible (65%) beneficial effect on ball speed and likely (78%) beneficial effect on carry distance when compared to IT, whereas neither of the groups improved club head speed.ConclusionIn the present study on pre-elite golfers we found that 9 weeks of isokinetic training increased seated rotational force and power, peak arm speed and arm acceleration, ball speed, and carry distance more compared to isotonic training. Even though isokinetic training did not increase CHS, it did result in greater carry distance. © The Author(s). 2017
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| 8. |
- Roxberg, Åsa, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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Space and place for health and care
- 2020
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Ingår i: International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being. - Abingdon : Taylor and Francis Ltd.. - 1748-2623 .- 1748-2631. ; 15:sup1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: This discussion paper aims to contribute to a greater understanding of the state of the art of research engaged with conceptual matters of space and place for health and care. Method: The authors, who represent a variety of academic disciplines, discuss and demonstrate the conceptual recognition of space and place in research in health and caring sciences building upon own work and experience. Results: To explore the concepts of space and place for health and care is a research pursuit of utmost importance, and should be made through transdisciplinary research collaborations, whereby spatial theories from various disciplines could be communicated to cultivate truly novel and well-informed research. Furthermore, engaging with relational and topological perceptions of space and place poses methodological challenges to overcome in future research on health and care. Conclusions: We argue that there is a need for accelerating spatially informed research on health and care that is informed by current theories and perspectives on space and place, and transdisciplinary research collaborations are a means to achieving this. © 2020 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Sandberg, Mikael, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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An Evolutionary Political Science : How Modern Nations Evolved Institutionally
- 2021
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Ingår i: Proceedings of the Culture Evolution Society conference 2021 in Sapporo, Japan (virtual).
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Konferensbidrag (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Institutions of modern societies have often been argued to evolve, but their evolution is rarely examined in Darwinian and empirical terms. Here we use the categorical data set MaxRange on nations’ regime-types and their constituting institutions historically for analysis of their phylogeny. The MaxRange data set covers all nations in the world system of nations since 1600 with details on accountability structures, executive strength and degree of centralization, constitutional strength, democracy and other aspects of the political systems. We describe and analyze the character of the “true phylogeny” of regime-type evolution in the nations of the world 1600--2020. Our results indicate that evolutionary network rather evolutionary tree models have superior fit to data. Using the extracted phylogeny, we also investigate the dynamic networks of nations in terms of regime-types, accountability structures and their related background factors such as religions and language. Network centrality measures of nations and regime-types provide new important explanatory variables for network-adjusted survival analyses of various institutions, from types and levels of democracy to details of regime-types, including institutions like parliamentarism, presidentialism, and their hybrid forms.
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