Filetype
Understanding how plants allocate time between the green-up and senescence phases within a growing season is critical for assessing vegetation responses to environmental change. This thesis investigates the spatiotemporal patterns of the time allocation fraction, defined as the ratio of green-up duration to senescence duration (RGS), across the Tibetan Plateau from 1982 to 2018. Phenological metri
Urban Green Spaces (UGS) help mitigate the Urban Heat Island effect by lowering Land Surface Temperature (LST). The extent of this cooling effect is influenced by vegetation characteristics and how green spaces are spatially arranged in different urban settings. This thesis investigates the relationship between UGS, urban morphology, and LST in Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva using high-resolution (1
This thesis presents a comparative geospatial analysis of earthquake damage caused by the 2020 Croatian earthquakes, the 5.5 magnitude Zagreb earthquake and the 6.4 magnitude Petrinja earthquake. Using only freely accessible data, including Copernicus EMS damage assessments, OpenStreetMap building footprints, and WorldPop population grids, the study explores how spatial damage patterns differed b
This paper provides a critical analysis of Harry G. Frankfurt's seminal theory of bullshit, as outlined in his works "On Bullshit" and "On Truth." The thesis establishes Frankfurt's central argument that the defining characteristic of the bullshitter is an indifference to the truth, a quality that fundamentally distinguishes the bullshitter from the liar, who actively e
As traditional probiotic bacteria such as lactic acid bacteria (LAB) and bifidobacteria are sensitive to industrial processes, more robust spore forming bacteria has gained attention to be used as probiotics. The present project involves scaling up the production of Heyndrickxia sp. with the aim to achieve high yield and purity at each stage of the process. At the end, the harvested cells were fre
The subject of institutions and their impact upon economic growth has been widely explored by a variety of literature. What has often been ignored, however, is the topic of how institutions arise in the first place. This paper thus takes the view that institutions are shaped by geography, and specifically, the agricultural sector. It is found that there exists some statistical and legal evidence t
The film medium has a very large potential to convey thoughts about history to the public. Previous studies of historical film have focused on analyzing the films. The purpose of this master’s thesis is instead to find patterns in the effect the historical elements have on the films' narrative, as well as how they value history. To achieve this, two sub-questions have been formulated. • Do th
The European Union implements the Environmental Noise Directive (END), which offers a framework for evaluating and assessing environmental noise. All EU members are required to create strategic noise maps to inform the public about noise pollution and its effects. This study followed these directives and guidelines to collect the required data and employed the NORD2000 model to simulate traffic no
Recombinant lentiviral vectors (rLV) are powerful tools for gene transfer to the central nervous system (CNS) and hold great potential as a therapeutic gene therapy strategy for neurological disorders. Recent data indicate that rLVs are suitable for functional studies in the CNS by over expression or knock down of specific proteins. Based on a variety of lentiviruses species, different vector syst
Health care systems around the globe are facing great challenges. The demand for health care is increasing due to the continuous development of new medical technologies, changing demographics, increasing income levels, and greater expectations from patients. The possibilities and willingness to expand health care resources, however, are limited. Consequently, health care organizations are increasi
The role of percutaneous renal tumour biopsy (RTB) remains controversial due to uncertainties regarding its diagnostic accuracy and safety.
Suprasternal notch-nipple distance and breast ptosis are two measurements that are often used in everyday plastic surgical clinical practice. Nonetheless, the reliability of standard breast measurements has never been tested.
An analysis of particle formation (PF) events over a subarctic mire in northern Sweden was performed, based on number size distributions of atmospheric aerosol particles (10-500 nm in diameter) and ions (0.4-40 nm in Tammet diameter). We present classification statistics for PF events from measurements covering the period July 2005- September 2006, with a break over the winter period. The PF event
This study describes how the serum protein histidine-rich glycoprotein (HRG) affects the complement system. We show that HRG binds strongly to several complement proteins: C1q, factor H and C4b-binding protein and that it is found complexed with these proteins in human sera and synovial fluids of rheumatoid arthritis patients. HRG also binds C8 and to a lesser extent mannose-binding lectin, C4 and
Until 4 decades ago, the rates of stroke in low- and middle-income countries were considerably lower than those in more economically robust countries. In the intervening years, however, the rates of stroke in places such as southern India and rural South Africa have approximately doubled, whereas stroke rates in more economically developed nations have decreased. What is far more striking is that
