<p>Bacteria are small single-celled organisms that are found in nearly every habitat on Earth. While bacterial genomes usually consist of one large circular replicon, about 10% of bacteria have organized their genes onto several large replicons. These multipartite bacteria are often found in symbiotic or pathogenic relationships with other higher organisms and are believed to have greater ability ...

CO₂ is a renewable source of carbon that has not yet been properly utilized. The reason for this is mostly due to its kinetic and thermodynamic stability. The potential renewability of CO₂, coupled with environmental concerns, has motivated scientists worldwide to develop new artificial carbon cycles for chemical fixation of CO₂. Unfortunately, the pronounced inertness ...

The research undertaken in this PhD project was part of a large EU interdisciplinary project named ECO2: Sub-seabed CO2 Storage: Impact on Marine Ecosystems. The overall goal of the ECO2 project was to understand the short-term and long-term impacts of CO2 storage on marine ecosystems. I concentrated my work on the Snøhvit site, which is located in the SW Barents Sea, on the Norwegian continental ...

Nucleic acid-interacting proteins are essential players in cellular processes of all living organisms. In the present study, we explore three psychrophilic-derived proteins involved in gene regulation, RNA degradation and DNA ligation in bacterial cells, with one common feature; they perform their activity by interacting with nucleic acids. The Ferric uptake regulator (Fur) is a global transcription ...

In this thesis a series of geophysical surveys are carried out on the geologically important and remote Svalbard using magnetotelluric imaging, to constrain better the geology particularly defining geothermal resources. Magnetotellurics (MT) relays on natural source time-varying electric and magnetic field data measured at the earth’s surface in order to derive the subsurface resistivity structure. ...

Type 1 diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by high blood glucose levels as a consequence of deficiency of the hormone insulin, requiring the patient to follow a strict personalized protocol of food intake, subcutaneous insulin administration as a lifelong treatment for the high blood glucose levels, and exercise. This condition leads to acute complications, damaging several organs and ...

There is a global trend towards the use of the Internet to search for information about health issues. We have access to a wide range of online health information; especially the so-called social media (e.g. blogs, videos). However, finding good quality resources is not easy in the current context of information overload. Today, very relevant and valuable health social media has to compete in ...

Through the Holocene, Svalbard glaciers have exhibited at least two phases of re-advance, one during the Early Holocene and another throughout the entire Late Holocene. No geomorphological features have been identified corresponding to glacier re-advances between 9.0 – 4.5 ka BP. The Early Holocene glacier re-advances identified across Svalbard and they correspond to a diverse range of glacier sizes. ...

The Arctic experiences faster climate change than the global average. Feedback mechanisms between the atmosphere, cryosphere and the oceans amplify the warming, and intensify the water cycle. Arctic precipitation is projected to increase because of enhanced winter evaporation due to diminishing sea ice, increased poleward moisture transport in summer, and increased atmospheric moisture content in ...

Climate change is expected to alter the hydrological cycle in the Arctic, which would result in the increase in intensity and frequency of hydrological extreme events such as flooding. Noticeably, the changes in flooding due to climate change would severely affect human life, infrastructures, the environment, ecosystem, and socio-economic development in the impacted areas. Hydrological models are ...