In prokaryotes, genetic variability contributes to the adaptation to novel environmental conditions, to resistance against threats such as antimicrobial agents and viruses, and ultimately to bacterial evolution through selection and drift. Genetic variability is mainly generated through mutations, e.g. point mutations, deletions, insertions, inversions, and duplications/amplifications. In addition, ...

Breast cancer is the leading cause in cancer deaths among woman worldwide, and one in ten women will experience the disease during their lifetime. Breast cancer accounted for 23% of the total new cancer incidences and 14% of the total cancer deaths in Norway in 2008. One way to potentially improve long-term cancer survival statistics is earlier detection. That includes the discovery and characterization ...

Det er kjent at glukokortikoidreseptoren (GR) og Pax6 som begge er transkripsjonsfaktorer og blant annet er viktig for normal embryoutvikling, har noen felles målgener blant matriks metalloproteinasene (MMP.) MMPer sørger for remodellering av ekstracellulær matriks (ECM) og er svært viktige under embryogenesen. Fra før av er det kjent at både GR og Pax6 regulerer uttrykket MMP2 og MMP9. I ...

The zebrafish is an exciting model organism with a lot to offer and many possible areas of application. Toxicity assays using zebrafish embryos are becoming increasingly popular with the pharmaceutical industry as a tool to bridge the gap between conventional cell based screens and animal testing. The main aim of this project was to explore the zebrafish as a model system for use in safety pharmacology, ...

Background<br> Approximately 15%–20% of all diagnosed breast cancers are characterized by amplified and overexpressed HER2 (= ErbB2). These breast cancers are aggressive and have a poor prognosis. Although improvements in treatment have been achieved after the introduction of trastuzumab and lapatinib, many patients do not benefit from these drugs. Therefore, in-depth understanding of the mechanisms ...

Abstract Background: Antibiotic resistance is an ever-increasing problem worldwide, caused by unnecessary and excess use of antibiotics. The problem has engaged more attention and research the recent years. Aims: The aim of this study is to detect levels of the antimicrobial resistant gene cfxA in saliva samples, and to investigate the linkage between this gene and the two chosen bacteria; Prevotella ...

During the Triassic, the Barents Sea Basin was filled with sediments from the Uralian and Caledonian mountain belts. High sediment yield and large river systems made progradation possible, resulting in an alluvial to deltaic plain stretching from the mountain belts in the south east to Spitsbergen in the north.This thesis focuses on the northwestern part of the Loppa High area, SW Barents Sea. The ...

Abstract Embodied cognition research has shown that bodily activity could affect cognitive processes in multiple ways. It has for instance been theorized that when we process language related to physical actions such as the word “push”, we automatically use the motor-areas of the brain to simulate our understanding of this concept, much like actually performing a pushing action. In this study, I ...

This thesis focuses on the Barents Sea South East (BSSE), and the overall goal has been to investigate the regional upper Paleozoic development in the SE part of the Barents Sea. After more than four decades of negotiation between Norway and Russia, a delineation agreement came in effect in 2011. Today, the area known as BSSE is opened up for petroleum operations. As part of the opening of the BSSE, ...

Each winter the Climate-Ecological Observatory for Arctic Tundra (COAT) project deploys a range of small devices to measure and monitor the climate changes that occur in the Arctic regions in an attempt to gain better understanding of how the changes are affecting the Arctic tundra ecosystems. The deployed devices are often limited in terms of energy and connectivity range. Due to this, researchers ...