Search

English abstract: In this master’s thesis, I will investigate the portrayal of aliens through an analysis of nine American films from the 21st century. The analysis is based on a discursive reading of the different films as a way of building different subgenres or discursive formations in an attempt to differentiate the portrayal of aliens. Over the years, the alien narrative in film has evolved as an expression of social issues, which has developed different subgenres of the use of the alien. The thesis finds that the portrayal of aliens on film has evolved into three different subgenres based on their discursive commonalities. While the alien-invasion and alien-horror narratives are the oldest and most common subgenres of the alien narrative, this thesis argues for the existence of a new subgenre. This subgenre does not portray aliens as monsters or invaders but rather as enablers of human selfunderstanding. The premises of these films take the alien narrative and turn the focus inward to question human existence using moralizing messages about misinformation, racism, and climate change. Furthermore, this thesis concludes that the alien narrative on film has been a way of dealing with two major changes in the American political landscape. The first turning point is 9/11, and the latter is the election of Donald Trump. The portrayal of aliens in American cinema has accordingly seen a development from a focus on U.S. foreign policy, such as wars, to a focus on U.S. social issues and the domestic political landscape.

English Abstract: This thesis examines the organization, dissemination, and development of civilian first aid in Denmark from 1883 to 2006. This time frame captures the evolution of civilian first aid integration in Danish society, starting with the first civilian first aid courses offered by Danish Red Cross in 1883 and concluding in 2006, when obtaining driver's license required completing a traffic-related first aid course. The study aims to enhance the understanding of Danish welfare history through a historical-institutional lens, highlighting how private organizations filled gaps in the state capacity by addressing everyday dangers that the state could not adequately manage. I argue that Danish Red Cross and ASF (now known as Danish People's Aid) were pivotal in shaping the organization of civilian first aid throughout its history. The research is based on archival material from five Danish archives. Key sources include journals published by Danish Red Cross and ASF, complimented by meeting minutes, correspondences, public inquiries, and reports from the other achieves. The history of civilian first aid in Denmark can be divided into three phases: the establishment phase (1883-1938), the consolidation phase (1939-1988), and the integration phase (1989-2006). The establishment phase was defined by private actors, who sought to meet the need for first aid skills in society, through specialized first aid. During the consolidation phase, Danish Red Cross and ASF, while remaining key players, increasingly collaborated with government actors to meet the growing demand. This collaboration led to the realization that a broader approach was necessary, laying the groundwork for the integration phase, where the state recognized civil first aid as crucial in prehospital care, a development I argue is driven by the needs highlighted by previous phases. The thesis concludes that the Danish Red Cross and ASF were instrumental in the development and dissemination of first aid

This thesis examines the ideological core of the incel movement, and how cultural and political circumstances have shaped the ideology of the involuntary celibates, using source material written by incels from 2008-2023. Utilizing Michael Freeden’s method on defining ideologies, the analysis of the misogynist ideology will clarify three core concepts constituting incel ideology’s morphology: the lookism system, a dominance hierarchy, and the belief in the unequal distribution of sexual resources on a sexual market. Together they tackle the idea that women are biologically inferior to men, and consequently shouldn’t be able to choose romantic and sexual partners. The core concepts of the ideology lead to a belief system called blackpill, which is an expansion of a popular right-wing analogy. Therefore, incels believe in a hierarchy between men, where looks are the defining factor in attraction, in a post sexual revolution society ruled by women. This creates a detrimental hierarchy of dominance, that negatively affects the quality of life at the bottom of the hierarchy – a position incels’ view themselves as inhabiting. Awareness of their societal position causes an extreme worldview, that in some cases leads to terror acts against women. The incel movement wishes to implement a Sexual Marxist government structure to solve the incel problem, and thereby appropriating the political left, while maintaining the hierarchical make-up of the right.

The global surveillance and outbreak investigation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is amidst a paradigm shift from traditional biology to bioinformatics. This is due to developments in whole-genome-sequencing (WGS) technologies, bioinformatics tools, and reduced costs. The increased use of WGS is accompanied by challenges such as standardization, quality control (QC), and data sharing. Thus, there is global need for inter-laboratory WGS proficiency test (PT) schemes to evaluate laboratories' capacity to produce reliable genomic data. Here, we present the results of the first iteration of the Genomic PT (GPT) organized by the Global Capacity Building Group at the Technical University of Denmark in 2020. Participating laboratories sequenced two isolates and corresponding DNA of Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli and Campylobacter coli, using WGS methodologies routinely employed at their laboratories. The participants' ability to obtain consistently good-quality WGS data was assessed based on several QC WGS metrics. A total of 21 laboratories from 21 European countries submitted WGS and meta-data. Most delivered high-quality sequence data with only two laboratories identified as overall underperforming. The QC metrics, N50 and number of contigs, were identified as good indicators for high-sequencing quality. We propose QC thresholds for N50 greater than 20 000 and 25 000 for Campylobacter coli and Escherichia coli, respectively, and number of contigs >200 bp greater than 225, 265 and 100 for Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli and Campylobacter coli, respectively. The GPT2020 results confirm the importance of systematic QC procedures, ensuring the submission of reliable WGS data for surveillance and outbreak investigation to meet the requirements of the paradigm shift in methodology., The global surveillance and outbreak investigation of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is amidst a paradigm shift from traditional biology to bioinformatics. This is due to developments in whole-genome-sequencing (WGS) technologies, bioinformatics tools, and reduced costs. The increased use of WGS is accompanied by challenges such as standardization, quality control (QC), and data sharing. Thus, there is global need for inter-laboratory WGS proficiency test (PT) schemes to evaluate laboratories' capacity to produce reliable genomic data. Here, we present the results of the first iteration of the Genomic PT (GPT) organized by the Global Capacity Building Group at the Technical University of Denmark in 2020. Participating laboratories sequenced two isolates and corresponding DNA of Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli and Campylobacter coli, using WGS methodologies routinely employed at their laboratories. The participants' ability to obtain consistently good-quality WGS data was assessed based on several QC WGS metrics. A total of 21 laboratories from 21 European countries submitted WGS and meta-data. Most delivered high-quality sequence data with only two laboratories identified as overall underperforming. The QC metrics, N50 and number of contigs, were identified as good indicators for high-sequencing quality. We propose QC thresholds for N50 greater than 20 000 and 25 000 for Campylobacter coli and Escherichia coli, respectively, and number of contigs >200 bp greater than 225, 265 and 100 for Salmonella enterica, Escherichia coli and Campylobacter coli, respectively. The GPT2020 results confirm the importance of systematic QC procedures, ensuring the submission of reliable WGS data for surveillance and outbreak investigation to meet the requirements of the paradigm shift in methodology.

An increasing number of patients are living with chronic ischemic cardiomyopathy (ICM) and/or heart failure. Treatment options and prognostic tools are lacking for many of these patients. Our aim was to investigate the prognostic value of imaging angiogenesis and macrophage activation via positron emission tomography (PET) in terms of functional improvement after cell therapy. Myocardial infarction was induced in rats. Animals were scanned with [18F]FDG PET and echocardiography after four weeks and randomized to allogeneic adipose tissue-derived stromal cells (ASCs, n = 18) or saline (n = 9). Angiogenesis and macrophage activation were assessed before and after treatment by [68Ga]Ga-RGD and [64Cu]Cu-DOTATATE. There was no overall effect of the treatment. Rats that improved left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) had higher uptake of both [68Ga]Ga-RGD and [64Cu]Cu-DOTATATE at follow-up (p = 0.006 and p = 0.008, respectively). The uptake of the two tracers correlated with each other (r = 0.683, p = 0.003 pre-treatment and r = 0.666, p = 0.004 post-treatment). SUVmax at follow-up could predict improvement in LVEF (p = 0.016 for [68Ga]Ga-RGD and p = 0.045 for [64Cu]Cu-DOTATATE). High uptake of [68Ga]Ga-RGD and [64Cu]Cu-DOTATATE PET after injection of ASCs or saline preceded improvement in LVEF. The use of these tracers could improve the monitoring of heart failure patients in treatment.

Denne rapport består af en række uafhængige kapitler vedrørende klapning og klapningspraksis samt anbefalinger til Best Practice ved større klapninger typisk i forbindelse med anlægsarbejder. Den aktuelle forvaltningspraksis i en række europæiske lande er gennemgået med udgangspunkt i anbefalinger vedrørende praksis for klapning udarbejdet af HELCOM og OSPAR. Anbefalingerne fra HELCOM/OSPAR omfattes i rapporten af følgende emner: a) Hierarki for placering af opgravet marint materiale; b) Krav til ansøgninger om klapning; c) Plan for prøvetagning i forbindelse med klapninger både før og under klapningen; d) Krav til karakterisering af det opgravede materiale i relation til fysiske, biologiske og miljøkemiske parametre; e) Procedurer for udstedelse af klaptilladelse; f) Håndtering af klapningen herunder angivelse af ”Best Practice”; g) Iværksættelse af overvågning/monitering af klapningen; h) Krav til afrapportering til HELCOM og OSPAR. De enkelte landes praksis er vurderet i forhold til HELCOM/OSPARs anbefalinger med særligt fokus på den danske forvaltning, som den er beskrevet i Klapbekendtgørelsen. I tilhørende bilag til rapporten er angivet diverse krav til tilladelser til klapning i danske farvande samt internationale kriterier for tålegrænser for miljøfremmede stoffer. I Danmark er den foretrukne metode til dumpning af opgravet sedimentært materiale klapning. Det opgravede materiale placeres i en splitpram, og frigives ved åbning af klapperne i bunden af splitprammen, deraf navnet. Materialet synker straks efter klapning mod bunden forårsaget af materialets højere densitet. Der findes en række alternative metoder til klapning fra splitpram, som i dag anvendes forskellige steder i verden. Pumpning af det opgravede materiale til bunden evt. i kombination med en diffusor ved overgangen fra pumperør til bund er et alternativ, der vil fjerne spredning af finkornet materiale og frigivelse af næringsstoffer m.m. under transporten fra splitprammen til

Vi står over for en række bæredygtighedsproblemer, der skyldes et udbredt materialistisk- mekanistisk verdenssyn. I dette kapitel argumenteres der for, at der er behov for et alternativt verdenssyn, og at de tekniske og industrielle museer kan være nøglespillere i at skabe, praktisere og udbrede dette verdenssyn. Dette kræver en genforhandling af museernes kernefortælling om, at teknologi og videnskab entydigt er til gavn for menneskeheden.