| 4171. |
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| 4172. |
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| 4173. |
- Nerman, Måns, 1978
(författare)
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Essays on Development: Household Income, Education, and Female Political Participation and Representation
- 2012
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The thesis consists of four self-contained papers. Paper 1: The Push Towards UPE and the Determinants of the Demand for Education in Tanzania. This paper uses household data to investigate the determinants of demand for education in Tanzania and tests whether these have changed during the government’s push for Universal Primary Education in the 2000s. We find that the abolition of school fees was followed by an overall increase in enrolment, yet the sustained importance of the household’s consumption, livelihood and education indicates that the socio-economic standing of the household remains an important source of educational inequality. We also include estimated returns to education as an explanatory factor but find no indications that returns determine demand in Tanzania. Paper 2: Households' income-generating activities and marginal returns to labor in rural Tanzania. This study uses detailed household-level data to investigate income and activity diversification among households in rural Tanzania. Unlike previous research on diversification, it explicitly evaluates marginal returns within different activities, aiming to assess whether households are able to allocate labor so as to maximize their incomes, and what factors determine if they do so. The findings indicate that specialization in agriculture is not correlated with household welfare, and that agricultural wage work is a last resort option, as agricultural wage workers also allocate labor to their own farms to such an extent that marginal returns are lower than among others. Furthermore, wage rates are much higher than the agricultural shadow wages, implying that there are gains to be made from expanding the non-farm side of the rural economy. However, there is no evidence that households are stuck in agriculture due to being constrained from entering the existing labor market. While I do not find preferences for own crops being important for labor allocation to farming, work preferences seem to play a role. There is also some evidence that both credit and social networks are important determinants of a household's probability of being stuck in low-return agriculture. Paper 3: The Effects of Gender Quotas in Latin American National Elections. This study investigates the effects of gender quotas in national elections on political participation, public policy, and corruption in Latin America. We are able to replicate the findings from previous research that women in politics do affect these outcomes, but only when we treat the number of women in parliament as exogenous. We argue, however, that the introduction of gender quotas caused an – in this context – exogenous increase in women’s representation, and while we find that quotas in Latin America increased the number of women in parliament, we find no substantial effects beyond mere representation. The mechanisms for these findings are scrutinized, and we find some indication that quota women are not completely marginalized in Latin American parliaments. Hence, increasing women’s representation by means of gender quotas may not result in the same outcomes as an increased representation in non-quota elections. Paper 4: The gender gap in African political participation: Individual and contextual determinants. The aim of this paper is to analyze the factors underlying the gender gap in African electoral and inter-electoral political participation. Drawing on new data covering over 27,000 respondents from 246 regions in 20 emerging African democracies, the empirical findings suggest that while there is a gender gap in both voting and inter-electoral participation, the latter is larger. Whereas several of the investigated individual and contextual characteristics are found to be important determinants of participation, they explain only a very modest share of the observed gender gaps. We do find, however, that gender gaps in education are negatively correlated with female inter-electoral participation and that gender gaps in employment are negatively related to female voting. Interestingly, and contrary to suggestions in previous research, there is no evidence that religiosity at the individual or community level increases the gender differences in political activity.
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| 4174. |
- Neselius, Sanna
(författare)
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Diagnosis and monitoring of sport-related concussion
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Background: Concussions are one of the most common sport-related injuries and it is known that they cause axonal and glial damage, and that there are risks for long-term effects. The aims of this thesis were to find possible methods, which may help clinicians to diagnose and monitor mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), analyse the APOEε4 allele genotype that has been associated with poor outcome after TBI and evaluate the relationship between neuropsychological assessment and brain injury biomarkers in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). Methods: In paper I-IV, 30 amateur boxers and 25 non-boxing matched controls were included. All study subjects underwent medical and neurological examination, neuropsychological evaluation and ApoE genotyping. Brain injury biomarkers were analysed in CSF and blood 1-6 days after a bout and after a rest period for at least 14 days. The controls were tested once. Paper V presents a knocked out boxer where CSF brain injury biomarkers were analysed at five time points upon normalization. Results: The CSF concentrations of neurofilament light (NFL), phosphorylated NFH (pNFH), glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), Total-tau and S100B and plasma-tau were significantly increased 1-6 days after bout compared to controls. NFL, pNFH and GFAP remained elevated after the rest period. Possession of APOEε4 allele did not influence biomarker concentrations. The neurological assessment showed no significant differences between boxers and controls, however boxers with elevated CSF NFL by follow up performed significantly poorer on the Trailmaking A and Simple Reaction Time tests. The case report in paper V showed marked elevation of CSF NFL, with a peak at 2 weeks post trauma, not reaching below the reference limit until week 36. Conclusion: This thesis found that the subconcussive trauma in amateur boxing causes axonal and glial brain injury, even without unconsciousness or concussion symptoms. The neuropsychological evaluation without baseline testing is not as sensitive as CSF NFL in the diagnosis and monitoring of concussion. ApoE genotype was not found to influence CSF biomarker concentrations. The case report further showed that recovery from concussion, although in absence of symptoms, could take more than 4 months. The results of this thesis indicate, that NFL and other CSF biomarkers may be valuable in the management of injured athletes and in return-to-play decisions following concussion.
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| 4175. |
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| 4176. |
- Nethander, Gunnar, 1943
(författare)
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Autogenous free tooth transplantation with a two-stage operation technique
- 2003
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- If tooth transplantation is to succeed, it is crucial to preserve the vitality of the cells on the root surface of the tooth transplant. Insufficient nutrition, postoperatively, to the cells on the root surface of the tooth transplant was thought to contribute to devitalisation of these cells. Impaired nutrition may be a result of poor contact between the recipient bed and the root surface of the transplanted tooth, and an interposed blood clot developing. To improve the postoperative nutrition to the root surface cells, teeth were transplanted to the recipient beds in which the tissues were regenerated during a 14 days period, i.e., the two-stage transplantation technique. In a clinical study of this technique, a total of 95 autogenous teeth with fully developed roots were transplanted in 84 patients, and examined both clinically and radiographically up to 13 years after the transplantation. In a dog model, a comparative experimental study was made between teeth transplanted to beds left to heal for 5 days and teeth transplanted to beds prepared immediately before the transplantation. The clinical study showed a low prevalence of tooth graft loss and root resorption even when infection of the root canal occurred. Periodontal attachment loss of less than 3 mm was found in 97% of 6 defined surfaces around the transplanted teeth. Transplanted teeth which were later on extracted were often hypermobile and signalled pain when provoked with heavy loading. Excessive extraction trauma, fixation failures and excessive plaque accumulation after transplantation were all shown to be detrimental to the tooth transplant. Transplanted teeth were used as abutments for fixed partial dentures and provided the necessary dental support for crowns and bridges even for patients with atrophic alveolar bone. The experimental histological study showed no difference between test and control teeth in the prevalence of root resorption, which was suspected to be caused by traumatic injuries to the roots during extraction and non-rigid fixation of the transplanted teeth.
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| 4177. |
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| 4178. |
- Nguyen, Tho D. K.
(författare)
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Quantitative chemical imaging to study content release from single nanovesicles
- 2023
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Cellular communication is vital for the survival of multicellular organisms. This process often relies on a highly regulated mechanism called exocytosis, which involves the release of chemical signals. During exocytosis, vesicles can fully or partially release their contents. The quantity of neurotransmitters expelled in different modes of release may have diverse effects on cellular communication by allowing cells to control the level of outgoing signals. Despite significant discoveries in understanding the components of exocytosis, there is still much to uncover regarding its regulation and implications. This thesis aims to gain a better understanding of vesicular content release, particularly in the context of partial release, using quantitative chemical imaging. This includes the integration of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) with electron microscopy or electrochemical analysis alongside light microscopy. By doing so, a comprehensive approach can be employed to gain insights into the mechanism of vesicular content release and quantify the fraction of release. Electrochemical techniques offer the advantage of high temporal resolution and enable quantification of both stored and released molecules from vesicles. Coupled with imaging methods such as fluorescence, electron microscopy, and mass spectrometry imaging, comprehensive spatial information and chemical information can be obtained to complement the data provided by electrochemical techniques. In particular, nanoscale secondary ion mass spectrometry (NanoSIMS), a high-resolution MSI method that is capable of absolute quantification at subcellular level, was primarily used throughout this thesis. PC12 cells treated with isotopically labeled L-DOPA were examined, and NanoSIMS imaging was correlated with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to detect and quantify the labeled dopamine in the halo and dense core compartments of large dense core vesicles (LDCVs) in paper I. Paper II introduced a dual-label approach to visualize and quantify vesicles undergoing partial release in PC12 cells by exposing them to a second label during exocytosis. Expanding on the dual-label approach, paper III investigated the influence of vesicle size on the dynamics of partial release. Furthermore, the combination of vesicle impact electrochemical cytometry (VIEC) with live fluorescence imaging was developed in paper IV allowing real-time analysis of vesicular content release from isolated labeled bovine chromaffin vesicles. Overall, these studies demonstrate the application of quantitative chemical imaging in understanding the mechanism and quantifying the fraction of release in vesicular content release.
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| 4179. |
- Nguyen, Van Diem
(författare)
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Essays on Takeovers and Executive Compensation
- 2015
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Paper 1. The non-US premium discount in global takeovers This paper examines takeover premia around the world and documents a significant discount in bid offers to target firms outside the US. Controlling for deal-level premium determinants, the non-US discount approximates seven percent of the target pre-deal stock price. I investigate whether the discount can be explained by country variation in legal investor protection, economic strength, financial market development and potential competition in the takeover market. I find that the size of the economy in the target country is the most robust premium determinant among these country characteristics. 40 percent of the non-US premium discount can be attributed to the economy size. Even after controlling for a set of country characteristics, target firms in the US still earn more than those in other countries by at least four percent of the target traded price before the deal announcement. For the average firm in the sample, a four percent discount equals 31 million dollars. Paper 2. Distribution of takeover gains: A comparison between the US and other major markets The takeover literature lacks comparative studies of the US versus non-US markets, though certain facts present the US as an outlier. Non-US evidence is usually on individual markets, and at most on a group of European countries. This paper provides a unified analysis of takeover gain and gain division in seven major markets including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US. I compare the US to non-US markets, controlling for common gain determinants at both the deal and the country levels. I examine both the combined gain generated by the takeover and how this gain is split between the acquired and the acquiring firms. Consistent with the literature, I find that US takeovers, on average, create value. However, value creation is not significantly larger in the US than in other markets. The difference between US and non-US takeovers lies in the distribution of takeover gains. US targets earn systematically more than non-US targets in both absolute and relative terms. The finding is robust to individual country effects, common law legal origin, and differences in firm size between US and non-US targets. Paper 3. Executive compensation in foundation-controlled firms In general, a large shareholder can discipline the manager by monitoring and/or incentivizing through compensation contracts. In foundation-controlled (FC) firms, the controlling shareholder, i.e., the foundation, does not personally consume the cash flow rights, and hence has weaker incentives to monitor the manager, ceteris paribus. I find evidence of the substitution of compensation for monitoring based on a sample of 193 Swedish family firms listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange during the period of 2001 - 2009. A family can control a firm either with or without the establishment of a foundation. In the latter case, the family would donate their shareholdings to the foundation and thus give up their personal consumption of the resulting cash flow rights. Compared to non-foundation family firms, foundation family firms reward their CEOs more. While base salary and bonus are equally competitive, foundation family firms strengthen the performance pay schemes by increasing the proportion of variable compensation and pay sensitivity to performance. The results are robust to various effects including managerial ownership, family CEO, supplementary monitoring by other large shareholders, and self-selection of better CEOs into FC firms.
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| 4180. |
- Ngwasi, Lengson
(författare)
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The Multiple Functions of the Reflexive Prefix in Hehe, Sukuma, Nilamba, and Nyaturu
- 2021
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This dissertation describes and analyses the multiple functions of the reflexive prefix in four North Eastern Bantu languages, Hehe, Sukuma, Nilamba, and Nyaturu, all spoken in Tanzania. Apart from encoding the reflexive meaning, the functions of the reflexive prefix that are dealt with in this study are reciprocal events and middle events. The study shows that the reflexive prefix is a productive means of encoding reciprocal events: events that are encoded by the reflexes of the Proto-Bantu reciprocal suffix *-an- in many Bantu languages. Furthermore, the reflexive prefix is also a productive means of encoding middle events, which have been reported to be encoded by a variety of morphemes across Bantu languages. The data from the languages under study also show that multiple forms exist, but most of them are undeniably less productive than the reflexive prefix. The analysis of the multiple functions of the reflexive prefix is made within grammaticalization theory. This study proposes two paths of grammaticalization: from reflexive to reciprocal marker, and from reflexive to middle marker. Each path of grammaticalization is argued to be triggered by a specific factor/context that invites inference for the reflexive prefix to be reinterpreted with a new function/meaning. The two paths of grammaticalization proposed in this study can account for the existing grammaticalization from the reflexive to the middle marker, without encoding the reciprocal, which is otherwise frequently observed in other Bantu languages.
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