| 1. |
- Andersson, Gunnar, et al.
(author)
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Labour-market status and first-time parenthood: The experience of immigrant women in Sweden, 1981-97
- 2005
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In: Population Studies. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1477-4747 .- 0032-4728. ; 59:1, s. 21-38
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper investigates the impact of labour-market attachment on first births of foreign-born women in Sweden. The study uses a longitudinal, register-based dataset consisting of the entire population of immigrants from ten nations and a 5-per-cent random sample of natives. The effects of earned income are evident, with increased income levels increasing the probability of becoming a mother for all observed nationalities. The effects of various forms of participation and non-participation in the labour force do not vary greatly between immigrants and the Swedish-born. Among all subgroups, we find a higher propensity to begin childbearing among those who are established in the labour market. Contrary to popular belief, receiving welfare benefits clearly reduces first-birth intensity for immigrants but not for natives. The similarity in patterns across widely different national groups supports the notion that various institutional factors affecting all subgroups are crucial in influencing childbearing behaviour.
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| 2. |
- Arrhenius, Gustaf, 1966-, et al.
(author)
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Millian Superiorities
- 2005
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In: Utilitas. - 0953-8208 .- 1741-6183. ; 17:2, s. 127-146
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Suppose one sets up a sequence of less and less valuable objects such that each object in the sequence is only marginally worse than its immediate predecessor. Could one in this way arrive at something that is dramatically inferior to the point of departure? It has been claimed that if there is a radical value difference between the objects at each end of the sequence, then at some point there must be a corresponding radical difference between the adjacent elements. The underlying picture seems to be that a radical gap cannot be scaled by a series of steps, if none of the steps itself is radical. We show that this picture is incorrect on a stronger interpretation of value superiority, but correct on a weaker one. Thus, the conclusion we reach is that, in some sense at least, abrupt breaks in such decreasing sequences cannot be avoided, but that such unavoidable breaks are less drastic than has been suggested. In an appendix written by John Broome and Wlodek Rabinowicz, the distinction between two kinds of value superiority is extended from objects to their attributes.
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| 3. |
- Arrhenius, Gustaf, 1966-, et al.
(author)
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Value and Unacceptable Risk : Temkin’s Worries about Continuity Reconsidered
- 2005
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In: Economics and Philosophy. - 0266-2671 .- 1474-0028. ; 21:2, s. 177-197
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Consider a transitive value ordering of outcomes and lotteries on outcomes, which satisfies substitutivity of equivalents and obeys “continuity for easy cases,” i.e., allows compensating risks of small losses by chances of small improvements. Temkin (2001) has argued that such an ordering must also – rather counter-intuitively – allow chances of small improvements to compensate risks of huge losses. In this paper, we show that Temkin's argument is flawed but that a better proof is possible. However, it is more difficult to determine what conclusions should be drawn from this result. Contrary to what Temkin suggests, substitutivity of equivalents is a notoriously controversial principle. But even in the absence of substitutivity, the counter-intuitive conclusion is derivable from a strengthened version of continuity for easy cases. The best move, therefore, might be to question the latter principle, even in its original simple version: as we argue, continuity for easy cases gives rise to a sorites.
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| 4. |
- Bruun, Hans Henrik, et al.
(author)
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Distinct patterns in alpine vegetation around dens of the Arctic fox
- 2005
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In: Ecography. - : Wiley. - 0906-7590 .- 1600-0587. ; 28:1, s. 81-87
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The arctic fox Alopex lugopus excavates its dens in gravely ridges and hillocks, and creates a local environment quite distinct from the surrounding tundra or heath landscape. In northern Sweden, the vegetation of 18 dens of the arctic fox was investigated, as well as reference areas off the dens but in geologically and topographically similar locations. The species composition showed considerable differences between den and reference areas, with grasses and forbs occurring more abundantly on the dens, and evergreen dwarf-shrubs occurring more in reference areas. The effect of the foxes' activities is thought to be either through mechanical soil disturbance, or through nutrient enrichment via scats, urine, and carcasses. This was expected to result in differences in plant traits with key functional roles in resource acquisition and regeneration, when comparing dens with reference areas. We hypothesised that the community mean of specific leaf area (SLA) would differ if nutrient enrichment was the more important effect, and that seed weight, inversely proportional to seed number per ramet and hence dispersal ability, would differ if soil disturbance was the more important effect. Specific leaf area showed a significant difference, indicating nutrient enrichment to be the most important effect of the arctic fox on the vegetation on its dens. Arctic foxes act as ecosystems engineers on a small scale, maintaining niches for relatively short-lived nutrient demanding species on their dens in spite of the dominance of long-lived ericaceous dwarf-shrubs in the landscape matrix. Thus, foxes contribute to the maintenance of species richness on the landscape level.
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| 5. |
- Canivet, Catarina, et al.
(author)
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Infantile colic and the role of trait anxiety during pregnancy in relation to psychosocial and socioeconomic factors.
- 2005
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In: Scandinavian Journal of Public Health. - : SAGE Publications. - 1651-1905 .- 1403-4948. ; 33:1, s. 26-34
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Aims: A study was undertaken to assess the impact of psychological, psychosocial and socioeconomic factors on the risk of having a child with infantile colic. Methods: Psychosocial and psychological factors were assessed by self-administered questionnaires in the 17th, and by telephone interviews in the 35th—37th pregnancy weeks; infantile colic occurrence was assessed by telephone interviews at infant age 5 weeks; subjects were 1,099 mother—infant dyads. Results: High trait anxiety increased the colic risk; OR 2.04 (95% CI: 1.16, 3.59), and so did affirming a perceived risk of spoiling young infants with too much physical contact; OR 1.77 (1.07, 2.91). In the final step of a multivariate model, not cohabiting with the child's father was the factor with the strongest association with colic; OR 3.48 (1.38, 8.77). Analyses of effect modification showed that high education seemed to protect from the influence of high trait anxiety. Young women were particularly high in trait anxiety, and being exposed to both these risk factors seemed to act synergistically on the risk of having a colicky infant; OR 2.41 (1.12, 5.18). Conclusions: Psychological and psychosocial factors were found to be significantly related to an increased risk for infantile colic, and these factors interacted with age, parity, social support, and educational level in a complex manner. Even though no single most important psychosocial risk factor was identified, the findings lend support to the strategy of offering special attention in terms of information and support in the maternal healthcare system to very young women, women who do not cohabit with the father, and women with high trait anxiety.
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| 6. |
- Kolberg, Matthias, et al.
(author)
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A new tyrosyl radical on Phe208 as ligand to the diiron center in Escherichia coli ribonucleotide reductase, mutant R2-Y122H. Combined x-ray diffraction and EPR/ENDOR studies.
- 2005
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In: J Biol Chem. - 0021-9258. ; 280:12, s. 11233-11246
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The R2 protein subunit of class I ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) belongs to a structurally related family of oxygen bridged diiron proteins. In wild-type R2 of Escherichia coli, reductive cleavage of molecular oxygen by the diferrous iron center generates a radical on a nearby tyrosine residue (Tyr122), which is essential for the enzymatic activity of RNR, converting ribonucleotides into deoxyribonucleotides. In this work, we characterize the mutant E. coli protein R2-Y122H, where the radical site is substituted with a histidine residue. The x-ray structure verifies the mutation. R2-Y122H contains a novel stable paramagnetic center which we name H, and which we have previously proposed to be a diferric iron center with a strongly coupled radical, Fe(III)Fe(III)R.. Here we report a detailed characterization of center H, using 1H/2H -14N/15N- and 57Fe-ENDOR in comparison with the Fe(III)Fe(IV) intermediate X observed in the iron reconstitution reaction of R2. Specific deuterium labeling of phenylalanine residues reveals that the radical results from a phenylalanine. As Phe208 is the only phenylalanine in the ligand sphere of the iron site, and generation of a phenyl radical requires a very high oxidation potential, we propose that in Y122H residue Phe208 is hydroxylated, as observed earlier in another mutant (R2-Y122F/E238A), and further oxidized to a phenoxyl radical, which is coordinated to Fe1. This work demonstrates that small structural changes can redirect the reactivity of the diiron site, leading to oxygenation of a hydrocarbon, as observed in the structurally similar methane monoxygenase, and beyond, to formation of a stable iron-coordinated radical.
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| 7. |
- Sikström, Sverker, et al.
(author)
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A model for stochastic drift in memory strength to account for judgments of learning.
- 2005
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In: Psychological Review. - 0033-295X. ; 112:4, s. 932-50
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Previous research has shown that judgments of learning (JOLs) made immediately after encoding have a low correlation with actual cued-recall performance, whereas the correlation is high for delayed judgments. In this article, the authors propose a formal theory describing the stochastic drift of memory strength over the retention interval to account for the delayed-JOL effect. This is done by first decomposing the aggregated memory strength into exponential functions with slow and fast memory traces. The mean aggregated memory strength shows power-function forgetting curves. The drift of the memory strength is large for immediate JOLs (causing a low predictability) and weak for delayed JOLs (causing a high predictability). Consistent with empirical data, the model makes a novel prediction of JOL asymmetry, or that immediate weak JOLs are more predictive of future performance than are immediate strong JOLs. The JOL distributions for immediate and delayed JOLs are also accounted for.
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| 8. |
- Thuresson, Kaj, et al.
(author)
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Occupational exposure to commercial decabromodiphenyl ether in workers manufacturing or handling flame retarded rubber
- 2005
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In: Environmental Science and Technology. - : American chemical society. - 0013-936X .- 1520-5851. ; 39:7, s. 1980-1986
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Commercial decabromodiphenyl ether (DecaBDE) is commonly used as a flame retardant in different electrical and textile applications. It is also used in the production of flame-retarded rubber compound. DecaBDE is the major technical polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) in use today and consists mainly of decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE-209). PBDEs, including BDE-209, are well-known environmental pollutants, ubiquitous both in aquatic and terrestrial environments. The aim of the present study was to assess the exposure to PBDEs in workers manufacturing or handling rubber which was flame retarded with DecaBDE. A referent group, abattoir workers (slaughterhouse workers), with no occupational exposure to PBDEs, was also investigated. Moreover, the methodology for analysis of PBDEs in serum was refined, with special emphasis on congeners with a high number of bromine substituents, i.e., octa- to decaBDEs. The highest BDE-209 concentration observed among the rubber workers was 280 pmol/g lipid weight (l.w.) (270 ng/g l.w.). The median concentration of BDE-209 among rubber workers was 37 pmol/g l.w. (35 ng/g l.w.). Among referents, the median was 2.5 (range 0.92−9.7) pmol/g l.w. (median 2.4 ng/g l.w.). In rubber workers the BDE-209 concentrations were up to 32% (median 4%) of the 2,2‘,4,4‘,5,5‘-chlorobiphenyl (CB-153) concentra tions, on a molar basis, whereas the referents had BDE-209 concentrations which were similar to that of 2,2‘,4,4‘-bromodiphenyl ether (BDE-47), below 1.4% (median 0.3%) of the CB-153 concentration. Concentrations of all nonabromodiphenyl ethers (nonaBDEs) and several octabrmodiphenyl ethers (octaBDEs) congeners, including BDE-203, were also elevated among the rubber workers, with 2.5- to 11-fold higher median concentrations, compared to the referents. The results confirm a significant uptake of BDE-209 in the workers exposed to DecaBDE and indicate a potential for in vivo formation of lower BDEs in these persons.
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