| 1. |
- Nilsson, Peter, 1979-
(författare)
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Essays on Social Interactions and the Long-term Effects of Early-Life Conditions
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This thesis consists of four self-contained essays. Essay 1: From the late 1970s through mid 1990s blood-lead levels decreased drastically in Swedish children due to the sharp phase-out of leaded gasoline. Exploiting the distinct geographical variation in early childhood lead exposure induced by the regulations together with micro data on all children in nine birth cohorts I show that reduced lead exposure early in life improves scholastic performance, cognitive ability, and labor market outcomes among young adults. At the relatively low levels of exposure considered, the analysis reveals a nonlinear relationship between local air lead levels in early childhood and adult outcomes, indicating the existence of a threshold below which further reductions no longer improve adult outcomes. Importantly, the effect is greater for children of lower socioeconomic status (SES), suggesting that pollution is one mechanism through which SES affects long-term economic outcomes and that environmental policies could potentially reduce the intergenerational correlation in economic outcomes. Essay 2: During a policy experiment in two Swedish regions in 1967 alcohol availability increased sharply, particularly for people under age 21. The policy experiment was abruptly ended after only 8.5 months due to a sharp increase in alcohol consumption. I exploit the distinct temporal, spatial and age-specific changes in alcohol availability induced by the policy shift to estimate the long-term effects on those in utero during it. I find that children in utero during the short period of increased alcohol availability have significantly lower educational attainments, earnings and increased welfare dependency rates at age 30 in comparison with the surrounding cohorts. Any direct effects of the increased availability on birth-cohort composition (e.g. through an increase in unplanned pregnancies) are not driving the results as the richness of the data allows for a focus on exposed children conceived before the policy experiment started. The results provide compelling evidence that investments in early-life health can yield large effects on outcomes later on in life. Essay 3: We utilize a large-scale randomized social experiment to identify how co-workers affect each other’s effort as measured by work absence. The experiment altered the work absence incentives for half of all employees living in Göteborg, Sweden. Using administrative data we are able to recover the treatment status of all workers in more than 3,000 workplaces. We first document that employees in workplaces with a high proportion treated co-workers increase their own absence level significantly. We then examine the heterogeneity of the treatment effect in order to explore what mechanisms are underlying the peer effect. While a strong effect of having a high proportion of treated co-workers is found for the non-treated workers, no significant effects are found for the treated workers. These results suggest that pure altruistic social preferences can be ruled out as the main motivator for the behaviour of a non-negligible proportion of the employees in our sample. Essay 4: We examine the influence that co-workers’ childbearing has on each other’s fertility decisions. Using linked-employer employee panel data for Sweden we show that female individual fertility increases with on average 10% if a co-worker had a child within the previous 13-24 months. The timing of births among co-workers of the same sex, educational level and co-workers who are close in age is even more influential. Consistent with models of social learning we find that the peer effect for first time mothers is similar irrespective of the birth order of the co-worker’s child, while for higher order births within-parity peer effects are strong but cross-parity peer effects are entirely absent. A causal interpretation of our estimates is strengthened by several falsification test showing that neither unobserved common shocks at the workplace level, nor sorting of workers between workplaces are likely to explain the observed peer effect. We also provide evidence suggesting that peers not only affect timing of births but potentially also completed fertility, and that fertility peer influences spills-over across multiple networks. Our results suggest that social interactions could be an important factor behind the strong inter-temporal fluctuations in total fertility rates observed in many countries.
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| 2. |
- van Daalen, Kim R., et al.
(författare)
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The 2024 Europe report of the lancet countdown on health and climate change : unprecedented warming demands unprecedented action
- 2024
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Ingår i: The Lancet Public Health. - : Elsevier. - 2468-2667. ; 9:7, s. e495-e522
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- Record-breaking temperatures were recorded across the globe in 2023. Without climate action, adverse climate-related health impacts are expected to worsen worldwide, affecting billions of people. Temperatures in Europe are warming at twice the rate of the global average, threatening the health of populations across the continent and leading to unnecessary loss of life. The Lancet Countdown in Europe was established in 2021, to assess the health profile of climate change aiming to stimulate European social and political will to implement rapid health-responsive climate mitigation and adaptation actions. In 2022, the collaboration published its indicator report, tracking progress on health and climate change via 33 indicators and across five domains.This new report tracks 42 indicators highlighting the negative impacts of climate change on human health, the delayed climate action of European countries, and the missed opportunities to protect or improve health with health-responsive climate action. The methods behind indicators presented in the 2022 report have been improved, and nine new indicators have been added, covering leishmaniasis, ticks, food security, health-care emissions, production and consumption-based emissions, clean energy investment, and scientific, political, and media engagement with climate and health. Considering that negative climate-related health impacts and the responsibility for climate change are not equal at the regional and global levels, this report also endeavours to reflect on aspects of inequality and justice by highlighting at-risk groups within Europe and Europe's responsibility for the climate crisis.
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| 3. |
- Gustafsson, Stefan, et al.
(författare)
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Markers of imminent myocardial infarction
- 2024
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Ingår i: Nature Cardiovascular Research. - : Springer Nature. - 2731-0590.
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Myocardial infarction is a leading cause of death globally but is notoriously difficult to predict. We aimed to identify biomarkers of an imminent first myocardial infarction and design relevant prediction models. Here, we constructed a new case–cohort consortium of 2,018 persons without prior cardiovascular disease from six European cohorts, among whom 420 developed a first myocardial infarction within 6 months after the baseline blood draw. We analyzed 817 proteins and 1,025 metabolites in biobanked blood and 16 clinical variables. Forty-eight proteins, 43 metabolites, age, sex and systolic blood pressure were associated with the risk of an imminent first myocardial infarction. Brain natriuretic peptide was most consistently associated with the risk of imminent myocardial infarction. Using clinically readily available variables, we devised a prediction model for an imminent first myocardial infarction for clinical use in the general population, with good discriminatory performance and potential for motivating primary prevention efforts.
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| 4. |
- Linnros, Evelina, 1990-
(författare)
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Essays on Fertility and Health
- 2024
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Infertility Risk and Child MarriageThe high infertility rates observed in some developing countries may have broad societal impacts, for example by people marrying and having children at a young age to increase their chances of reaching their fertility target. I study the link between infertility risk and marriage timing using data from Madagascar. Specifically, I focus on how infertility risk affects the probability of child marriage, a practice associated with adverse outcomes for young brides and their children. I use spatial variation in exposure to the parasite schistosomiasis. The empirical strategy compares two strains of this parasite, similar in their transmission mechanisms and health impacts, except that one of the two strains causes infertility. In my data, exposure to this strain increases the probability that a woman is infertile by 40%. I find that exposure to the infertility-causing strain increases the probability of child marriage and early fertility by 22%.Maternal Health and Labor Market OutcomesWe study how severe injuries related to childbirth affect mothers' labor market outcomes. 1 in 20 first-time mothers who have a vaginal delivery suffer a severe birth tear, which can have long-lasting adverse impacts on their health and quality of life. Using a difference-in-differences design with a matched control group, we find that severe birth tears lead to a 6% higher earnings loss in the first five years after childbirth compared to the control group. The effect is larger for mothers from low SES backgrounds, while high SES mothers are found to seek more healthcare following their injury.Alcohol Availability, Prenatal Conditions and Midlife Mental Health We examine the long-term mental health effects of an 8.5-month policy experiment that led to a sharp and unexpected increase in alcohol availability, focusing on individuals exposed to the policy in utero. We use administrative healthcare and drug prescription records to identify individuals who have received treatment for a mental health disorder. Prenatal exposure to the policy had a large and persistent effect on mental health: the exposed cohort is 16% more likely to be treated for a mental disorder in midlife. The effect is largest for those exposed from the second trimester and is only partly explained by the lower earnings observed among exposed individuals.The Value of Monitoring for Disaster Prevention: The Desert LocustMonitoring systems are meant to detect early signs of potentially disastrous outbreaks of diseases and pests, in time for preventative action. These monitoring systems are costly, and identifying their economic value requires estimating damages from outbreaks in empirical settings where monitoring is neither uniform nor exogenous. We estimate the value of monitoring systems for desert locusts, known to devour entire agricultural fields. We leverage conflict and weather events in breeding areas to detect the effects of monitoring interruptions on swarm outbreaks. We then reconstruct the spatial patterns of locust migrations to propagate these effects on swarm outbreaks beyond breeding areas. Finally, we show that in-utero exposure to a swarm increases the probability of stunting by 16%. These estimates allow us to quantify the effects of a change in monitoring efforts on subsequent locust swarms and on human health.
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| 5. |
- Sayols-Baixeras, Sergi, et al.
(författare)
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Streptococcus Species Abundance in the Gut Is Linked to Subclinical Coronary Atherosclerosis in 8973 Participants From the SCAPIS Cohort
- 2023
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Ingår i: Circulation. - : Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. - 0009-7322 .- 1524-4539. ; 148:6, s. 459-472
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Gut microbiota have been implicated in atherosclerotic disease, but their relation with subclinical coronary atherosclerosis is unclear. This study aimed to identify associations between the gut microbiome and computed tomography-based measures of coronary atherosclerosis and to explore relevant clinical correlates.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of 8973 participants (50 to 65 years of age) without overt atherosclerotic disease from the population-based SCAPIS (Swedish Cardiopulmonary Bioimage Study). Coronary atherosclerosis was measured using coronary artery calcium score and coronary computed tomography angiography. Gut microbiota species abundance and functional potential were assessed with shotgun metagenomics sequencing of stool, and associations with coronary atherosclerosis were evaluated with multivariable regression models adjusted for cardiovascular risk factors. Associated species were evaluated for association with inflammatory markers, metabolites, and corresponding species in saliva.Results: The mean age of the study sample was 57.4 years, and 53.7% were female. Coronary artery calcification was detected in 40.3%, and 5.4% had at least 1 stenosis with >50% occlusion. Sixty-four species were associated with coronary artery calcium score independent of cardiovascular risk factors, with the strongest associations observed for Streptococcus anginosus and Streptococcus oralis subsp oralis (P<1×10-5). Associations were largely similar across coronary computed tomography angiography-based measurements. Out of the 64 species, 19 species, including streptococci and other species commonly found in the oral cavity, were associated with high-sensitivity C-reactive protein plasma concentrations, and 16 with neutrophil counts. Gut microbial species that are commonly found in the oral cavity were negatively associated with plasma indole propionate and positively associated with plasma secondary bile acids and imidazole propionate. Five species, including 3 streptococci, correlated with the same species in saliva and were associated with worse dental health in the Malmö Offspring Dental Study. Microbial functional potential of dissimilatory nitrate reduction, anaerobic fatty acid β-oxidation, and amino acid degradation were associated with coronary artery calcium score.Conclusions: This study provides evidence of an association of a gut microbiota composition characterized by increased abundance of Streptococcus spp and other species commonly found in the oral cavity with coronary atherosclerosis and systemic inflammation markers. Further longitudinal and experimental studies are warranted to explore the potential implications of a bacterial component in atherogenesis.
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| 6. |
- Sundqvist, Pernilla, 1979-
(författare)
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Förskolans teknikundervisning: vad och hur?
- 2019
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this study was to provide a description of the subject area of technology and the teaching of it in preschool. Three research questions were addressed: 1) What is the content of the subject area of technology in preschool? 2) How do the participants in the study teach technology in preschool? and 3) What aspects of technology does the preschool staff enable the children to learn? The motivation behind the study is the fact that technology is a relatively new teaching area in preschool. Research on the topic is scarce and does not provide preschool staff with an adequate scientific basis on which to build their teaching. Data were generated in three phases. First, a questionnaire was sent to 10 % of preschools in one municipality, asking staff what they include in the subject area of technology and how they view the teaching of technology in preschool. Secondly, seven preschool staff who had responded to the questionnaire were interviewed with the aim of providing a more detailed description of how technology is taught in their respective preschools. Thirdly, an ethnographically inspired perspective was employed with the participation of two preschool units. I visited them during a six-week period, carried out observations and interviewed staff. The outcome of the research is presented in the form of five individual studies, which collectively provided answers to the research questions. The results showed that preschool staff vary in their descriptions of the content of the technology area and how it is taught, with a range spanning from content that does not belong in technology as a knowledge area to relatively complex technological content. Examples of the former were content such as natural science, non-technological skills and techniques and the use of technology as a means of learning in other subject areas. Examples of the latter were content such as how a specific technology works, for instance what parts an object is made of and how they are joined together, as well as knowledge of technological systems. The descriptions revealed varying levels of competence in the teaching of technology to preschool children, with some staff showing adequate knowledge and confidence and others showing a lower level of knowledge as well as insecurity. It also becomes clear that the intended equality in preschool education had not been achieved in respect of technology education. From the part of this study that was based on an ethnographically inspired perspective it is clear that when preschool staff have the interest and the knowledge needed to teach technology to children, such teaching can be meaningful to the children and contribute to their learning in accordance with the stated mission of the preschool. The study has relevance for preschool practice as well as for the research community.
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| 7. |
- Sundqvist, Pernilla, 1979-
(författare)
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Teknik i förskolan är inte något nytt, men idag är vi mera medvetna om vad vi kallar teknik : Personalens beskrivningar av teknik som innehållsområde i förskolan
- 2016
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study investigates what preschool staff include in the technology subject in preschool education, what content they view as relevant and how the teaching of this content can be organized. This is motivated by the fact that technology as subject have not been clearly defined, leaving the teachers insecure and unconfident about what to teach and how to teach it. In addition, preschool do not have a tradition of addressing teaching and learning the way they are now obliged to do according to the curriculum and many studies have shown subject teaching to be a challenge in preschool. Thus, the preschool staff’s challenge is twofold regarding the teaching of technology.The aim is addressed by a mixed methods design, starting with questionnaires and followed by interviews with preschool staff (daycare attendants and preschool teachers). The questionnaire was completed by 102 preschool staff members and interviews were held with seven of these participants.A key results is that technology in preschool involves building and creating. Emphasized is that children should be offered much and varied materials and that it should be available in the environment and inspire creative activities. Another key result is that every-day use of artifacts is viewed as part of technology education. Children should learn to handle artifacts by using them, e.g. pulling up the zipper to close the jacket or cut with scissors. These are activities preschool have always engaged children in, which the staff now name technology. However, there are variations in the result and there are preschool staff members who express a more conscious teaching where children are able to learn about things like the purpose of technology, what parts an object consist of and how these parts are connected, and about technological systems, e.g. how the water get from the lake to the tap and how it is purified on the way. But there are also examples where technology activities are used as a means for working towards the striving goals of other areas, such as math, science and social behavior.Implications are that preschool staff need to develop their teaching in order to work in accordance with the curriculum. A relevant first step is to strengthen their content competence in technology, but also, they need tools for how to teach subject matter like technology in a practice characterized by children’s own choice and influence.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Watts, Nick, et al.
(författare)
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The 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on health and climate change : responding to converging crises
- 2021
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - : Elsevier. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 397:10269, s. 129-170
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Lancet Countdown is an international collaboration established to provide an independent, global monitoring system dedicated to tracking the emerging health profile of the changing climate.The 2020 report presents 43 indicators across five sections: climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerabilities; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement. This report represents the findings and consensus of the 35 leading academic institutions and UN agencies that make up The Lancet Countdown, and draws on the expertise of climate scientists, geographers, engineers, experts in energy, food, and transport, economists, social, and political scientists, data scientists, public health professionals, and doctors.
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