| 1. |
- Gyllenberg, A, et al.
(författare)
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Variability in the CIITA gene interacts with HLA in multiple sclerosis.
- 2014
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Ingår i: Genes and immunity. - Stockholm : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1476-5470 .- 1466-4879. ; 15, s. 162-167
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The human leukocyte antigen (HLA) is the main genetic determinant of multiple sclerosis (MS) risk. Within the HLA, the class II HLA-DRB1*15:01 allele exerts a disease-promoting effect, whereas the class I HLA-A*02 allele is protective. The CIITA gene is crucial for expression of class II HLA molecules and has previously been found to associate with several autoimmune diseases, including MS and type 1 diabetes. We here performed association analyses with CIITA in 2000 MS cases and up to 6900 controls as well as interaction analysis with HLA. We find that the previously investigated single-nucleotide polymorphism rs4774 is associated with MS risk in cases carrying the HLA-DRB1*15 allele (P=0.01, odds ratio (OR): 1.21, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04-1.40) or the HLA-A*02 allele (P=0.01, OR: 1.33, 95% CI: 1.07-1.64) and that these associations are independent of the adjacent confirmed MS susceptibility gene CLEC16A. We also confirm interaction between rs4774 and HLA-DRB1*15:01 such that individuals carrying the risk allele for rs4774 and HLA-DRB1*15:01 have a higher than expected risk for MS. In conclusion, our findings support previous data that variability in the CIITA gene affects MS risk, but also that the effect is modulated by MS-associated HLA haplotypes. These findings further underscore the biological importance of HLA for MS risk.Genes and Immunity advance online publication, 16 January 2014; doi:10.1038/gene.2013.71.
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| 2. |
- Kirsebom, O. S., et al.
(författare)
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Measurement of the 2+→0+ ground-state transition in the β decay of F 20
- 2019
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Ingår i: Physical Review C. - 2469-9985. ; 100:6
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We report the first detection of the second-forbidden, nonunique, 2+→0+, ground-state transition in the β decay of F20. A low-energy, mass-separated F+20 beam produced at the IGISOL facility in Jyväskylä, Finland, was implanted in a thin carbon foil and the β spectrum measured using a magnetic transporter and a plastic-scintillator detector. The β-decay branching ratio inferred from the measurement is bβ=[0.41±0.08(stat)±0.07(sys)]×10-5 corresponding to logft=10.89(11), making this one of the strongest second-forbidden, nonunique β transitions ever measured. The experimental result is supported by shell-model calculations and has significant implications for the final evolution of stars that develop degenerate oxygen-neon cores. Using the new experimental data, we argue that the astrophysical electron-capture rate on Ne20 is now known to within better than 25% at the relevant temperatures and densities.
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| 3. |
- Tai, F, et al.
(författare)
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Abdominal Wall Miscellaneous
- 2015
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Ingår i: Hernia : the journal of hernias and abdominal wall surgery. - 1248-9204. ; 19 Suppl 1, s. S5-S12
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Baltrunaite, Audinga, 1985-
(författare)
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Political Economics of Special Interests and Gender
- 2016
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Political Finance Reform and Public Procurement: Evidence from Lithuania. Can political donations buy influence? This paper studies whether firms trade political contributions for public procurement contracts. To answer this question, I focus on the Lithuanian political economy. Combining data on a large number of government tenders, the universe of corporate donors and firm characteristics, I examine how a ban on corporate donations affects the awarding of procurement contracts to companies that donated in the past. Consistent with political favoritism, contributing firms’ probability of winning goes down by five percentage points as compared to that of non-donor firms after the ban. Among different mechanisms, the hypothesis that corporate donors get confidential information on competing bids prevails. The empirical results are in line with predictions from a first-price sealed-bid auction model with one informed bidder. Evidence on firm bidding and victory margins suggests that contributing firms adjust their bids in order to secure contracts at a maximum revenue. I assess that tax payers save almost one percent of GDP thanks to the reform.Gender Quotas and the Quality of Politicians. We analyze the effects of the introduction of gender quotas in candidate lists on the quality of elected politicians, as measured by the average number of years of education. We consider an Italian law which introduced gender quotas in local elections in 1993, and was abolished in 1995. As not all municipalities went through elections during this period, we identify two groups of municipalities and use a difference-in-differences estimation. We find that gender quotas are associated with an increase in the quality of elected politicians, with the effect ranging from 0.12 to 0.24 years of education. This effect is due not only to the higher number of elected women, who are on average more educated than men, but also to the lower number of low-educated elected men. The positive effect on quality is confirmed when we measure the latter with alternative indicators, it persists in the long run and it is robust to controlling for political ideology and political competition.Affirmative Action and the Power of the Elderly. There is evidence that age matters in politics. In this article we study whether implementation of affirmative action policies on gender can generate additional effects on an alternative dimension of representation, namely, the age of politicians. We consider an Italian law which introduced gender quotas in candidate lists for local elections in 1993, and was abolished in 1995. As not all municipalities went through elections during this period, we can identify two groups of municipalities and use a difference-in-differences estimation to analyze the effect of gender quotas on the age of elected politicians. We find that gender quotas are associated with election of politicians that are younger by more than one year. The effect occurs mainly due to the reduction in age of elected male politicians and is consistent with the optimizing behavior of parties or of voters.Let the Voters Choose Women. Female under-representation in politics can be the result of parties' selection of candidates and/or of voters’ electoral preferences. To assess the impact of these two channels, we exploit the introduction of Italian Law 215/2013, which prescribes both gender quotas on candidate lists and double preference voting conditioned on gender. Using a regression discontinuity design, we estimate that the law increases the share of elected female politicians by 22 percentage points. The result is driven by the increase in preference votes cast for female candidates, suggesting a salient role of double preference voting in promoting female empowerment in politics.
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| 7. |
- Barman, Malin, 1983, et al.
(författare)
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Nutritional impact on Immunological maturation during Childhood in relation to the Environment (NICE): a prospective birth cohort in northern Sweden
- 2018
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Ingår i: BMJ Open. - : BMJ. - 2044-6055 .- 2044-6055. ; 8:10
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2018. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ. INTRODUCTION: Prenatal and neonatal environmental factors, such as nutrition, microbes and toxicants, may affect health throughout life. Many diseases, such as allergy and impaired child development, may be programmed already in utero or during early infancy. Birth cohorts are important tools to study associations between early life exposure and disease risk. Here, we describe the study protocol of the prospective birth cohort, 'Nutritional impact on Immunological maturation during Childhood in relation to the Environment' (NICE). The primary aim of the NICE cohort is to clarify the effect of key environmental exposures-diet, microbes and environmental toxicants-during pregnancy and early childhood, on the maturation of the infant's immune system, including initiation of sensitisation and allergy as well as some secondary outcomes: infant growth, obesity, neurological development and oral health.METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The NICE cohort will recruit about 650 families during mid-pregnancy. The principal inclusion criterion will be planned birth at the Sunderby Hospital in the north of Sweden, during 2015-2018. Questionnaires data and biological samples will be collected at 10 time-points, from pregnancy until the children reach 4 years of age. Samples will be collected primarily from mothers and children, and from fathers. Biological samples include blood, urine, placenta, breast milk, meconium, faeces, saliva and hair. Information regarding allergic heredity, diet, socioeconomic status, lifestyle including smoking, siblings, pet ownership, etc will be collected using questionnaires. Sensitisation to common allergens will be assessed by skin prick testing and allergic disease will be diagnosed by a paediatrician at 1 and 4 years of age. At 4 years of age, the children will also be examined regarding growth, neurobehavioural and neurophysiological status and oral health.ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The NICE cohort has been approved by the Regional Ethical Review Board in Umeå, Sweden (2013/18-31M). Results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journals and communicated on scientific conferences.
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| 8. |
- Behtoui, Alireza, 1958-, et al.
(författare)
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The social relations and educational expectations of young people in marginalised areas : Evidence from Sweden
- 2018
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Ingår i: Comparative Perspectives on Early School Leaving in the European Union. - London : Routledge. - 9781351691819 - 9781138048072 ; , s. 102-116
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Bokkapitel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- A great deal of previous studies on early school leavers have concentrated on the individual characteristics of young people and neglecting the social relations that cause them to drop out. This chapter highlights the importance of and the way in which the social relations between young people with significant people in their immediate social environment, e.g. relationships with family members, the school staff and their friends, affect their educational expectations. In line with earlier research, we have assumed that the educational expectations of students are a crucial predicator of early school leaving (failure, frustration and, ultimately, disengagement and dropout), i.e. having fewer educational expectations predicts a higher risk of ESL. The data used in this study were collected in schools in marginalized urban areas of Sweden during the period 2014-2016 as a part of the RESL.eu project in Sweden. By using a mixed-methods approach with both survey material, in-depth interviews and participant observation in a selected group of schools, we have tried to highlight these complex relationships between social relations and educational expectations. As our results demonstrate, these relationships and the social capital they provide play an important role in forming the educational expectations of young people.
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| 9. |
- Bjerre, I. M., et al.
(författare)
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Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC) applied to measure parent's perception of the habilitation process in Sweden.
- 2004
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Ingår i: Child: Care Health and Development. - : Wiley. - 1365-2214 .- 0305-1862. ; 30:2, s. 123-130
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aim To evaluate the instrument Measure of Processes of Care (MPOC) in a Swedish context. Methods The MPOC consists of 56 questions in the five scales: enabling and partnership; providing general information; providing specific information about the child; co-ordinated and comprehensive care; and respectful and supportive care. The questionnaire was translated into Swedish and distributed to 850 families, served by four habilitation centres. After two reminders, a response rate of 74.9% was obtained, and about 60% of the questionnaires qualified for further statistical analysis. Reliability, calculated as Cronbach's alpha, was high for four of the five scales and acceptable for the fifth (scale no. 3). Results Significant differences were shown between centres as well as between age groups. These differences were reasonable as judged through background knowledge, indicating that the instrument was able to discriminate between actual differences in services. Commenting on the practical use of the questionaire, staff, as well as responding parents, found the questionnaire rather long and some parents reported difficulties in giving answers as specific as the questionnaire asked them to. Conclusion The MPOC shows sufficient sensitivity to be used as an evaluation tool for services at a centre or program level, and can be recommended for research and practical use.
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| 10. |
- Bolse, Kärstin, et al.
(författare)
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Organisation of care for Swedish patients with an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator, a national survey
- 2010
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Ingår i: European Heart Journal, Supplement. - Oxford : Oxford University Press. - 1520-765X .- 1554-2815. ; 31:Supplement 1, s. 236-236
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background:ICD implantations have developed rapidly in recent years and is now an established arrhythmia treatment. The expanding indication for ICD implantation demands new competencies and resources in the ICD team members.Objectives:To describe the clinical aspects of Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators (ICD) care in Sweden with focus on organisation, the role and education of nurses, patient information and education, and areas in need of improvement.Methods:Participants were recruited among physicians and nurses in all of the hospitals implanting ICDs (N=16). Data was collected by a questionnaire. The questionnaire was constructed based on a systematic literature review and then guided by an expert group with clinical and research expertise within the ICD area. The format was inspired by existing questionnaires on heart failure care. The questionnaire comprised of 23 questions, including both multiple choice questions and open questions. Additionally, all written educational materials provided to patients pre- and post-ICD implant were collected from all 16 hospitals. Deductive content analysis using Sarvimäki and Stenbock-Hult's five holistic dimensions was employed to ascertain how information was provided in brochures and information materials.Results:This study revealed variations in the organisation and follow-up of ICD patients between the different centres in Sweden. Half of the hospitals (n=8) had nurse-based outpatient clinics and several others planned to introduce them. Three hospitals carried out distance follow-ups by means of tele-monitoring. The nurses had received specific ICD education from ICD companies and/or various university courses. In all hospitals, ICD patients received verbal and written information both before and after implantation. The biophysical dimension dominated in the information material while the emotional, intellectual, and socio-cultural dimensions were scarcely described, and the spiritual- existential was not referred to at all. The majority of the ICD teams were in favour of the development of research and quality assurance by means of check lists, guidelines and the ICD-registry.Conclusion:Holistic care of ICD patients can be achieved by means of a multi-disciplinary ICD team and more patient-centred educational strategies. In Sweden, the organisation of ICD care and follow-up is developing towards more nurse-based clinics. The content of the written educational materials need to be more holistic, rather than mainly focusing on the biophysical and technical aspects of living with an ICD.
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