| 1. |
- Elfving, Karin, et al.
(författare)
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Dissemination of Spotted Fever Rickettsia Agents in Europe by Migrating Birds
- 2010
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science. - 1932-6203. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Migratory birds are known to play a role as long-distance vectors for many microorganisms. To investigate whether this is true of rickettsial agents as well, we characterized tick infestation and gathered ticks from 13,260 migratory passerine birds in Sweden. A total of 1127 Ixodes spp. ticks were removed from these birds and the extracted DNA from 957 of them was available for analyses. The DNA was assayed for detection of Rickettsia spp. using real-time PCR, followed by DNA sequencing for species identification. Rickettsia spp. organisms were detected in 108 (11.3%) of the ticks. Rickettsia helvetica, a spotted fever rickettsia associated with human infections, was predominant among the PCR-positive samples. In 9 (0.8%) of the ticks, the partial sequences of 17kDa and ompB genes showed the greatest similarity to Rickettsia monacensis, an etiologic agent of Mediterranean spotted fever-like illness, previously described in southern Europe as well as to the Rickettsia sp. IrITA3 strain. For 15 (1.4%) of the ticks, the 17kDa, ompB, gltA and ompA genes showed the greatest similarity to Rickettsia sp. strain Davousti, Rickettsia japonica and Rickettsia heilongjiangensis, all closely phylogenetically related, the former previously found in Amblyomma tholloni ticks in Africa and previously not detected in Ixodes spp. ticks. The infestation prevalence of ticks infected with rickettsial organisms was four times higher among ground foraging birds than among other bird species, but the two groups were equally competent in transmitting Rickettsia species. The birds did not seem to serve as reservoir hosts for Rickettsia spp., but in one case it seems likely that the bird was rickettsiemic and that the ticks had acquired the bacteria from the blood of the bird. In conclusion, migratory passerine birds host epidemiologically important vector ticks and Rickettsia species and contribute to the geographic distribution of spotted fever rickettsial agents and their diseases.
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| 2. |
- Lundkvist, Hans, et al.
(författare)
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A new entrance for sustainable gender equality
- 2010
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable regional and business development depends on the access to people motivated to invest their lives in the region and the enterprises. But in a time of demographical changes, urbanization and new values regarding life and work among the next generation the issue of being attractive is crucial for both a region and enterprises. This paper describes the interactive collaboration between a research project and an enterprise in a semirural area in Sweden. A collaboration aiming for a more gender mainstreamed organization in order to retain and attract the best-suited labor for tomorrow. During the long term process the enterprise became more conscious of being a gender equal employer. The interaction gave the enterprise a platform for continued development with gender equality as an important element in developing a strong employer brand.
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| 3. |
- Lundkvist, Hans, 1956-, et al.
(författare)
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’Doing Gender’ in a Local and Regional Context : An Innovative Process of Mainstreaming Gender Equality
- 2012
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Ingår i: Promoting Innovation. - Stockholm : VINNOVA–Verket för Innovationssystem. - 9789186517717 ; , s. 291-311
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Sustainable regional and business development depends on access to people motivated to invest their lives in a region and its enterprise. However in a time of demographical changes, urbanisation and new values on life and work among the next generation, the issue of attractiveness is crucial for both a region and its workplaces. The purpose of this chapter is to describe a process methodology for increased gender awareness in an enterprise and to emphasise the relationship between organisational and regional de- velopment. In this context, we use the innovative combination of the two scientific fields, gender and action-research in a collaborative project between researchers and an engineering enterprise in a semi-rural area of Sweden. This collaboration aims for a more gender mainstreamed organisation so as to retain and attract the most suitable labour for the future. During the long-term process, the employer and employees be- came more conscious of the importance of gender-equal issues; a factor we believe to be an important prerequisite of sustainable growth.
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| 4. |
- Lundkvist, Hans
(författare)
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Employer brand opens up for a gender process model
- 2011
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Ingår i: Nordic Journal of Working Life Studies. - : Det Kgl. Bibliotek/Royal Danish Library. - 2245-0157. ; 1:2, s. 99-115
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Regardless of a long tradition of legislation, policymaking and practical achievements, the issues ofgender equality and of the segregated labor market still remain a matter of concern in Sweden. Thispaper describes a collaborative process between a research project and an engineering enterprise.It describes the point of departure, based on the concept of employer brand, of a long-term changeprocess and the different phases and activities during an intensive period 2009. The collaborationaimed to develop innovative methods, and to apply them in order to achieve increased genderawareness, and thereby to be able to retain and attract the best labor for tomorrow. Differentapproaches and methods as analogies, anecdotes, and pictures were used to nourish the process.Findings showed that the interactive process contributed to increased awareness. During the processthe enterprise became more conscious of the potential of being a gender equal employer
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
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| 7. |
- Lundkvist, Hans
(författare)
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Why are WE not more attractive for women? : different perspectives on a collaboration process to increase gender awareness
- 2012
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Access to human resources is a crucial factor in most cases of business and regional development. Due to demographical changes, urbanization and new values among the next generation, the competition to find the right workforce is likely to increase. Reports have stressed that the difficulties for companies to find the right labor can become a hindrance to sustainable business and regional development. Considering the low proportion of women in the field of engineering, only 20 percent, one must ask; Why are WE (Works in Engineering) not more attractive for women? The purpose of this thesis is to describe the collaboration between an expanding enterprise in a semirural area and a gender research project, from three different perspectives in order to find some answers for the overarching question. In the first paper, the purpose is to describe and analyze the creation of a process model for gender awareness within an enterprise. The second paper will, with the same empirical data, focus on the interdependence between enterprise and region. Finally, the last paper, written for a conference in India, addressing readers unfamiliar with the gender equality issue in the Swedish context, describes how a male facilitator combines disclosing personal life experiences with other methods, as a strategy to inspire men to consider a gender perspective, to use gender glasses. Gender equality has been a topic on the political agenda in Sweden for a long time. Although much progress has been made, many obstructive structures remain. Sweden is one of the European countries that have the highest participation rate for women in the labor force. However, the labor market is highly gender-segregated, both horizontally, which refers to the concentration of women and men in different types of jobs, and vertically, the concentration of women and men in different jobtasks and positions. Due to this background, the innovation system, Triple Steelix, was granted funding by VINNOVA for the project “Gender Perspective for Attractive Work”, in the fall of 2008. The purpose of the research project was to develop methods and knowledge that would contribute to increased gender awareness in order for employers to become more attractive to current and potential staff. The framework for the collaboration is action research in combination with feminist theory, the concept of “doing gender”, theories of masculinity, and attractive work theories. Different approaches and methods, such as analogies, anecdotes, and pictures, have been used during workshops with the organization, in order to nourish the joint learning process.Findings are that in an industrial environment with an “engineering discourse”,driven by a technical-economic rationality that prioritizes market demands, gender issues are not often seen as a parameter for sustainable business or regional development. Nevertheless, the project demonstrates that with an interactive approach and an open dialogue that considers the company's needs, arguments, and intervention for more gender-equal workplaces do not necessarily meet resistance. In this case, the concept of employer brand was the admission ticket for the collaboration. The combination of different participatory methods that were adapted to the context made it possible to counter resistance from individuals and to discuss gender from different perspectives and ways of reasoning. Another conclusion is that when launching long-term transformational processes in an organization, gender should not remain a “non-issue”. When gender issues are integrated, it will contribute to examining the organization from a new perspective regarding issues such as power, symbols, and relations. In the described collaboration, gender perspective was integrated and the enterprise became more aware of gender issues as an important component of strengthening the employer brand. The principle of the described process model can probably be used in similar cases if adapted to a local context.
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