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- Pham, Thi Bich Ngoc
(författare)
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Decentralizing hydraulic society : Actor responses to institutional arrangements in Vietnam
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Irrigation decentralization has been launched worldwide with high expectations of improved governance, efficiency, and productivity through democratic processes. However, there is widespread recognition that decentralization is, in reality, unlikely to bring about these positive outcomes. Poor implementation is widely blamed for these failures, but the current study argues that this is only partially true. Decentralization is usually treated as a technical way of power transfer that can be evaluated through quantitative indicators. Much attention goes to searching solutions to constraints during implementation while less emphasis is on understanding of contexts, processes and the consequences of institutional changes. The common approach mainly focuses on local water users’ organizations but gives insufficient attention to the cross-level interactions between involved actors, their responses to reforms, and power relationships. This approach answers the question: what should be done, but not: why do constraints/limitations occur and why are such contradictory results obtained? In this way the approach itself diffuses some of the challenges in reality and the root of problems leading to surprise consequences and failures during implementation.In this study, two irrigation systems in Vietnam were selected to examine the emerging decentralization processes, actors’ responses to the institutional changes, as well as the main options, challenges and constraints to decentralization. My ambition is also to further understand why constraints occur and have counterproductive effects. A mixed methods approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods, and cross-case analysis are applied. The database was built systematically, based on previous experience in this field, and participatory fieldwork. Decentralization is regarded as a power-laden process involving not just local organizations, but also state agencies, local authorities at different levels, state irrigation companies (IDMCs), and farmers. The study describes how institutional arrangements for decentralization have effects on the dynamics and relations of power between actors in multi-level governance, resulting in impacts on autonomy, accountability, participation, and incentives of involved actors.The analysis shows that the legal framework and several well-intended efforts for decentralization have been launched. However, outcomes in terms of power transfer and actors’ performance are not those expected. The current institutional arrangements have created major constraints: (i) imbalanced power relations, (ii) new resource allocation mechanisms creating dependency among actors, (iii) passiveness, vested interest and privilege within state agencies and IDMCs, and (iv) free-riding behavior and distrust among farmers. Prevailing conditions defy policy intentions by finding a new version of a centralized power structure at provincial level, in which power of state agencies and IDMCs are reinforced. Unexpected effects emerge on the autonomy, accountability, participation, and incentives of all involved actors. Decentralization of irrigation systems is a complex process, not merely a technical transfer of power. It is hard to achieve even with policy in place. All the complexities and implications of irrigation need to be thoroughly considered, with the dynamics in society included. Evaluations of decentralization based on production and economic terms are not enough. Impacts of institutional arrangements on power relations between actors, on their incentives, maneuver room in multi-level governance, and ability to comprehend and influence processes, need to be assessed thoroughly. Essential roles remain for central government when irrigation management is decentralized.
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| 5. |
- Agvald, Per
(författare)
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Nitric oxide generation from nitroglycerin and other no-donors measured in the lung and studies on nitrate tolerance in the cardiovascular system
- 2002
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Nitroglycerin (GTN) and compounds referred to as nitrovasodilators or NOdonors are frequently used in the treatment of ischemic heart disease. The common mode of action for these drugs is liberation of nitric oxide (NO). Nitric oxide evokes relaxation of smooth muscle through activation of guanylate cyclase with subsequent formation of eGMP. In spite of the effectiveness of nitrovasodilators their utility for long-term management of disease is limited by development of tolerance, including neurohormonal effects opposing NO-mediated vasodilation (pseudotolerance) and diminished NO effect (true tolerance). Their relative importance for tolerance development in vivo remains unclear. An obstacle in solving the tolerance problem has been difficulties in measuring NO-release from GTN in vivo. An objective of the present study was to establish a model allowing on-line recording of NO generation and cardiovascular parameters upon administration of NO-donors in vivo. The established model has been applied to investigate how these parameters are affected during the course of nitroglycerin tolerance and cross-tolerance. Finally, mechanistic studies on NO generation from NO-donors have also been conducted in buffer perfused lungs. The findings demonstrate that NO generation from NO-donors in vivo can be recorded in expired air and correlates with changes in blood pressure and plasma nitrite elicited by the drug infusions. There is conspicuous distinction in the amounts and profiles of NO generation and blood pressure effects elicited by different NO donors. GTN and isosorbide dinitrate exhibited a peak and plateau pattern, GTN being the more potent, whereas SIN-1 steadily increased its NO-generation and decreased blood pressure with peak effect first after stop of the infusion. NO detected during GTN infusion was unaffected by nitric oxide synthase inhibition or infusions of thiol-containing compounds. Tachyphylaxis in NO generation from GTN was seen during continuous infusion (the peak plateau pattern described) or upon repeated infusions of the drug. Concurrent infusions of isosorbide dinitrate or isosorbide-5mononitrate also diminished NO generation from GTN whereas this was not affected by NO generation from SIN-1. Tolerance to long-term low dose GTN treatment also resulted in attenuated capacity of the drug to generate NO. Severe hypoxia potently increased NO formation from all types of NO-donors tested, including inorganic nitrite, as measured in expired air in vivo or in perfused lungs. Both endogenous L-arginine dependent NO formation and NO generation from nitrite exhibit biphasic temperature dependence. In conclusion, NO measured in expired air is a useful tool for exploration of nitrovasodilators. Tolerance and cross-tachyphylaxis is associated with decreased NO generation from GTN, and feedback from the generated NO is not the cause of decreased NO formation. Enhancement of NO formation from nitrite or organic nitrates during hypoxia might contribute to their beneficial effects in ischemic conditions. The temperature dependence of NO formation from nitrite suggests an enzymatic formation.
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| 6. |
- Artin, Ingrid
(författare)
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Real-time PCR for diagnosis of botulism and quantification of neurotoxin gene expression in Clostridium botulinum
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The objectives of the work presented in this thesis have been to develop molecular methods for (i) detection of Clostridium botulinum in food and clinical samples, and (ii) monitoring the expression of the neurotoxin gene, cnt, during different growth phases and under different growth conditions. For the diagnosis of botulism, a real-time PCR-based method including an internal amplification control for C. botulinum types A, B and E was developed. The method was used to diagnose the first case of wound botulism in an injecting drug user in Sweden, which was also the first case of wound botulism reported to be caused by C. botulinum type E. It was previously assumed that only proteolytic C. botulinum could cause infectious botulism. However, this case revealed that wound botulism can be caused by nonproteolytic C. botulinum. When developing new food products it is important to consider not only the occurrence and quantity of pathogens in the food chain, but how the processing and subsequent storage and handling will affect them. Especially for food designed to have a long shelf-life, understanding the influence of environmental factors, food preservatives, and type of packaging on microbial growth and virulence expression is very important. Quantitative reverse transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) were used to monitor the neurotoxin expression in C. botulinum types A, B, and E. The relative cnt expression varied with growth phase in all three types, reaching a maximum as the late exponential phase was changing into stationary phase. However, for the proteolytic type A, a second increase could be seen in late stationary phase in contrast to type E. The same behaviour has earlier been observed for proteolytic C. botulinum type B with a second increase in cntB mRNA when the bacteria reached the death phase. For the nonproteolytic C. botulinum type E the cntE expression declined rapidly after the peak in the transition between exponential and stationary phase. The cntE mRNA half-life was calculated to be approximately nine minutes. When investigating the effect of carbon dioxide on growth and neurotoxin expression, we found that while proteolytic type A was not affected in either regard, the nonproteolytic types B and E were. Their growth was slowed, but the relative cnt expression was increased with an elevated CO2 concentration, with fivefold higher levels of cntB mRNA and type B toxin being detected at 70% CO2 than at 10%. For type E the increase in expression at 70% CO2 was two-fold greater, when compared with 10% CO2. For the proteolytic strain Hall A microarrays were also used to follow the genome-wide expression profiles. Comparison between the results from the qRT-PCR and the microarrays shows that both methods seem valid, as the results are similar. For example, the expression of the positive regulator gene, cntR, followed the same pattern as cntA, but at a much lower level. In conclusion, our findings, confirmed with both qRT-PCR and ELISA, shed a new cautionary light on the potential risks of botulism associated with nonproteolytic C. botulinum and the use of modified atmosphere packaging. In addition, our PCR method was successfully used on clinical samples and proved to be a valuable complement to standard methods.
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| 7. |
- Bera, Sandip, et al.
(författare)
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Floquet scattering of quadratic band-touching semimetals through a time-periodic potential well
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Physics. - 0953-8984 .- 1361-648X. ; 33:29
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We consider tunneling of quasiparticles through a rectangular quantum well, subject to periodic driving. The quasiparticles are the itinerant charges in two-dimensional and three-dimensional semimetals having a quadratic bandtouching (QBT) point in the Brillouin zone. To analyze the time-periodic Hamiltonian, we assume a non-adiabatic limit where the Floquet theorem is applicable. By deriving the Floquet scattering matrices, we chalk out the transmission and shot noise spectra of the QBT semimetals. The spectra show Fano resonances, which we identify with the (quasi)bound states of the systems.
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- Bera, Soumya, et al.
(författare)
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One-particle density matrix characterization of many-body localization
- 2017
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Ingår i: Annalen der Physik. - : Wiley-VCH Verlagsgesellschaft. - 0003-3804 .- 1521-3889. ; 529:7
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study interacting fermions in one dimension subject to random, uncorrelated onsite disorder, a paradigmatic model of many-body localization (MBL). This model realizes an interaction-driven quantum phase transition between an ergodic and a many-body localized phase, with the transition occurring in the many-body eigenstates. We propose a single-particle framework to characterize these phases by the eigenstates (the natural orbitals) and the eigenvalues (the occupation spectrum) of the one-particle density matrix (OPDM) in individual many-body eigenstates. As a main result, we find that the natural orbitals are localized in the MBL phase, but delocalized in the ergodic phase. This qualitative change in these single-particle states is a many-body effect, since without interactions the single-particle energy eigenstates are all localized. The occupation spectrum in the ergodic phase is thermal in agreement with the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis, while in the MBL phase the occupations preserve a discontinuity at an emergent Fermi edge. This suggests that the MBL eigenstates are weakly dressed Slater determinants, with the eigenstates of the underlying Anderson problem as reference states. We discuss the statistical properties of the natural orbitals and of the occupation spectrum in the two phases and as the transition is approached. Our results are consistent with the existing picture of emergent integrability and localized integrals of motion, or quasiparticles, in the MBL phase. We emphasize the close analogy of the MBL phase to a zero-temperature Fermi liquid: in the studied model, the MBL phase is adiabatically connected to the Anderson insulator and the occupation-spectrum discontinuity directly indicates the presence of quasiparticles localized in real space. Finally, we show that the same picture emerges for interacting fermions in the presence of an experimentally-relevant bichromatic lattice and thereby demonstrate that our findings are not limited to a specific model.
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| 9. |
- Burnette, Joyce
(författare)
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The Paradox of Progress : the Emergence of Wage Discrimination in US Manufacturing
- 2015
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Ingår i: European Review of Economic History. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 1474-0044 .- 1361-4916. ; 19:2, s. 128-148
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article tests for wage discrimination in US manufacturing during the nineteenth century and in 2002 by estimating the female-to-male productivity ratio and comparing it to the wage ratio. This method will not identify all forms of discrimination, but will determine whether women were paid wages commensurate with their productivity. There was no significant difference between the wage ratio and the productivity ratio in the nineteenth century, but in 1900 there is evidence of gender discrimination among white-collar workers. In 2002 the female-to-male productivity ratio was higher than in the nineteenth century, and the wage ratio was also higher, but the wage ratio was significantly lower than the productivity ratio, at least for workers older than thirty-five. The movement from the spot labor markets of the nineteenth century to the internal labor markets has allowed for the emergence of gender wage discrimination.
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| 11. |
- Persson, Marcus
(författare)
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Myntsamlandets demografi i Sverige
- 2005
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Ingår i: Svensk Numismatisk Tidskrift. - 0283-071X. ; :5
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Tidskriftsartikel (populärvet., debatt m.m.)
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| 14. |
- Schauerte, Tobias, 1975-
(författare)
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Identifying Product Attributes for Quality Function Deployment : Consumer Perceptions in the Case of Wooden Multi-Storey Houses
- 2013
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Ingår i: Pro Ligno. - Brasova : Editura Universitatii "TRANSILVANIA" din Brasov. - 1841-4737 .- 2069-7430. ; 9:4, s. 773-779
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In order to bridge the gap between external consumer value and internal production quality, an understanding of consumers’ needs is vital. Consumers’ needs have to be translated through a firms’ internal value chain to improve production quality. The Means-End Chain approach elicits consumers’ needs in terms of product attributes, which further can be translated into engineering characteristics by using the House of Quality concept as the first step in Quality Function Deployment. Here, the relative importance of the attributes plays an important role for further processing. This paper’ aims at identifying product attributes and their relative importance, as an input into the House of Quality within Quality Function Deployment. This is done in the case of wooden multi-storey houses in Sweden, since there is a documented gap between the external consumer value and the internal production quality. Based on the Means-End Chain approach, the Extended Association Pattern Technique was used for a two stage study to elicit product attributes. Results from 34 interviews and 503 returned questionnaires revealed ten product attributes ranked by importance, to be further translated into engineering characteristics within Quality Function Deployment.
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| 17. |
- Taskén, Kjetil, et al.
(författare)
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Single point of entry to the European precision cancer medicine trial network PRIME-ROSE
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Clinical Oncology. - : American Society of Clinical Oncology. - 1527-7755 .- 0732-183X. ; 42:16
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Konferensbidrag (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Over the last decades, there has been a surge in the development and approval of targeted drugs and immunotherapies for treating cancer patients, as seen by the 757 % increase in approvals by the FDA for new cancer treatments since 2000 (1). This has significantly impacted cancer care and contributed to improving overall survival in various cancer subgroups. However, access to these new treatments is constrained by the market access strategy of the patent-owning company and available knowledge of treatment effects. Only a few treatments have received pan-cancer approval from EMA or FDA, and most drugs receive market authorization per indication. As a result, there is a widening access gap between patients with different cancer types (2). Methods: Exploring the effect of biomarker-driven treatments in new cancer subtypes requires the ability to find patients with rare biomarkers. PRIME-ROSE is a European precision medicine network comprising 11 ongoing or soon-to-start national DRUP-like clinical trials testing registered drugs outside their current label (www.prime-rose.eu). Patients with relevant tumor biomarkers are identified and treated with matched drugs available in each trial’s drug portfolio. The ambition is to swiftly and systematically evaluate the effectiveness of approved precision cancer medicines in new indications through pragmatic trial designs and with RWE control cohorts, ensuring expansion into all relevant patient groups to maximize societal benefit. This is particularly relevant for rare cancers, which are enriched in precision medicine trials (3). Results: In PRIME-ROSE, the trials now share and aggregate data to build evidence faster and more effectively impact patient care by addressing key challenges in precision cancer medicine implementation (increasing the recruitment area to 71 million inhabitants). This will significantly reduce the time for filling treatment cohorts and contribute to closing the indication/drug-specific knowledge gap. In fact, several pharmaceutical companies have already shown their interest in and commitment to participating in PRIME-ROSE, as it offers the unique advantage of entering the trials in the network simultaneously (single point of entry) and with a floating allocation of treatment slots between trials, increasing efficiency in finding patients with specific biomarkers to fill treatment cohorts. Conclusions: A unified entry point to the PRIME-ROSE network is feasible and can facilitate building the knowledge base faster for label expansion and/or country-specific approvals/ reimbursement. National multi-stakeholder ecosystems that include pragmatic, RWE-controlled DRUP-like clinical trials may advance precision medicine implementation.
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