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- Johnson, Mikael, 1966-
(author)
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Stakeholder dialogue for sustainable service
- 2008
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Doctoral thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Human behavior threatens to ruin irrevocably our long-term existence; the downhill slide is steep and seemingly soon will be incurable. Shifting from unsustainable development would require substantial and far-reaching changes in lifestyles and living standards. As stakeholders (customers, consumers, shareholders, suppliers, distributors, employees, and local communities), through different kinds of dialogue we can influence organizations’ performance by applying pressure on them to change unsustainable behaviors. This doctoral thesis is concerned with the dialogue occurring in the interface between service organizations, under pressure to change their behavior, and their stakeholders, and the link between stakeholder dialogue and organizations’ performance management. The overall aim of the thesis is to describe and understand how stakeholder dialogue can contribute to the value-creation process of a sustainable service. The theoretical frame of reference finds its inspiration in research on management accounting, service management, and sustainable development/corporate social responsibility. In this way, it attempts to bridge the gap between business and ethics. Theoretically, the thesis is a melting pot of ideas on stakeholder value creation. Herein, the customer focus of service research expands to a stakeholder focus, and the management approach of the quality movement, more specifically total responsibility management, develops the thinking of performance management beyond the functionalistic tradition. The thesis also applies a triple bottom line (economic, social, and environmental) approach. The thesis is a compilation of five different studies that follow an interpretative case study approach. The empirical framework stems from the public and private sectors through studies of Swedish public organizations (the Swedish Road Administration and Sveaskog), parts of the Swedish public transport industry, and Swedbank. The thesis contributes to an understanding of what sustainable service is and the complexity of the transformation process of an organization towards sustainability. Further, it reflects on the role of stakeholder dialogue in a sustainable service. Finally, the thesis contributes to an understanding of how sustainable service matches with performance management by developing a sustainable performance management framework. The framework is a total quality value-creation concept that avoids reducing the complexity of the studied problem by solving it in three parallel, continuous processes or dimensions coupled with each other: the descriptive, instrumental, and normative dimensions. The descriptive dimension involves a social, ethical, and political documentary contextualization through sustainability reports purposed for stakeholder communication. The instrumental dimension contains a traditional set of management controls and techniques supported by triple bottom line performance measurement. The normative dimension is founded in sustainability- and triple bottom line-thinking, values-based leadership, and a feedback and learning process dedicated to genuine stakeholder dialogue.
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| 3. |
- Lyon, Helen N., et al.
(author)
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The association of a SNP upstream of INSIG2 with body mass index is reproduced in several but not all cohorts
- 2007
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In: PLoS Genetics. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1553-7404. ; 3:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A SNP upstream of the INSIG2 gene, rs7566605, was recently found to be associated with obesity as measured by body mass index (BMI) by Herbert and colleagues. The association between increased BMI and homozygosity for the minor allele was first observed in data from a genome-wide association scan of 86,604 SNPs in 923 related individuals from the Framingham Heart Study offspring cohort. The association was reproduced in four additional cohorts, but was not seen in a fifth cohort. To further assess the general reproducibility of this association, we genotyped rs7566605 in nine large cohorts from eight populations across multiple ethnicities (total n = 16,969). We tested this variant for association with BMI in each sample under a recessive model using family-based, population-based, and case-control designs. We observed a significant (p < 0.05) association in five cohorts but saw no association in three other cohorts. There was variability in the strength of association evidence across examination cycles in longitudinal data from unrelated individuals in the Framingham Heart Study Offspring cohort. A combined analysis revealed significant independent validation of this association in both unrelated (p = 0.046) and family-based (p = 0.004) samples. The estimated risk conferred by this allele is small, and could easily be masked by small sample size, population stratification, or other confounders. These validation studies suggest that the original association is less likely to be spurious, but the failure to observe an association in every data set suggests that the effect of SNP rs7566605 on BMI may be heterogeneous across population samples.
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| 4. |
- Rebetz, Johan, et al.
(author)
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Fiber mediated receptor masking in non-infected bystander cells restricts adenovirus cell killing effect but promotes adenovirus host co-existence.
- 2009
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In: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 4:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The basic concept of conditionally replicating adenoviruses (CRAD) as oncolytic agents is that progenies generated from each round of infection will disperse, infect and kill new cancer cells. However, CRAD has only inhibited, but not eradicated tumor growth in xenograft tumor therapy, and CRAD therapy has had only marginal clinical benefit to cancer patients. Here, we found that CRAD propagation and cancer cell survival co-existed for long periods of time when infection was initiated at low multiplicity of infection (MOI), and cancer cell killing was inefficient and slow compared to the assumed cell killing effect upon infection at high MOI. Excessive production of fiber molecules from initial CRAD infection of only 1 to 2% cancer cells and their release prior to the viral particle itself caused a tropism-specific receptor masking in both infected and non-infected bystander cells. Consequently, the non-infected bystander cells were inefficiently bound and infected by CRAD progenies. Further, fiber overproduction with concomitant restriction of adenovirus spread was observed in xenograft cancer therapy models. Besides the CAR-binding Ad4, Ad5, and Ad37, infection with CD46-binding Ad35 and Ad11 also caused receptor masking. Fiber overproduction and its resulting receptor masking thus play a key role in limiting CRAD functionality, but potentially promote adenovirus and host cell co-existence. These findings also give important clues for understanding mechanisms underlying the natural infection course of various adenoviruses.
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| 5. |
- Sjöberg, Beatrice G., et al.
(author)
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Low levels of IgM antibodies against phosphorylcholine : a potential risk marker for ischemic stroke in men
- 2009
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In: Atherosclerosis. - : Elsevier BV. - 0021-9150 .- 1879-1484. ; 203:2, s. 528-532
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Natural antibodies specific for phosphorylcholine (anti-PC) have been implicated as protective factors in atherosclerosis. We herein determined the relationship between IgM anti-PC and incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS: We studied 349 incident cases (200 men) of first events of CVD (coronary heart disease (CHD; n=203 or ischemic stroke; n=146) and 693 age- and sex-matched controls identified through 12 years of follow-up (1991-2003) of subjects from the cardiovascular cohort within the Malmö Diet and Cancer Study. Relative risks (RR) of CVD with 95% confidence intervals (CI) of incident CVD with adjustments for age, smoking, total cholesterol and blood pressure were determined. Anti-PC-levels were measured using ELISA (Athera CVDefine). RESULTS: As determined using Athera CVDefine, significant associations were attained with values of anti-PC below 17U/ml (corresponding to the lowest 9th percentile), which remained after taking confounders into account (RR: 1.79, 95% CI: 1.09-2.94, p=0.021). If men were studied separately, significance was evident at values below 17U/ml (RR: 2.01, 95% CI: 1.11-3.67, p=0.022), which was not the case among women. Furthermore, values below 17U/ml were also associated with ischemic stroke (RR=3.67, 95% CI: 1.34-10.1, p=0.01), but not with CHD. CONCLUSION: Low IgM anti-PC could be a novel risk marker for development of ischemic stroke in men. Further studies are needed to establish gender and subgroup differences.
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| 6. |
- Wang, J. H., et al.
(author)
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Thermodynamic assessment of the Au-Ni system
- 2005
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In: Calphad. - : Elsevier BV. - 0364-5916 .- 1873-2984. ; 29:4, s. 263-268
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The phase diagram and thermodynamic properties of the Au-Ni system have been assessed from experimental thermodynamic and phase diagram data by means of the CALPHAD method. A consistent set of thermodynamic parameters for each phase was obtained. Good agreement is reached between the calculated and experimental results. The calculated congruent point is 1214.3 K and 42.6 at.% Ni and the critical point of the miscibility gap is 1089.5 K and 73.0 at.% Ni.
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| 7. |
- Wang, J. H., et al.
(author)
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Thermodynamic reassessment of the Au-Te system
- 2006
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In: Journal of Alloys and Compounds. - : Elsevier BV. - 0925-8388 .- 1873-4669. ; 407:1-2, s. 106-111
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The Au-Te binary system has been thermodynamically reassessed using the CALPHALD method. The excess Gibbs energy of the liquid phase was formulated with the Redlich-Kister expression and the AuTe2 intermetallic phase was treated as a stoichiometric compound. A set of self-consistent thermodynamic parameters for each phase has been obtained. Good agreement is reached between the calculated and experimental results. Additionally, the standard formation enthalpy and enthalpy of fusion of AuTe2 intermetallic phase have also been calculated.
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