Absolut barnfattigdom vs. relativ barnfattigdom : en argumentationsanalys av debatten kring Rädda Barnens årsrapport om barnfattigdom i Sverige

This essay is an analysis of the on-going debate concerning child poverty in Sweden. In what follows, I will outline the most significant definitions of child poverty currently in use. These are absolute poverty, absolute poverty in a Swedish context and relative poverty. I have based my discussion of these issues on Save the Children Sweden’s report on child poverty, along with its strongest counter-response, and the recommendation of article 27 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. I will argue that there is often confusion as to which of the above definitions of child poverty is being used, and disagreement as to which ought to be used. This is a central part of the debate, and the purpose of this essay is to establish and clarify the appropriate definition of child poverty in Sweden

Kan reformen av CAP minska ekonomiska gap?

This essay is an analysis of the EU Common Agricultural Policy reform of 2003 and its impact on the economic growth and income distribution in African countries. In what follows we outline the most significant effects of the reform, and its purpose. A regression analysis using panel data is conducted to investigate the reform’s impact on economic growth in the examined countries. The effect on income distribution is analysed by testing the change in GINI-index, before and after the reform, with a Wilcoxon signed rank test. The result of the regression analysis indicates a significant increase in the economic growth rate explained by the CAP-reform. Testing the change in income distribution did not generate a significant result and therefore we cannot conclude that the reform has affected the income gap in the investigated countries

Connecting organizational context to environmental sustainability initiatives and industrial symbiosis : Empirical results and case analysis

Industrial symbiosis can move us closer to a circular economy and enable efficient and sustainable use of resources. Its potential has however been far from realized, and to increase our understanding of why that is, we investigate drivers, barriers, and outcomes associated with both broadly defined environmental sustainability initiatives and industrial symbiosis from an organizational context perspective. A mixed-methods approach is used, combining statistical analysis of survey material with an embedded case study at an industrial symbiosis network in Sotenäs, Sweden. The position of the customer order decoupling point (CODP), a critical aspect of supply chains that separates forecast-based operations from those tied to specific orders, enables comparisons between organizations with primarily forecast-driven operations from those with primarily order-driven operations. We find that the CODP plays an important role in organizations' commitments to sustainability initiatives in general, as organizations with different CODP positions experience different levels of benefits from such initiatives. We did not find that the CODP position had the same impact for industrial symbiosis initiatives. Our results indicate that both industrial symbiosis, a very specific type of sustainability initiative and collaboration, and environmental sustainability initiatives in a broad sense, are associated with multiple, positive business outcomes. However, case study participants also described that their industrial symbiosis participation was time consuming and associated with an added administrative burden. This could be a reason why such collaborations are not more prevalent, despite the potential of bringing about several positive business outcomes. Finally, our findings indicate that industrial symbiosis may bring business-related benefits to firms regardless of their CODP position, but then in order to understand why such networks are not more prevalent, we recommend that future research investigates ways of quantifying and distributing burdens and rewards associated with industrial symbiosis collaboration

"Har man vunnit förtroendet, har man vunnit allt." : Fem lärares syn på samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål än svenska.

Denna studie har som syfte att belysa vilka svårigheter som uppstår i samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål, samt studera hur lärare, utifrån olika förhållningssätt och strategier, hanterar de svårigheter som kan uppstå.   Vi har genomfört halvstrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med öppna frågor med fem respondenter varav en var pilotintervju. Valet av lärare grundar sig på att de arbetar på en mångkulturell skola och aktivt har samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål än svenska.   Resultatet av vår studie visar att lärarna arbetar på olika sätt för att hantera de svårigheter som kan uppstå i samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål än svenska. Utifrån dessa resultat har vi skapat två olika kategorier av lärare, De förtroendeskapande lärarna och De generaliserande lärarna. Det vi kunnat se är också att lärarna använder sig av olika strategier och förhållningssätt i samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål.

"Har man vunnit förtroendet, har man vunnit allt." : Fem lärares syn på samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål än svenska.

Denna studie har som syfte att belysa vilka svårigheter som uppstår i samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål, samt studera hur lärare, utifrån olika förhållningssätt och strategier, hanterar de svårigheter som kan uppstå.   Vi har genomfört halvstrukturerade kvalitativa intervjuer med öppna frågor med fem respondenter varav en var pilotintervju. Valet av lärare grundar sig på att de arbetar på en mångkulturell skola och aktivt har samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål än svenska.   Resultatet av vår studie visar att lärarna arbetar på olika sätt för att hantera de svårigheter som kan uppstå i samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål än svenska. Utifrån dessa resultat har vi skapat två olika kategorier av lärare, De förtroendeskapande lärarna och De generaliserande lärarna. Det vi kunnat se är också att lärarna använder sig av olika strategier och förhållningssätt i samverkan med föräldrar som har ett annat modersmål.

The Importance of Individual Actor Characteristics and Contextual Aspects for Promoting Industrial Symbiosis Networks

Factors that affect and influence industrial symbiosis (IS) collaborations have been researched extensively in the literature, where they are mostly reported at a network level or for IS in general, and lack the individual actor’s perspective. This review article contributes to and expands knowledge of influencing factors and their effect on the individual actor. In a systematic review, guided by the PRISMA 2020 guidelines, this study reviews 53 scientific papers examining planned or existing IS networks. It examines literature from 1 January 2000 to 28 March 2022, and it identifies drivers, barriers, and enablers influencing actors to participate in IS. It explores whether and how the perception and impact of these factors differs depending on the characteristics of individual actors and their specific context. The main findings of this study reveal that an actor’s specific characteristics and the network’s context have a significant impact on decision making and how actors both perceive and are affected by factors influencing collaboration. Furthermore, an additional novel contribution to this field of research is that the study identifies three underlying and recurring considerations that actors appear to find critical, namely, perceived business opportunities/risks, regulatory and political setting, and potential inequalities in the network. The results show that an actor’s take on these critical considerations determines whether the actor is willing to engage in IS

Spectroscopic differences in posterior insula in patients with chronic temporomandibular pain

Chronic pain including temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain involves a complex interplay between peripheral and central sensitization, endogenous modulatory pathways, cortical processing and integration and numerous psychological, behavioral and social factors. The aim of this study was to compare spectroscopic patterns of N-Acetyl-aspartate (NAA), total creatine (tCr), choline (Cho), myo-inositol (MI), glutamate (Glu), and the combination of Glu and glutamine in the posterior insula in patients with chronic generalized or regional chronic TMD pain (gTMD and rTMD, respectively) compared to healthy individuals (HI) in relation to clinical findings of TMD pain. Thirty-six female patients with chronic rTMD or gTMD with at least 3 months duration were included in the study. Ten healthy women were included as controls. All participants completed a questionnaire that comprised assessment of degrees of depression, anxiety, stress, catastrophizing, pain intensity, disability and locations. A clinical Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders examination that comprised assessment of pain locations, headache, mouth opening capacity, pain on mandibular movement, pain on palpation and temporomandibular joint noises was performed. Pressure-pain threshold (PPT) over the masseter muscle and temporal summation to pressure stimuli were assessed with an algometer. Within a week all participants underwent non-contrast enhanced MRI on a 3T MR scanner assessing T1-w and T2-w fluid attenuation inversion recovery. A single-voxel 1H-MRS examination using point-resolved spectroscopy was performed. The metabolite concentrations of NAA, tCr, Cho, MI, Glu and Glx were analyzed with the LC model. Metabolite levels were calculated as absolute concentrations, normalized to the water signal. Metabolite concentrations were used for statistical analysis from the LC model if the Cramér-Rao bounds were less than 20%. In addition, the ratios NAA/tCr, Cho/tCr, Glu/tCr and MI/tCr were calculated. The results showed significantly higher tCr levels within the posterior insula in patients with rTMD or gTMD pain than in HI (p=0.029). Cho was negatively correlated to maximum mouth opening capacity with or without pain (rs=-0.42, n=28, p=0.031 and rs=-0.48, n=28, p=0.034, respectively) as well as pressure-pain threshold on the hand (rs=-0.41, n=28, p=0.031). Glu was positively correlated to temporal summation to painful mechanical stimuli (rs=0.42, n=26, p=0.034). The present study found that increased concentrations of Cho and Glu in the posterior insular cortex is related to clinical characteristics of chronic TMD pain, including generalized pain. These findings provide new evidence about the critical involvement of the posterior insular cortex and the neurobiology underlying TMD pain in both regional and generalized manifestations. The findings in this study have indirect implications for the diagnosis and management of TMD patients. That said, the findings provide new evidence about the critical involvement of the posterior insular cortex and the neurobiology underlying TMD pain in both regional and generalized manifestations. It is also a further step towards understanding and accepting chronic pain as a disorder in itself