Arbetsplats ovan molnen − Forum och lagval vid anställningstvister för arbetstagare ombord på flygplan

I den här uppsatsen utreds vilka bestämmelser som gäller och vilka faktorer som spelar roll när forum och lagval avgörs för tvister mellan arbetsgivare och arbetstagare ombord på flygplan. Eftersom flygbranschen är en internationell företeelse som spänner över många nationsgränser finns flera aspekter att beakta, bl.a. ett flygplans registreringsland. Dessutom möjliggör EU/EES:s inre marknad för flygbolag att till viss delvälja bland olika länders regler beroende på vad som passar bolagen bäst. Forum och lagval i civilrättsliga fall regleras av EU-förordningarna Bryssel Ia och Rom I. Båda dessa innehåller särskilda bestämmelser för anställningsförhållanden eftersom arbetstagare anses vara i underläge gentemot arbetsgivare. Vid granskning av förordningstexterna framgår betydelsen av att fastställa var eller varifrån arbetstagaren utför sitt arbete för att kunna avgöra rätt forum och tillämplig lag. Genom flera rättsfall från EU-domstolen har detta konkretiserats, men än så länge har inget fall handlat specifikt om anställda ombord på flygplan. Jämförelser har gjorts med fartygsanställda, men det är fortfarande inte helt klart hur stark eller svag anknytning som krävs mellan arbetstagaren och ett land för att domsrätten ska tillfalla det landet och dess lag vara tillämplig. Domar från Norge och Danmark visar hur arbetsgivare försöker minska anknytningen till länderna där arbetstagarna bor och istället understryka kopplingen till flygplanens registreringsland och landet där bolaget hör hemma, eftersom detta kan ha mer arbetsgivarvänliga regler. Uppsatsens analys visar på den osäkerhet som råder för arbetstagare i flygbranschen rörande forum och lagval vid anställningstvister.This essay investigates which regulations and factors that are considered when forum and applicable law is decided for civil suits between employers and employees on board aircraft. Since the airline industry is an international phenomenon that spreads over many nation borders, there are several aspects to consider, e.g. the state of registration of an aircraft. Moreover, the internal market of the EU/EEA enables airlines to a certain degree to choose among the laws of different states depending on what is most suitable for the companies. The EU-regulations Brussels Ia and Roma I regulate forum and applicable law for civil law cases. Both these contain specific rules for contracts of employment, because employees are considered to be the weaker party in relation to the employers. By studying the text of the EU-regulations, the importance of deciding where or from where the employed person carries out his work, becomes clear in order to determine the correct forum and applicable law. This has been concretized through several decisions by the ECJ, but so far none has dealt specifically with employees on board aircraft. Comparisons have been made with seafarers, but it is still not obvious how strong of a connection is required between the worker and the state, in order for the state to have jurisdiction and its law to be applicable. Judgments from Norway and Denmark show how employers attempt to reduce the connection to the countries where the employees live, and instead emphasize the connection to aircraft’s state of registration and the country where the company is based, because this may have more employer-friendly regulations. The analysis of the essay highlights the current insecurity for workers in the airline industry regarding forum and applicable law for civil suits concerning contracts of employment

Vad kan försäkras? - En utredning av det försäkringsrättsliga begreppet lagligt intresse, med fokus på administrativa sanktionsavgifter

According to the Swedish Insurance Contracts Act (FAL) 6 chapter 1 §, only legal interests can be insured. By using a legal dogmatic method, this essay seeks to examine the significance of the term legal interest. This paper is especially focused on investigating how administrative fines, pursuant to the new EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), should be treated in Swedish insurance law, and the possibility to have an insurance against the risk of having such fines imposed. The current regulation in FAL builds on similar provisions in the antecedent Insurance Contracts Act (GFAL). Neither GFAL, though, nor the preparatory documents for FAL or GFAL clarify what the term legal interest entails. Nowadays, liability insurances are a relatively uncontroversial phenomenon, despite the fact that they cover a cost incurred from unlawful acts, i.e. tort. Other kinds of costs that are meant to be encumbering, like discrimination compensation, are also possible to insure. It is clear that tort constitutes a legal interest whereas fines do not. Any clear link, however, between the provision about legal interest and criminal law does not exist. Some cases show that interests with certain criminal ties are not necessarily considered to be illegal. Statements in FAL's preparatory documents and in the legal scholarship, however, support the idea that the provision in FAL embodies the general principle that contracts in breach of law or good morale are null and void (pactum turpe). What types of contract that are affected by the immoral contracts principle is not totally clear. This is mainly due to the difficulties in conceptualizing good practice and good morale. The precedence on the topic is limited and what good practice is, probably differs depending on who is asked. Swedish law appears to have a relatively pragmatic approach to contracts containing dubious clauses and these contracts are not immediately rejected by the courts. Due to the ambiguous meaning of good practice and good morale, the principle of pactum turpe provides little practical guidance on determining legal and insurable interests in line with FAL. Sanction fees exist in different bodies of Swedish law and do not, just like the GDPR's administrative fees, constitute a criminal sanction. They are, nevertheless, a sanction on inappropriate behavior. In the case of the GDPR, breaches of the regulations on the processing of personal data can warrant high administrative fines. Intentional or careless acting is not required, due to the strict liability formulation. Furthermore, there are several other circumstances that are to be considered by the supervisory authority when deciding on the size of the administrative fine. This essay concludes that the legal position on the term legal interest to a large extent is unclear and that an elucidation in terms of its content is desirable. Insurance against administrative fines under some circumstances, however, is probably acceptable under current applicable law.Av försäkringsavtalslagen, FAL, 6 kap. 1 § framgår att bara lagliga intressen kan försäkras. Den här uppsatsen syftar till att genom en rättsdogmatisk metod utreda vilken innebörd begreppet lagligt intresse har. Fokus ligger på att undersöka hur administrativa sanktionsavgifter enligt EU:s nya dataskyddsförordning bör behandlas i svensk försäkringsrätt och om det är möjligt att försäkra sig mot risken att åläggas sådana avgifter. Dagens bestämmelse i FAL bygger på ett liknande stadgande i den gamla försäkringsavtalslagen, GFAL. Varken den lagen eller förarbetena till FAL eller GFAL ger dock några klara besked om vad som ska rymmas inom begreppet lagligt intresse. I dag är ansvarsförsäkringar relativt okontroversiella, trots att dessa täcker en kostnad som grundas på ett rättsstridigt handlande, nämligen skadestånd. Även andra sorters ekonomiska sanktioner som är tänkta att verka preventivt, såsom diskrimineringsersättning, är i dag möjliga att försäkra. Det står klart att skadestånd utgör ett lagligt intresse medan böter inte gör det. Någon definitiv koppling mellan stadgandet om lagliga intressen och straffrättsliga bestämmelser finns däremot inte. Av domstolsavgöranden framgår att intressen med viss kriminell anknytning inte per automatik anses vara olagliga intressen. Uttalanden i motiven och i doktrin talar dock för att FAL:s bestämmelse är ett uttryck för den allmänna principen om att avtal i strid med lag eller goda seder är ogiltiga (pactum turpe). Vilka sorters avtal som träffas av principen om pactum turpe är inte helt klart. Det är framförallt problematiskt vad som ska förstås med goda seder och god moral. Det finns mycket lite praxis på området och vad som är goda seder skiftar antagligen beroende på vem som tillfrågas. Svensk rätt förefaller dock ha en relativt pragmatisk inställning till avtal som innehåller tvivelaktiga villkor, och de avvisas inte rakt av. På grund av goda seders oklara innebörd ger principen om pactum turpe liten praktisk ledning när det gäller att bedöma lagliga och försäkringsbara intressen enligt FAL. Sanktionsavgifter förekommer på flera håll i svensk rätt och liksom dataskyddsförordningens administrativa sanktionsavgifter utgör de inte någon straffrättslig påföljd. Icke desto mindre utgör de en sanktion på ett felaktigt beteende. I fallet med dataskyddsförordningen är det överträdelser av bland annat dess regler om personuppgiftbehandling som kan föranleda att höga administrativa sanktionsavgifter åläggs. Något uppsåtligt eller oaktsamt handlande behöver dock inte förekomma utan ansvaret är så att säga strikt. Vidare ska en rad konkreta omständigheter beaktas av tillsynsmyndigheten vid bestämmandet av avgiftens storlek. I uppsatsen konstateras att på det hela taget är rättsläget rörande begreppet lagligt intresse oklart och att ett klargörande av dess innehåll vore önskvärt. Dock finns det förmodligen redan i dag utrymme i svensk rätt att under vissa omständigheter acceptera försäkring av administrativa sanktionsavgifter

Hur säljer man in ett ämne till elever?

Att ta reda på hur man kan få elever motiverade och intresserade av ett ämne redan vid första lektionstillfället är det som ligger till grund för denna studie. Första mötet med eleverna kan ha stor betydelse när det kommer till att inspirera och få eleverna att skapa sig ett intresse för kursen. Syftet med denna kvalitativa intervjustudie är därför att undersöka hur fyra lärare på estetiska programmet jobbar och tänker kring insäljandet av deras respektive ämne. För att få en mer omfattande datainsamling undersöks sedan om det finns något gemensamt mellan lärarnas svar och hur tre personer med andra yrken, som i viss mån påminner om läraryrket, tänker kring samma fråga. Det som framkommit ur resultatet som viktiga ingredienser för att öka chanserna för att lyckas vid insäljandet av ett ämne är bland annat: att ha intresse för ämnet, skapa förtroende, varierad kommunikation vid presentationen samt att visa entusiasm och engagemang för ämnet.The aim of this study is to figure out how to get students motivated and interested in a school subject from the very first lesson. The purpose of this qualitative interview study is therefore to investigate how four teachers, at the upper secondary school’s aesthetics program, work with and reflect about how they pitch their school subjects to their students. In order to get a more extensive collection of data three persons with different professions, that are similar in some ways to the teaching profession, were interviewed to find out if they have anything in common with what the teachers say about the same issue. The results indicate that in order to increase the chances to succeed with pitching the school subject, some important ingredients are: to be interested and at the same time show interest in the school subject, building trust,varied communication while presenting the subject, as well as showing enthusiasm and commitment to the school subject in question

Variable Markov dynamics as a multi-focal lens to map multi-scale complex networks

From traffic flows on road networks to electrical signals in brain networks, many real-world networks contain modular structures of different sizes and densities. In the networks where modular structures emerge due to coupling between nodes with similar dynamical functions, we can identify them using flow-based community detection methods. However, these methods implicitly assume that communities are dense or clique-like which can shatter sparse communities due to a field-of-view limit inherent in one-step dynamics. Taking multiple steps with shorter or longer Markov time enables us to effectively zoom in or out to capture small or long-range communities. However, zooming out to avoid the field-of-view limit comes at the expense of introducing or increasing a lower resolution limit. Here we relax the constant Markov time constraint and introduce variable Markov dynamics as a multi-focal lens to capture functional communities in networks with a higher range of scales. With variable Markov time, a random walker can keep one-step dynamics in dense areas to avoid the resolution limit and move faster in sparse areas to detect long-range modular structures and prevent the field-of-view limit. We analyze the performance of variable Markov time using the flow-based community detection method called the map equation. We have implemented the map equation with variable Markov time in the search algorithm Infomap without any complexity overhead and tested its performance on synthetic and real-world networks from different domains. Results show that it outperforms the standard map equation in networks with constrained structures and locally sparse regions. In addition, the method estimates the optimal Markov time and avoids parameter tuning

Quantitative High-Throughput Screen Identifies Inhibitors of the Schistosoma mansoni Redox Cascade

Schistosomiasis is a tropical disease associated with high morbidity and mortality, currently affecting over 200 million people worldwide. Praziquantel is the only drug used to treat the disease, and with its increased use the probability of developing drug resistance has grown significantly. The Schistosoma parasites can survive for up to decades in the human host due in part to a unique set of antioxidant enzymes that continuously degrade the reactive oxygen species produced by the host's innate immune response. Two principal components of this defense system have been recently identified in S. mansoni as thioredoxin/glutathione reductase (TGR) and peroxiredoxin (Prx) and as such these enzymes present attractive new targets for anti-schistosomiasis drug development. Inhibition of TGR/Prx activity was screened in a dual-enzyme format with reducing equivalents being transferred from NADPH to glutathione via a TGR-catalyzed reaction and then to hydrogen peroxide via a Prx-catalyzed step. A fully automated quantitative high-throughput (qHTS) experiment was performed against a collection of 71,028 compounds tested as 7- to 15-point concentration series at 5 µL reaction volume in 1536-well plate format. In order to generate a robust data set and to minimize the effect of compound autofluorescence, apparent reaction rates derived from a kinetic read were utilized instead of end-point measurements. Actives identified from the screen, along with previously untested analogues, were subjected to confirmatory experiments using the screening assay and subsequently against the individual targets in secondary assays. Several novel active series were identified which inhibited TGR at a range of potencies, with IC50s ranging from micromolar to the assay response limit (∼25 nM). This is, to our knowledge, the first report of a large-scale HTS to identify lead compounds for a helminthic disease, and provides a paradigm that can be used to jump-start development of novel therapeutics for other neglected tropical diseases

In vitro and in vivo mRNA delivery using lipid-enveloped pHresponsive polymer nanoparticles

Biodegradable core−shell structured nanoparticles with a poly(β-amino ester) (PBAE) core enveloped by a phospholipid bilayer shell were developed for in vivo mRNA delivery with a view toward delivery of mRNA-based vaccines. The pH-responsive PBAE component was chosen to promote endosome disruption, while the lipid surface layer was selected to minimize toxicity of the polycation core. Messenger RNA was efficiently adsorbed via electrostatic interactions onto the surface of these net positively charged nanoparticles. In vitro, mRNA-loaded particle uptake by dendritic cells led to mRNA delivery into the cytosol with low cytotoxicity, followed by translation of the encoded protein in these difficult-to-transfect cells at a frequency of 30%. Particles loaded with mRNA administered intranasally (i.n.) in mice led to the expression of the reporter protein luciferase in vivo as soon as 6 h after administration, a time point when naked mRNA given i.n. showed no expression. At later time points, luciferase expression was detected in naked mRNA-treated mice, but this group showed a wide variation in levels of transfection, compared to particle-treated mice. This system may thus be promising for noninvasive delivery of mRNA-based vaccines.United States. Dept. of Defense (Institute for Soldier Nanotechnology, contract W911NF-07-D-0004)Ragon Institute of MGH, MIT and HarvardSingapore. Agency for Science, Technology and ResearchHoward Hughes Medical Institute (Investigator

Human growth patterns - with focus on pubertal growth and secular changes

Introduction: Human growth is a dynamic process, an indicator of health and disease. Previous used growth models have been limited in describing the pubertal growth spurt. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis is to increase knowledge regarding human growth. The specific aims were to; explore pubertal growth in detail with new estimates from the QEPS model (paper I), investigate associations between peak BMI-SDS in childhood and subsequent growth (II), evaluate secular changes in adult height (AH) for Nordic countries (in Sweden including parental heights of study populations) and analyse during which growth phases (fetal/infancy/childhood/ puberty) changes occur ( III), study changes in growth patterns from birth to AH in two Swedish population based cohorts born in 1974 and 1990 (IV). Methods: The main study material was based on longitudinal growth data (height/ weight) from two population based Swedish growth cohorts (~4000) born around 1974 and 1990. The novel QEPS growth model was used for analysing height/growth patterns. By applying four mathematical functions, QEPS describes the individual height gain; Quadratic (ongoing from before birth to AH), Exponential (rapid gain during fetal life/infancy), Puberty (adding the specific pubertal growth), Stop (ending gain in height to AH). The Nordic study analysed height data from present and past growth references (Denmark/Finland/Norway) and Swedish growth studies, comparing height at different ages up to AH (in Sweden including parental height). Results and conclusions: New estimates from QEPS model including markers of quality (CI) and SDS for onset, middle and end of puberty showed: the later onset of puberty, the greater the AH. Pubertal gain due to the specific pubertal P-function was independent of age at onset of puberty; boys had higher total gain during puberty due to P-function growth than to QESfunction, reversed for girls. The novel pubertal growth estimates enable a more detailed analyse of pubertal growth than previously possible (I). Higher childhood BMI-SDS was associated with more growth before onset of puberty, earlier pubertal growth and less pubertal height gain for both sexes, over the entire BMI-spectrum (II). The Nordic countries have similar positive secular changes in AH (females +4-7/males +5-15mm/decade), mainly due to increased height in childhood, the change was more pronounced in parental heights, i.e. earlier decades and for males. Earlier pubertal growth was seen in the most recent growth study in all four countries (III). When studying changes in height between the 1974 and 1990 cohorts, a positive change in AH was found (1990), due to more growth during childhood in both sexes and during puberty in girls. QEPS is effective detecting small changes of growth patterns, in cohorts born only 16 years apart (IV)