An Econometric Analysis of the European Commission's Merger Decisions

Using a sample of 96 mergers notified to the EU Commission and logit regression techniques, we analyse the Commission's decision process. We find that the probability of a phase 2 investigation and of a prohibition of the merger increases with the parties' market shares. The probability increases also when the Commission finds high entry barriers or that post-merger collusion is easy. We do not find significant effects of political variables, such as the nationality of the merging firms or the identity of the commissioner.competition law; antitrust; merger; merger reulation

Naturlig föryngring efter brand

Sommaren 2014 inträffade i Västmanland en med Sveriges mått mätt mycket stor brand, Salabranden. Brandfältet, och i synnerhet den del som blivit naturreservat, ger en unik möjlighet att studera hur den naturliga plantetableringen efter brand ser ut för några av Sveriges vanligast förekommande trädslag. Inom reservatet har jag studerat de nyetablerade trädplantornas mikromiljö vad gäller markdensitet, mikrotopografi och bränningsdjup (humus- och kolskiktets tjocklek) för att kunna dra slutsatser om kraven på groningsbädden för olika arter. Jag har även undersökt arternas spridningsförmåga i större skala. Hösten 2016 analyserade jag mikromiljöns betydelse för plantetableringen på provytor i mogen skog där tillgången på frön var säker. Plantuppslaget dominerades av asp (Populus tremula)(≈12-16/m2), sälg (Salix caprea)(≈4-6/m2) och björk (Betula spp)(≈0-7/m2), men där fanns även rikligt med tall (Pinus sylvestris)(≈8/m2). Planthöjden varierade starkt, men hade inget signifikant samband med humus- och kolskiktets tjocklek. Etableringsframgången i relation till humus- och kolskiktets tjocklek var kraftigt avtagande vid en tjocklek på mer än 0,5 cm, vilket torde avspegla problem med vattenförsörjningen för de groende fröna. Ytor med gynnsam groningsmiljö (humus- och kolskikts-tjocklek på 0-0,5 cm) var mycket omfattande i brandområdet, vilket hänger samman med att humusskiktet vid brandtillfället varit starkt uttorkat, och på så vis möjliggjort stort bränningsdjup. Det fanns inga observationer av asp, björk eller sälg på en humustjocklek över 2 cm; för tall observerades endast tre plantor inom intervallet 2-4,5 cm. Det obefintliga eller mycket tunna humus- och kolskiktet resulterade i att yttäckningen intill plantbasen i närmare 70 % av fallen utgjordes av björnmossa (Polytrichum commune). Vad gäller mikrotopografin återfanns majoriteten av plantorna i svaga svackor. Spridningsförmågan analyserades längs utlagda transekter på större hyggen. Planttätheten var relativt jämn oavsett avstånd till beståndskant. Inte för någon av de observerade arterna kunde ett statistiskt säkert samband dras mellan avstånd till beståndskant och etableringstäthet. Detta tyder på att de flesta fröna kommit från längre avstånd än de omgivande bestånden och att mina transekter fångar en ganska flack ”svans” på arternas spridningskurva. För samtliga arter hade alltså bränningsdjupet en avgörande inverkan på plantetableringen. Resultaten visar också att arternas spridningsförmåga var överraskande god. Trots Salabrännans ovanligt stora utbredning med få överlevande träd och potentiella frökällor fanns ändå en relativt tät föryngring i området redan två år efter brand, vilket visar på dessa trädarters goda etableringsförmåga efter storskaliga bränder, förutsatt att de inträffar efter långvarig torka.In the summer of 2014 one of the largest fires in Swedish modern history took place in Västmanland, Salabranden. The fire field, and especially the part that later has become a nature reserve, provides a unique opportunity to study the natural seedling establishment after fire for some of Sweden's most common tree species. Within the reserve, I have studied the microenvironment for the newly established tree seedling in terms of soil density, micro-topography and depth of burn (reduction in organic soil layer) in order to draw conclusions about the seedbed requirements. I have also studied the species' ability to disperse on a larger scale. The importance of the microenvironment for seedling establishment was analyzed on sample plots that were laid out in mature forests where the supply of seeds was guaranteed. The plant seedlings were dominated by aspen (Populus tremula)(≈12-16/m2), willow (Salix caprea)(≈4-6/m2) and birch (Betula spp)(≈0-7/m2), but there were also plenty of pine (Pinus sylvestris)(≈8/m2). Plant height varied greatly, but had no significant relationship with organic soil and charcoal thickness. Seedling establishment decreased dramatically when thickness of the organic soil and charcoal layer was greater than 0.5 cm, which should reflect a problem with the water supply for the germinating seeds. Good seedbeds (organic soil and charcoal thickness of 0-0.5 cm) were very extensive in the fire area and can be linked to the severe drought at the time of the fire, which enabled deep smoldering. There were no observations of aspen, birch or willow on humus thicker than 2 cm; only three pine seedlings were observed in the range of 2-4.5 cm. The non-existent or very thin humus and charcoal layer resulted in a surface coverage that in nearly 70% of the cases, consisted of moss (Polytrichum commune) two years after fire. As for micro-topography the majority of the plants were found on weakly concave surfaces. Dispersal was analyzed along transects laid out on large clear-felled areas. There was no significant relationship between distance to the forest edge and the density of seedlings for any of the species. This suggests that most of the seeds came from a greater distance than the surrounding stands and that the transects captured a relatively flat "tail" of the species distribution curve. Depth of burn was decisive for seedling establishment for all species. Further, the results showed a surprisingly good dispersal capacity in all species. Despite the unusually large size of Salabrännan, with few surviving trees, there was a dense regeneration in the area two years after the fire. This shows these tree species have a good ability colonize after large-scale fires, as long as they occur after prolonged drought

Regeneration after a large wildfire in central Sweden : Seedling establishment of four tree species in relation to microenvironment and dispersal distances

Sommaren 2014 inträffade i Västmanland en med Sveriges mått mätt mycket stor brand, Salabranden. Brandfältet, och i synnerhet den del som blivit naturreservat, ger en unik möjlighet att studera hur den naturliga plantetableringen efter brand ser ut för några av Sveriges vanligast förekommande trädslag. Inom reservatet har jag studerat de nyetablerade trädplantornas mikromiljö vad gäller markdensitet, mikrotopografi och bränningsdjup (humus- och kolskiktets tjocklek) för att kunna dra slutsatser om kraven på groningsbädden för olika arter. Jag har även undersökt arternas spridningsförmåga i större skala. Hösten 2016 analyserade jag mikromiljöns betydelse för plantetableringen på provytor i mogen skog där tillgången på frön var säker. Plantuppslaget dominerades av asp (Populus tremula)(≈12-16/m2), sälg (Salix caprea)(≈4-6/m2) och björk (Betula spp)(≈0-7/m2), men där fanns även rikligt med tall (Pinus sylvestris)(≈8/m2). Planthöjden varierade starkt, men hade inget signifikant samband med humus- och kolskiktets tjocklek. Etableringsframgången i relation till humus- och kolskiktets tjocklek var kraftigt avtagande vid en tjocklek på mer än 0,5 cm, vilket torde avspegla problem med vattenförsörjningen för de groende fröna. Ytor med gynnsam groningsmiljö (humus- och kolskikts-tjocklek på 0-0,5 cm) var mycket omfattande i brandområdet, vilket hänger samman med att humusskiktet vid brandtillfället varit starkt uttorkat, och på så vis möjliggjort stort bränningsdjup. Det fanns inga observationer av asp, björk eller sälg på en humustjocklek över 2 cm; för tall observerades endast tre plantor inom intervallet 2-4,5 cm. Det obefintliga eller mycket tunna humus- och kolskiktet resulterade i att yttäckningen intill plantbasen i närmare 70 % av fallen utgjordes av björnmossa (Polytrichum commune). Vad gäller mikrotopografin återfanns majoriteten av plantorna i svaga svackor. Spridningsförmågan analyserades längs utlagda transekter på större hyggen. Planttätheten var relativt jämn oavsett avstånd till beståndskant. Inte för någon av de observerade arterna kunde ett statistiskt säkert samband dras mellan avstånd till beståndskant och etableringstäthet. Detta tyder på att de flesta fröna kommit från längre avstånd än de omgivande bestånden och att mina transekter fångar en ganska flack ”svans” på arternas spridningskurva. För samtliga arter hade alltså bränningsdjupet en avgörande inverkan på plantetableringen. Resultaten visar också att arternas spridningsförmåga var överraskande god. Trots Salabrännans ovanligt stora utbredning med få överlevande träd och potentiella frökällor fanns ändå en relativt tät föryngring i området redan två år efter brand, vilket visar på dessa trädarters goda etableringsförmåga efter storskaliga bränder, förutsatt att de inträffar efter långvarig torka.In the summer of 2014 one of the largest fires in Swedish modern history took place in Västmanland, Salabranden. The fire field, and especially the part that later has become a nature reserve, provides a unique opportunity to study the natural seedling establishment after fire for some of Sweden's most common tree species. Within the reserve, I have studied the microenvironment for the newly established tree seedling in terms of soil density, micro-topography and depth of burn (reduction in organic soil layer) in order to draw conclusions about the seedbed requirements. I have also studied the species' ability to disperse on a larger scale. The importance of the microenvironment for seedling establishment was analyzed on sample plots that were laid out in mature forests where the supply of seeds was guaranteed. The plant seedlings were dominated by aspen (Populus tremula)(≈12-16/m2), willow (Salix caprea)(≈4-6/m2) and birch (Betula spp)(≈0-7/m2), but there were also plenty of pine (Pinus sylvestris)(≈8/m2). Plant height varied greatly, but had no significant relationship with organic soil and charcoal thickness. Seedling establishment decreased dramatically when thickness of the organic soil and charcoal layer was greater than 0.5 cm, which should reflect a problem with the water supply for the germinating seeds. Good seedbeds (organic soil and charcoal thickness of 0-0.5 cm) were very extensive in the fire area and can be linked to the severe drought at the time of the fire, which enabled deep smoldering. There were no observations of aspen, birch or willow on humus thicker than 2 cm; only three pine seedlings were observed in the range of 2-4.5 cm. The non-existent or very thin humus and charcoal layer resulted in a surface coverage that in nearly 70% of the cases, consisted of moss (Polytrichum commune) two years after fire. As for micro-topography the majority of the plants were found on weakly concave surfaces. Dispersal was analyzed along transects laid out on large clear-felled areas. There was no significant relationship between distance to the forest edge and the density of seedlings for any of the species. This suggests that most of the seeds came from a greater distance than the surrounding stands and that the transects captured a relatively flat "tail" of the species distribution curve. Depth of burn was decisive for seedling establishment for all species. Further, the results showed a surprisingly good dispersal capacity in all species. Despite the unusually large size of Salabrännan, with few surviving trees, there was a dense regeneration in the area two years after the fire. This shows these tree species have a good ability colonize after large-scale fires, as long as they occur after prolonged drought

Sparse Semi-Parametric Chirp Estimator

In this work, we present a method for estimating the parameters detailing an unknown number of linear chirp signals, using an iterative sparse reconstruction framework. The proposed method is initiated by a re-weighted Lasso approach, and then use an iterative relaxation-based refining step to allow for high resolution estimates. The resulting estimates are found to be statistically efficient, achieving the Cramér-Rao lower bound. Numerical simulations illustrate the achievable performance, offering a notable improvement as compared to other recent approaches

Sparse Semi-Parametric Estimation of Harmonic Chirp Signals

In this work, we present a method for estimating the parameters detailing an unknown number of linear, possibly harmonically related, chirp signals, using an iterative sparse reconstruction framework. The proposed method is initiated by a re-weighted group-sparsity approach, followed by an iterative relaxation-based refining step, to allow for high resolution estimates. Numerical simulations illustrate the achievable performance, offering a notable improvement as compared to other recent approaches. The resulting estimates are found to be statistically efficient, achieving the corresponding Cram´er-Rao lower bound

Динамика физического развития и физической подготовленности студентов ВГМУ основного медицинского отделения в процессе обучения на 1-4 курсах

GOALS OF WORK: Staff members in palliative home care play an important role in supporting bereaved family members. The aim of this study was to explore staff members' perspectives on providing such support. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Staff members in six units responded (n = 120; response rate 58%) to a postal questionnaire with Likert-type and open-ended questions. The responses were analyzed using statistics and manifest content analysis. MAIN RESULTS: None of the respondents stated that bereavement follow-up was "most often difficult," 23% "most often rather difficult," 52.5% "most often rather easy," and 12.5% "most often easy." Apart from a tendency for age to be linked to perceived difficulty, there were no apparent patterns. Bereavement follow-up was a positive opportunity to support the family member's coping with their bereavement and to get feedback on the palliative care provided. Critical aspects concerned the question of whose needs actually were being met at bereavement follow-up, i.e., the staff members' needs for getting feedback on the care provided versus the risk of burdening the family members' by reminding them of the deceased's dying trajectory. Aspects that negatively influenced the staff members' experiences were complex and related, e.g., to the family member's dissatisfaction with the care provided, to the staff member's perceived lack of competence, and to the staff member's relationship to the family member. CONCLUSIONS: Bereavement follow-up was perceived as a rewarding conclusion to the relationship with the family member. The findings suggest that meaning-based coping might be an appropriate framework when understanding staff members' experiences with providing bereavement follow-up.The original publication is available at www.springerlink.com: Anna Milberg, Gudrun Appelquist, Eva Hagelin, Maria Jakobsson, Eva-Carin Olsson, Maria Olsson and Maria Friedrichsen, "A rewarding conclusion of the relationship": staff members' perspectives on providing bereavement follow-up, 2011, Supportive Care in Cancer, (19), 1, 37-48. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00520-009-0786-0 Copyright: Springer International http://www.springerlink.com

Sparse Chroma Estimation for Harmonic Audio

This work treats the estimation of the chromagram for harmonic audio signals using a block sparse reconstruction framework. Chroma has been used for decades as a key tool in audio analysis, and is typically formed using a Fourier-based framework that maps the fundamental frequency of a musical tone to its corresponding chroma. Such an approach often leads to problems with tone ambiguity, which we avoid by taking into account the harmonic structure and perceptional attributes in music. The performance of the proposed method is evaluated using real audio files, clearly showing preferable performance as compared to other commonly used methods

Substation Placement for Electric Road Systems

One option to avoid range issues for electrified heavy vehicles, and the large individual batteries for each such vehicle, is to construct electric road systems (ERS), where vehicles are supplied with electricity while driving. In this article, a model has been developed that calculates the cost for supplying an ERS with electricity from a regional grid to a road in the form of cables and substations, considering the power demand profile for heavy transport. The modeling accounts for electric losses and voltage drop in cables and transformers. We have used the model to exhaustively compute and compared the cost of different combinations of substation sizes and locations along the road, using a European highway in West Sweden as a case study. Our results show that the costs for building an electricity distribution system for an ERS vary only to a minor extent with the location of substations (10% difference between the cheapest cost and the average cost of all configurations). Furthermore, we have varied the peak and average power demand profile for the investigated highway to investigate the impact of a specific demand profile on the results. The results from this variation show that the sum of the peak power demand is the most important factor in system cost. Specifically, a 30% change in the peak power demand for the road has a significant impact on the electricity supply system cost. A reduction in the geographical variation of power demand along the road has no significant impact on the electricity distribution system cost as long as the aggregated peak power demand for all road segments is held constant. The results of the work are relevant as input to future work on comparing the cost–benefit of ERS with other alternatives when reducing CO2 from road traffic—in particular from heavy road traffic

Comparison and Analysis of GPS Measured Electric Vehicle Charging Demand: The Case of Western Sweden and Seattle

Electrification of transportation using electric vehicles has a large potential to reduce transport related emissions but could potentially cause issues in generation and distribution of electricity. This study uses GPS measured driving patterns from conventional gasoline and diesel cars in western Sweden and Seattle, United States, to estimate and analyze expected charging coincidence assuming these driving patterns were the same for electric vehicles. The results show that the electric vehicle charging power demand in western Sweden and Seattle is 50–183% higher compared to studies that were relying on national household travel surveys in Sweden and United States. The after-coincidence charging power demand from GPS measured driving behavior converges at 1.8\ua0kW or lower for Sweden and at 2.1\ua0kW or lower for the United States The results show that nominal charging power has the largest impact on after-coincidence charging power demand, followed by the vehicle’s electricity consumption and lastly the charging location. We also find that the reduction in charging demand, when charging is moved in time, is largest for few vehicles and reduces as the number of vehicles increase. Our results are important when analyzing the impact from large scale introduction of electric vehicles on electricity distribution and generation

Faktorer som påverkar valet av kranavställning vid rundvirkestransporter hos Holmen Skog AB

Rundvirkestransporterna står idag för en stor del av den totala virkesanskaffningskostnaden. Genom att nyttja sig utav kranavställning så minskas taravikten, motsvarande kranens vikt på lastbilen, och därmed ökas nyttolastförmågan och lönsamheten. Målsättningen med arbetet är att Holmen Skog skall kunna använda rapporten som underlag till att hjälpa rundvirkesåkerierna öka andelen körningar med kranen avställd. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur kranavställning används i praktiken samt att finna de faktorer som påverkar valet att ställa av kranen under Holmen Skogs rundvirkestransporter. Arbetet delades in i två faser. Först genomfördes semistrukturerade intervjuer med transportledarna kopplade till Holmen Skogs transporter, därefter analyserades transportdata från SDC. Analysen begränsades till enbart kranbilar. Enligt intervjuerna framkom att de viktigaste faktorerna var möjlighet till returtransport samt transportavståndet. Samanvändning av avställbara kranar var den viktigaste faktorn för att andelen kranavställning skulle öka. Från analyserna framkom att faktorerna sortiment, månad, region och avstånd alla hade ett signifikant samband till att kranen ställts av eller ej. Medeltransportavståndet i alla regioner för en transport med avställd kran var 96,5 km och 76,0 km för en transport där kranen ej monterats av. Andelen kranavställning varierade mellan regionerna. Region Ö-vik hade störst andel (35,3%) jämfört med Iggesund (18,4%) och Norrköping (7,9%). Studien kan ses som en kartläggning över hur kranavställning nyttjas inom Holmen Skogs tre regioner.Round timber transports are today a large part of the overall timber cost. By removing the self-loader the truck get reduced tare weight, corresponding to the self-loaders weight on the truck, and thus increased payload capacity and profitability. The aim of this work is that Holmen Skog be able to use the report as a basis to help round timber haulers increase the proportion of runs with the self-loader removed. The purpose of this study was to investigate how the self-loader removal is used in practice as well as finding the factors that influence this at Holmen Skog round timber transport. The work was divided into two phases. First semi-structured interviews with transportation leaders linked to Holmen Skog transport was conducted, and then transportation data from SDC was analyzed. The analysis was confined only to trucks with self-loader. Results from the interviews revealed that the main factors were the opportunity to return transport and the transport distance. Joint use of cranes was the most important factor for the proportion of self-loader removal would increase. The results from the analyses revealed that factors range, month, area and distance all had a significant connection to self-loaders removal or not. The average transport distance in all regions for a transport with removed self-loader was 96.5 km and 76.0 km of a transport where the self-loader had not been removed. The proportion of self-loader removal varied between regions. Region Ö-vik had the highest amount (35.5%) compared to Iggesund (18.4%) and Norrköping (7.9%). The study can be viewed as a mapping of how the self-loader removal is utilized within Holmen Skog's three regions