Praktiska case för politikens genomslag

Practicing interaction between politics and administration can be a good idea after elections. One way to do this is to discuss cases together. Based on research on governance and control of the public sector and the advantages of case pedagogy, the authors discuss what can facilitate or hinder the realization of political decision

Gender differences in altruism: Evidence from a natural field experiment on matched donations

This paper reports new findings on gender differences in altruism. Conducting a natural field experiment (N 2,164) we study donation behavior in a naturally occurring environment using a matched donation design. Contrary to previous research, we find that reducing the "price of altruism" by increasing matching efficiency has a significantly stronger effect on females than on males

First encounters in the north : cultural diversity and gene flow in Early Mesolithic Scandinavia

Population genetic studies often overlook the evidence for variability and change in past material culture. Here, the authors use a Mesolithic example to demonstrate the importance of integrating archaeological evidence into the interpretation of the Scandinavian hunter-gatherer genetic group. Genetic studies conclude that this group resulted from two singleevent dispersals into Scandinavia before 7500 BC. Archaeological evidence, however, shows at least six immigration events pre-dating the earliest DNA, and that the first incoming groups arrived in Scandinavia before 9000 BC. The findings underline the importance of conducting careful archaeological analysis of prehistoric human dispersal in tandem with the study of ancient population genomics.Population genetic studies often overlook the evidence for variability and change in past material culture. Here, the authors use a Mesolithic example to demonstrate the importance of integrating archaeological evidence into the interpretation of the Scandinavian hunter-gatherer genetic group. Genetic studies conclude that this group resulted from two single-event dispersals into Scandinavia before 7500 BC. Archaeological evidence, however, shows at least six immigration events pre-dating the earliest DNA, and that the first incoming groups arrived in Scandinavia before 9000 BC. The findings underline the importance of conducting careful archaeological analysis of prehistoric human dispersal in tandem with the study of ancient population genomics.Peer reviewe

Separated by a Common Language: Awareness of Term Usage Differences Between Languages and Disciplines in Biopreparedness

Preparedness for bioterrorism is based on communication between people in organizations who are educated and trained in several disciplines, including law enforcement, health, and science. Various backgrounds, cultures, and vocabularies generate difficulties in understanding and interpretating terms and concepts, which may impair communication. This is especially true in emergency situations, in which the need for clarity and consistency is vital. The EU project AniBio- Threat initiated methods and made a rough estimate of the terms and concepts that are crucial for an incident, and a pilot database with key terms and definitions has been constructed. Analysis of collected terms and sources has shown that many of the participating organizations use various international standards in their area of expertise. The same term often represents different concepts in the standards from different sectors, or, alternatively, different terms were used to represent the same or similar concepts. The use of conflicting terminology can be problematic for decision makers and communicators in planning and prevention or when handling an incident. Since the CBRN area has roots in multiple disciplines, each with its own evolving terminology, it may not be realistic to achieve unequivocal communication through a standardized vocabulary and joint definitions for words from common language. We suggest that a communication strategy should include awareness of alternative definitions and ontologies and the ability to talk and write without relying on the implicit knowledge underlying specialized jargon. Consequently, cross-disciplinary communication skills should be part of training of personnel in the CBRN field. In addition, a searchable repository of terms and definitions from relevant organizations and authorities would be a valuable addition to existing glossaries for improving awareness concerning bioterrorism prevention planning

Creative destruction in science

Drawing on the concept of a gale of creative destruction in a capitalistic economy, we argue that initiatives to assess the robustness of findings in the organizational literature should aim to simultaneously test competing ideas operating in the same theoretical space. In other words, replication efforts should seek not just to support or question the original findings, but also to replace them with revised, stronger theories with greater explanatory power. Achieving this will typically require adding new measures, conditions, and subject populations to research designs, in order to carry out conceptual tests of multiple theories in addition to directly replicating the original findings. To illustrate the value of the creative destruction approach for theory pruning in organizational scholarship, we describe recent replication initiatives re-examining culture and work morality, working parents\u2019 reasoning about day care options, and gender discrimination in hiring decisions. Significance statement It is becoming increasingly clear that many, if not most, published research findings across scientific fields are not readily replicable when the same method is repeated. Although extremely valuable, failed replications risk leaving a theoretical void\u2014 reducing confidence the original theoretical prediction is true, but not replacing it with positive evidence in favor of an alternative theory. We introduce the creative destruction approach to replication, which combines theory pruning methods from the field of management with emerging best practices from the open science movement, with the aim of making replications as generative as possible. In effect, we advocate for a Replication 2.0 movement in which the goal shifts from checking on the reliability of past findings to actively engaging in competitive theory testing and theory building. Scientific transparency statement The materials, code, and data for this article are posted publicly on the Open Science Framework, with links provided in the article

Examining the generalizability of research findings from archival data

This initiative examined systematically the extent to which a large set of archival research findings generalizes across contexts. We repeated the key analyses for 29 original strategic management effects in the same context (direct reproduction) as well as in 52 novel time periods and geographies; 45% of the reproductions returned results matching the original reports together with 55% of tests in different spans of years and 40% of tests in novel geographies. Some original findings were associated with multiple new tests. Reproducibility was the best predictor of generalizability—for the findings that proved directly reproducible, 84% emerged in other available time periods and 57% emerged in other geographies. Overall, only limited empirical evidence emerged for context sensitivity. In a forecasting survey, independent scientists were able to anticipate which effects would find support in tests in new samples

4-aminobutyrate aminotrasferase (ABAT): genetic and pharmacological evidence for an involvement in gastro esophageal reflux disease

Extent: 9p.Gastro-esophageal reflux disease (GERD) is partly caused by genetic factors. The underlying susceptibility genes are currently unknown, with the exception of COL3A1. We used three independent GERD patient cohorts to identify GERD susceptibility genes. Thirty-six families, demonstrating dominant transmission of GERD were subjected to whole genome microsatellite genotyping and linkage analysis. Five linked regions were identified. Two families shared a linked region (LOD 3.9 and 2.0) on chromosome 16. We used two additional independent GERD patient cohorts, one consisting of 219 trios (affected child with parents) and the other an adult GERD case control cohort consisting of 256 cases and 485 controls, to validate individual genes in the linked region through association analysis. Sixty six single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers distributed over the nine genes present in the linked region were genotyped in the independent GERD trio cohort. Transmission disequilibrium test analysis followed by multiple testing adjustments revealed a significant genetic association for one SNP located in an intron of the gene 4-aminobutyrate aminotransferase (ABAT) (Padj = 0.027). This association did not replicate in the adult case-control cohort, possibly due to the differences in ethnicity between the cohorts. Finally, using the selective ABAT inhibitor vigabatrin (c-vinyl GABA) in a dog study, we were able to show a reduction of transient lower esophageal sphincter relaxations (TLESRs) by 57.3611.4 % (p = 0.007) and the reflux events from 3.160.4 to 0.860.4 (p = 0.007). Our results demonstrate the direct involvement of ABAT in pathways affecting lower esophageal sphincter (LES) control and identifies ABAT as a genetic risk factor for GERD.Johan Jirholt, Bengt Åsling, Paul Hammond, Geoffrey Davidson, Mikael Knutsson, Anna Walentinsson, Jörgen M. Jensen, Anders Lehmann, Lars Agreus and Maria Lagerström-Ferme

Arbetsmiljöns inverkan på gymnasieelevers mående – jämförelse av praktiska och teoretiska gymnasieprogram

Allt fler riksomfattande rapporter gör gällande att svenska skolelevers hälsa har försämrats de senaste åren både avseende psykiskt och fysiskt mående. Enligt en del forskare beror detta på en allt mer inaktiv livsstil med utökad tid för stillasittande arbete samt neddragen tid för skolgymnastik. Syftet med denna epidemiologiska tvärsnittsstudie var att få kunskap om gymnasieelevers mående på praktiska och teoretiska program och för att definiera en eventuell skillnad i arbetsmiljö samt självskattad psykisk och fysisk hälsa mellan de olika programmen. Sammanlagt 87 elever från 4 olika klasser undersöktes med svarsfrekvensen 69% (60 elever). Totalt gick 40 elever på praktiskt program (bygg- och fordonstekniskt program) och 47 elever gick på teoretiskt program (samhälls- och naturvetenskapligt program). Samtliga elever erhöll en enkät där frågor kring arbetsmiljö samt psykisk och fysisk hälsa skulle självskattas enligt en femgradig kategorisk skala (ordinaldata). För att korrigera för ett eventuellt könssamband inkluderades även könstillhörighet i resultatdelen. På teoretiska program var eleverna mer stressade över skolarbetet än eleverna på praktiska program (63% av eleverna på teoretiska program kände sig alltid eller ofta stressade över skolarbetet, jämfört med 17% bland elever på praktiska program). Uppdelat efter könstillhörighet sågs emellertid liknande skillnad där 69% (20/29) av flickorna i de båda programmen alltid eller ofta kände sig stressade över skolarbetet jämfört med 13% (4/31) bland pojkarna. Flickorna i studien rapporterade genomgående ett sämre psykiskt mående än pojkarna vilket överensstämmer med tidigare studier. Avseende fysisk hälsa framkom endast mindre skillnader mellan program och kön. En väntad könsskillnad noterades i frekvensen av magont vilket sannolikt kan härledas till mensvärk. Värk i nacke, rygg och axlar var något vanligare bland elever på teoretiska program och då hos flickor i synnerhet. På teoretiska program och hos flickor i allmänhet upplevde man således en mer stressig arbetsmiljö jämfört med elever på praktiska program och pojkar i synnerhet. Psykisk ohälsa var vanligare bland elever på teoretiska program, men då majoriteten på dessa program var flickor vilka i allmänhet oftare drabbas av psykisk ohälsa, kan inga långtgående slutsatser dras. Den höga andelen flickor bland elever på undersökta teoretiska program och pojkar på undersökta praktiska program, försvårar ett generaliserbart samband mellan arbetsmiljö, programtillhörighet och ohälsa. Genom att under längre tid studera gymnasieklasser med jämnare könsfördelning skulle man nå en tydligare konklusion

Medgörlighet med Dataskyddsförordningen: en undersökande fallstudie av affärssystems anpassning

Current moves into a heavily digitalized era has led to a phase where our privacy is being eroded as we hand over our personal data to organizations and their systems. At the same time, the applicable laws to give security to the individuals have failed to incorporate these legal developments. However, in April 2016 the European Union proposed a change to a new regulation called the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The GDPR will be implemented and start to apply in May 2018, thus the main purpose of this study was to investigate how organizations can adapt to changing regulations on how personal data should be stored and managed, and what the key tension points are within specifically closed IT-systems. The goal of the GDPR and this study on its feature implementation is to guarantee the EU citizens their right to privacy. Through an exploratory case study involving an in-depth analysis of two closed IT-systems this study develops a broader understanding on how organizations should adapt their daily businesses in order to be fully compliant with the new bylaws. This study identifies four critical issues which are used to discuss how the new bylaws could affect the EU citizens’ privacy. To accomplish this and open up for further investigation within the field of data privacy laws - four different propositions to modifications were suggested.Den aktuella övergången till en omfattande digitaliserad tid har lett till en fas där vår integritet går förlorad då vi överlämnar vår personliga information till organisationer och deras system. Samtidigt har de tillämpade datalagarna med syfte att skydda individen misslyckats med att införliva denna utveckling. Därför har den Europeiska Unionen i april 2016 föreslagit en förändring till en ny reglering som får namnet Dataskyddsförordningen. Dataskyddsförordningen kommer blir implementerad och börja gälla i maj 2018 och därav var huvudsyftet med den här studien att undersöka hur organisationer bör anpassa sig till de nya riktlinjerna för hur personlig information bör lagras och hanteras samt vilka spänningspunkterna är för slutna IT-system. Målet med Dataskyddsförordningen och vad den här studien beaktade i dess kommande utförande är att garantera EU-medborgare rätten till sin integritet. Genom att utföra en undersökande fallstudie innehållandes en djupgående analys av två slutna IT-system har den här studien bidragit med en bredare förståelse för hur organisationer bör anpassa sina dagliga verksamhet för att vara helt medgörliga med Dataskyddsförordningen. Studien har identifierat fyra kritiska problem som har legat till grund för att diskutera hur den nya förordningen kommer påverka EU-medborgarnas rätt till sin integritet. För att göra det möjligt samt öppna upp för framtida undersökningar inom ramen för dataskyddslagar föreslogs fyra förslag på generella förändringar