A unified theory of calcium alternans in ventricular myocytes.

Intracellular calcium (Ca2+) alternans is a dynamical phenomenon in ventricular myocytes, which is linked to the genesis of lethal arrhythmias. Iterated map models of intracellular Ca2+ cycling dynamics in ventricular myocytes under periodic pacing have been developed to study the mechanisms of Ca2+ alternans. Two mechanisms of Ca2+ alternans have been demonstrated in these models: one relies mainly on fractional sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ release and uptake, and the other on refractoriness and other properties of Ca2+ sparks. Each of the two mechanisms can partially explain the experimental observations, but both have their inconsistencies with the experimental results. Here we developed an iterated map model that is composed of two coupled iterated maps, which unifies the two mechanisms into a single cohesive mathematical framework. The unified theory can consistently explain the seemingly contradictory experimental observations and shows that the two mechanisms work synergistically to promote Ca2+ alternans. Predictions of the theory were examined in a physiologically-detailed spatial Ca2+ cycling model of ventricular myocytes

Constitutional Architecture: The First Amendment and the Single Family House

This Article argues that the exterior design of a private single-family house is a First Amendment-protected expression for the inhabitants. The exterior design of the single-family house speaks on behalf of the inhabitants, expressing who they are and how they choose to live. The Article explores the genesis of aesthetic regulation and its threat to First Amendment values. Any municipality that applies aesthetic standards to regulate this expression must justify the regulation by establishing a substantial governmental interest. The interest must be advanced by the application of narrowly and clearly defined standards

In harmony with nature : an action proposal for the proposed nature reserve Gamla Uppsala åskullar with a focus on strengthening biodiversity and accessibility

Människans distansering från naturen är ett allt vanligare fenomen som ökar i takt med att närheten till naturen för många är bristfällig. Det ökade avståndet till naturen och den bristande naturkontakten kan ses som en orsak till den ökade ohälsan som är ett utbrett samhällsproblem, eftersom naturupplevelser har hälsofrämjande effekter. Den svaga naturkontakten kan bero på att allt fler människor bosätter sig i urbana miljöer, där avstånd till grönområden ökar. Den stadsnära naturen utgör därför för många människor den mest förekommande kontakten med grönområden. Samtidigt hotar exploatering värdefulla naturområden och dess biologiska mångfald. Antalet habitat minskar globalt vilket är oroväckande eftersom biodiversitet och ekosystem utgör en nyckelroll till allt liv på jorden. Att skydda och utforma naturområden utifrån ett ekologiskt perspektiv och att åter sammanföra människan med naturen genom att underlätta rörelsen till och användningen av stadsnära naturområden är därför av stor betydelse i omställningen till ett mer hållbart och hälsofrämjande samhälle. Som arbetsområde för denna studie har Gamla Uppsala åskullar valts eftersom det är ett stadsnära naturområde med unik ängsflora som i skrivande stund utreds som ett nytt naturreservat i norra Uppsala. Intentionen med arbetet är att undersöka hur ekologiskt inriktade åtgärdsförslag i ett naturreservat kan tillvarata och stärka befintliga ekologiska värden, såsom habitat och biologisk mångfald, samtidigt som upplevelsevärden skapas och fler målgrupper ges möjligheten att nyttja området. Detta för att bidra till en ökad förståelse för och kunskap om kopplingen mellan människa och natur samt om hur ekologiska åtgärder även kan gynna upplevelsemässiga värden i stadsnära naturområden. Analyser baserade på ekologi synliggör värdefulla aspekter och bedömningar för ett fortsatt utvecklande av naturområdet. Intentionen är att på ett harmoniskt och omsorgsfullt sätt skapa en plats med tydlig koppling till naturen där besökaren på ett enkelt sätt kan röra sig i området. Genom åtgärdsförslag och gestaltningstillägg främjas orienterbarheten och tillgängligheten för fler målgrupper i området Gamla Uppsala åskullar samtidigt som den värdefulla miljön tillvaratas, förstärks och uppmärksammas. Arbetet synliggör att utvecklandet av stadsnära natur baserat på ett ekologiskt tillvägagångssätt både kan skapa betydelsefulla mervärden för naturen och upplevelsemässiga värden. Detta arbete kan därmed ses som ett steg i att öka medvetenheten kring ekologin och dess skörhet genom pedagogiska inslag i gestaltningstilläggen. Åtgärdsförslaget och gestaltningstilläggen blir på så vis ett sätt att uppmärksamma och sprida kunskap om naturens unika värde i det föreslagna naturreservatet Gamla Uppsala åskullar.People's distance from nature is an increasingly common phenomenon that is growing as the proximity to nature for many is inadequate. The increased distance from nature and the lack of contact with nature can be seen as a cause of declining health, which globally is a social problem, as nature experiences have health-promoting effects. The lack of contact with nature may be due to the fact that an increasing amount of people are living in urban environments, where distances to green areas are increasing. For many people, nature close to the city is therefore the most frequent contact with nature. At the same time, exploitation is threatening valuable nature and its biodiversity. The number of habitats is declining globally, which is worrying as biodiversity and ecosystems play a key role for all life on Earth. Protecting and designing green areas from an ecological perspective and reconnecting people with nature by making urban green areas accessible is therefore of great importance in the transition to a more sustainable and health-promoting society. Gamla Uppsala åskullar is currently being investigated as a new nature reserve in northern Uppsala and has been chosen as the work area for this study since it is a nature close to the city with unique meadow flora. The aim of the work is to investigate how ecologically proposed actions in a nature reserve can secure and strengthen existing ecological values, such as habitats and biodiversity, while creating experiential values and giving more people the opportunity to use the area. This is to contribute to an increased understanding and knowledge of the connection between humans and nature and how ecological actions can also benefit experiential values in nature close to the city. Analyses based on ecology highlight valuable aspects and assessments for the continued development of the ecology in Gamla Uppsala åskullar. The intention is to harmoniously and carefully create a place with a strong connection to nature where the visitor can easily move around the area. Proposed actions and design additions will promote orientation and accessibility for more people, while the valuable environment is preserved, strengthened and highlighted. The work highlights that the development of urban nature based on an ecological approach can create both significant added value for nature and experiential values. This work can be seen as a step in raising awareness of ecology and its fragility through educational elements in the design additions. The proposed action and the design additions will thus be a way of drawing attention to and spreading knowledge about the unique value of nature in the proposed nature reserve Gamla Uppsala åskullar

Essays on firm responses to tax policy

This compilation thesis studies firm responses to tax policy. The essays use empirical methods and administrative firm-level data to study issues in public and labor economics: how do firms adjust their behavior to incentives caused by policy. The results can provide information to guide the design of public policy. The first essay studies the effects of a first-employee subsidy in Finland. In 2007—2011 Finland provided a regional subsidy for hiring the first employee. The subsidy was supposed to encourage entrepreneurs to become employers, as over half of firms in Finland do not have employees. Using the geographic differences in the eligibility to the subsidy and full-population firm data, I study the effects on the probability of becoming an employer and several other firm outcomes. I find a zero effect on average. This seems to be explained by low take-up of the subsidy: only 2% of eligible firms that became employers used the subsidy. Descriptive evidence supports that restricting the subsidy to full-time employees and low awareness decreased the take-up and, hence, the effectiveness of the subsidy. The second essay describes a plan for a government-run recruitment subsidy experiment. The randomized experiment is supposed to evaluate the effects of a recruitment subsidy on the probability of becoming an employer. Following the evidence from the first essay, the subsidy is not restricted to a type of employment contract and the subsidy covers a percentage of the wage costs in the first year up to a threshold. Therefore, expected take-up and effects are larger, and the results of the experiment can complement the knowledge from the first essay. The essay makes use of administrative firm-level data to plan the experiment and calculate the statistical power. The third essay studies how firms respond to tax audits. We combine data from the Finnish tax administration on all tax audits conducted on firms in 2003—2016 to annual firm tax returns. This unique, novel data allows us to follow the tax reporting behavior of firms before and after being audited. By comparing the development of the audited firms to similar non-audited firms with similar prior development, we find that the audited firms significantly increase reported profits and revenue persistently after an audit. This means that auditing more firms could increase tax revenue in the long run, by increasing firms’ tax compliance.Esseitä veropolitiikan vaikutuksista yrityksiin Tämä kokoomaväitöskirja tutkii veropolitiikan vaikutuksia yrityksiin. Esseissä tutkitaan julkisen ja työn talouden kysymyksiä käyttämällä empiirisiä menetelmiä ja yritystason rekisteriaineistoja: miten yritykset reagoivat julkisen politiikan luomiin kannustimiin. Tuloksia voidaan käyttää apuna julkisen politiikan suunnittelussa. Ensimmäinen essee tutkii ensimmäisen työntekijän palkkaustuen vaikutuksia Suomessa. Vuosina 2007—2011 Suomessa oli tarjolla alueellinen tuki ensimmäisen työntekijän palkkaamiseksi. Tuen oli tarkoitus rohkaista yrittäjiä ryhtymään työnantajaksi, kun yli puolet Suomen yrityksistä ovat yksinyrittäjiä. Tutkin tuen vaikutuksia työnantajaksi ryhtymisen todennäköisyyteen ja muihin yritysten tulemiin käyttämällä alueellisia eroja yritysten kelpoisuudessa tukeen ja koko yrityspopulaation aineistoa. Tulosten perusteella tuella ei ollut vaikutuksia keskimäärin. Tämän näyttäisi selittävän tuen alhainen käyttöaste: vain 2 % työnantajaksi ryhtyneistä yrityksistä käytti tukea. Kuvailevan analyysin perusteella rajoitus kokoaikaisiin työsuhteisiin ja alhainen tietoisuus tuesta laskivat tuen käyttöastetta ja siten tuen vaikuttavuutta. Toisessa esseessä kuvaillaan suunnitelma valtion toimeenpanemasta rekrytointitukikokeilusta. Satunnaistetun kokeen on tarkoitus arvioida rekrytointituen vaikutuksia työnantajaksi ryhtymisen todennäköisyyteen. Ensimmäisen esseen näytön perusteella rekrytointitukea ei ole sidottu työsuhteen muotoon ja tuki korvaa osuuden palkkakustannuksista ensimmäisen vuoden aikana ylärajaan saakka. Tämän takia tuen odotettu käyttöaste ja vaikutukset ovat suuremmat ja kokeilun tulokset voivat täydentää ensimmäisen esseen tuottamaa tietoa. Esseessä käytetään yritystason rekisteriaineistoja kokeilun suunnittelussa ja kokeen tilastollisen voiman laskemisessa. Kolmannessa esseessä tutkitaan verotarkastusten vaikutuksia yrityksiin. Yhdistämme ainutlaatuisen aineiston kaikista Suomen veroviraston tekemistä yritysten verotarkastuksista vuosilta 2003—2016 yritysten vuosittaisiin veroilmoituksiin. Näin voimme seurata yritysten veroraportointia ajassa ennen ja jälkeen verotarkastuksen. Tarkastettujen yritysten kehityksen vertaaminen samankaltaisiin samalla tavalla kehittyneisiin ei-tarkastettuihin yrityksiin paljastaa, että tarkastetut yritykset lisäävät merkittävästi ja pysyvästi raportoituja voittoja ja liikevaihtoa tarkastuksen jälkeen. Tämä tarkoittaa, että verotarkastusten lisääminen voisi tuottaa lisää verotuloja pitkällä aikavälillä lisäämällä yritysten verojen raportointia

Zen and the Art of Becoming (and Being) a Lawyer

In this essay, the author discusses how law schools should be taught using the Pirsig Model. Furthermore, the author discusses how lawyers should use the Pirsig model in practice

Friedrich Schlegels early Romantic notion of religion in relation to two presuppositions of the Enlightenment

German early Romanticism was an intellectual movement that originated in the era between the great French Revolution of 1789 and the beginning of the Napoleonic Wars in 1803. Usually, it is defined in contrast to the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment is presented as the age of reason, criticism and scientific naturalism, while the Romantics are portrayed as its reactionary enemies. According to a still customary prejudice, Romanticism was the age of exaggerated emotions, authoritarian dogmatism and mystical superstition. However, our notion of the Enlightenment has undergone changes in recent decades. Because the traditional antagonism between Aufklärung and Frühromantik has become questionable, the Romantic revival of religion needs reconsideration. In this paper, Nivala proposes an argument why the Romantics did not fall into reactionary irrationalism. His discussion focuses on one person, Friedrich Schlegel (1772–1829). Nivala presents how two vital presuppositions of the Enlightenment, naturalism and criticism, were reinterpreted by Schlegel as pantheism and mysticism

Zen and the Art of Becoming (and Being) a Lawyer

In this essay, the author discusses how law schools should be taught using the Pirsig Model. Furthermore, the author discusses how lawyers should use the Pirsig model in practice