Rising Tide or Skilful Manoeuvring? Comparison of classical theories on elections and parties applied to a novel case: The Green Parties

There has been a steadily increasing interest in the study of the phenomenon of “niche” parties in the last decade. The resulting literature has predominantly focused on populist right-wing parties, and while this is vital, the case of the Green party has never been more relevant than today. This thesis examines the rise of Green parties through a rigorous theoretical framework including sociological, strategic and institutionalist theories with a strict case-selection approach. It aims to analyse theoretically different processes addressing why Green parties gain votes in the same empirical model. To this end, a logistic multi-level regression model is applied to data from 14 elections in north-western Europe. The results largely align with theory and current literature: both long-term sociological factors and the more immediate manoeuvring of political parties structure voting behaviour in relation to Green parties. The most significant finding of this thesis is a substantial interaction between how Green parties position themselves relative to the party-system mean at the party level, and post-materialist values at the individual level, in determining the likelihood that individuals will vote for a Green party. On the one hand, the more the Green party separates itself from the party-system mean the less they incentivise individuals to vote for them. On the other hand, in interaction with post-material values at the individual-level the effect is reversed. While concurrent with theory, the greatest implication of this finding is the fact that scholars who wish to analyse the effects of party manoeuvring and the values and attitudes of the electorates in tandem, must be sensitive to the interactions between these levels, especially in the ever more relevant case of the Green parties.MasteroppgaveSAMPOL350MASV-SAP

Analytical Interference by Contrast Agents in Biochemical Assays

Objective. To provide a clinically relevant overview of the analytical interference by contrast agents (CA) in laboratory blood test measurements. Materials and Methods. The effects of five CAs, gadobutrol, gadoterate meglumine, gadoxetate disodium, iodixanol, and iomeprol, were studied on the 29 most frequently performed biochemical assays. One-day-old plasma, serum, and whole blood were spiked with doses of each agent such that the gadolinium agents and the iodine agents reached concentrations of 0.5 mM and 12 mg iodine/mL, respectively. Subsequently, 12 assays were reexamined using 1/2 and 1/4 of these CA concentrations. The results were assessed statistically by a paired Student’s t-test. Results. Iodixanol produced a negative interference on the bicarbonate (p=0.011), lactate dehydrogenase (p<0.0001), and zinc (p=0.0034) assays and a positive interference on the albumin (p=0.0062), calcium (p<0.0001), ionized calcium (p=0.0086), iron (p<0.0001), and potassium (p=0.0003) assays. Iomeprol produced a negative interference on the bicarbonate (p=0.0057) and magnesium (p=0.0001) assays and a positive interference on the calcium (p<0.0001) and potassium (p=0.0012) assays. Gadoxetate disodium produced a negative interference on the iron (p<0.0001) and zinc (p<0.0001) assays and a positive interference on the sodium (p=0.032) assay. Conclusion. CAs cause analytical interference. Attention should be given to the above-mentioned analyte-CA combinations when assessing laboratory blood test results obtained after CA administration

Knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of parents regarding fever in children: a Danish interview study

Aim: Fever and febrile illness are some of the most common conditions managed by parents. The aim of this study was to examine the knowledge, attitudes and beliefs of parents around fever in children under five years of age. Methods: Between July and August 2014, a convenience sample of parents was invited to participate in this study in Copenhagen, Denmark. Results were analysed thematically using a constant comparison method. Results: Twenty-one parents participated in the study. Five themes emerged from the data: parental concern, help-seeking behaviour, parental knowledge, parent fever management practices and initiatives. Parents used a range of information sources to obtain their knowledge on management of fever; however, due to issues of trust with these sources, reassurance was often sought from healthcare practitioners. There was a desire amongst most parents for initiatives to be introduced which provide general information on how to manage fever in children. Conclusion: Parents were very concerned when their child was febrile and instigated practices obtained from accessible information sources. This study has identified a need for specific and reliable information initiatives to be introduced as a means of reducing parental concern and ensuring evidence-based strategies for managing a child with fever