Transmission of Human Capital across Four Generations: Intergenerational Correlations and a Test of the Becker-Tomes Model

Most previous studies on intergenerational transmission of human capital are restricted to two generations - between the parent and the child generation. In this paper we investigate if there is an independent effect of the grandparent and the great grandparent generations in this process. We use a dataset where we are able to link individual measures of life time earnings for three generation and data on educational attainments of four generations. We first do conventional regressions and transition matrices for life time earnings measures and educational attainments adding variables for the grandparent and great grandparent generations, respectively. We find that grandparents and even great grandparents significantly influence earnings and education. We then estimate the so called Becker-Tomes model using the educational attainment of the great grandparent generation as an instrumental variable. We fail to find support for the model’s predictions.Intergenerational income mobility; earnings distribution; income inequality

Rendering the ungraspable graspable : the use of metaphors in Swedish palliative cancer care

Good communication is of utmost importance in all forms of cancer care and especially so in the palliative context. To render the ungraspable graspable, metaphors are frequently used drawing on their capacity to capture the intangible in terms of more familiar experiences. For instance, to die from cancer can be described as ’coming to the end of a life journey’ or ’losing a battle’. Metaphors are largely language and culture specific. Today’s increasingly multicultural societies require particular awareness in order to achieve dignified, individualized palliative cancer care. This project aims to strengthen the scientific foundation for the use of metaphors in Swedish palliative cancer care. A secondary aim is to compare the use of metaphors in Sweden and the UK in order to reveal differences and similarities. Textual data are collected froma) internet-based blogs, where patients write about their illness-related emotions and experiences while being in palliative care, and fromb) interviews with patients, family and health care professionals, where the focus is to investigate what it means to live a dignified life in palliative care.The two sets of data are analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative linguistic methods. First, the Pragglejaz procedure, a well-established linguistic method for metaphor identification, is used in order to manually identify metaphorical expressions in the material, develop analytic categories adapted to the Swedish language data and ensure inter-rater reliability. Second, the material is approached by means of corpus linguistic methods. The combination of research methods is inspired by the UK-based MELC project. The data are currently being processed and the first results will be presented at the conference. The project is funded by The Kamprad Family Foundation, Sweden

What are the effects of even-aged and uneven-aged forest management on boreal forest biodiversity in Fennoscandia and European Russia? A systematic review

Background: Forest harvesting changes forest habitat and impacts forest dependent species. Uneven-aged management is often considered better for biodiversity than even-aged management, but there is an ongoing discourse over the benefits and disadvantages of different silvicultural systems. This systematic review contributes to the public discussion and provides evidence for policy making by synthesising current evidence on impacts of even-aged and uneven-aged forest management on biodiversity in boreal forests of Fennoscandia and European Russia. In this review even-aged and uneven-aged forest management are compared directly to each other as well as to natural forest to provide a broad basis for public discussion. Methods: Both peer-reviewed and grey literature were searched in bibliographical databases, organizational webpages and internet search engines in English, Finnish, Swedish and Russian. Articles were screened for relevance by their title/abstract and again by full text. The inclusion of studies was assessed against pre-defined criteria published in an a priori protocol. A narrative synthesis and meta-analysis were conducted to describe the evidence base and to compare species richness and abundance between differently managed forests. The influence of habitat specialism, taxon, years since harvesting, deadwood availability and harvesting intensity on species richness and abundance were also tested. Review findings: Searching identified 43,621 articles of which 137 articles with 854 studies had independent data and were included in the narrative synthesis. Of those, 547 studies were included in the meta-analysis. The most studied taxa were arthropods, vascular plants, bryophytes, fungi, and lichens. Results showed that forests with less disturbance (uneven-aged and mature even-aged) host more forest dependent species than young even-aged forests ( 80 years old). Uneven-aged forest had similar number of species and individuals than natural forest whereas even-aged forest had less species than natural forest. Open habitat species and their individuals were more numerous in young even-aged forests and forests undergone retention harvest. Effect sizes found were mostly large indicating strong and uniform impact of forest management based on species' habitat preferences. In addition to habitat specialism, years since harvest explained some of the differences found in species richness and abundance due to increase of open habitat species in the early successional stages and forest dependent species in late successional stages. Taxon had limited explanatory power. Conclusions: Habitat preferences determine species' response to different harvesting methods and the magnitude of effect is large. Less disturbance from harvesting is better for forest dependent species whereas opposite is true for open habitat species. Uneven-aged and mature even-aged forests (> 80 years old) are important to maintain biodiversity in boreal forests. However, the results also highlight that natural forests are needed to ensure the future of forest dependent species in Fennoscandia and European Russia. Given that a broader set of biodiversity aspects are to be protected, best overall biodiversity impacts for a variety of species at landscape level can be achieved by ensuring that there is a mosaic of different forests within landscapes.Peer reviewe

Are small protected habitat patches within boreal production forests effective in conserving species richness, abundance and community composition? A systematic review

Background: In boreal zone forest management is changing and degrading forest habitats, which has caused declines in biodiversity. To mitigate these harmful effects in production forests, small-scale habitats with high biodiversity values have been protected within them. These habitats include woodland key habitats, and other small habitat patches protected by voluntary conservation actions. In this systematic review we synthesize the evidence on the value of small protected habitat patches (SPHP) within production forest landscapes for biodiversity. Review question: Are small protected habitat patches within boreal production forests effective in conserving species richness, abundance, and community composition? Methods: Both peer-reviewed and grey literature were searched from bibliographical databases, organizational websites and internet search engines in English, Finnish, Swedish and Russian. Articles were screened at two stages (title/abstract and full text) and the validity of the included studies were assessed. Screening and validity assessment were based on predetermined criteria. After data extraction, narrative and quantitative syntheses were conducted. Influences of effect modifiers were tested, and sensitivity analyses were conducted. Review findings: During the searches 19,458 articles were found. After duplicate removal and title/abstract screening 336 articles remained. During full text screening 41 articles were included and 35 of them (174 studies) were included in narrative synthesis. 28 articles with 127 studies had suitable data for meta-analysis. SPHPs had significantly higher species richness compared to production forests. When compared to natural forests, there was no significant difference. Forest management in areas surrounding SPHPs did not have impact on species richness of these patches. Individual abundance was significantly higher in SPHPs compared to natural or production forests. There was significantly more dead wood in SPHPs compared to production forests, but when compared to natural forests there was no significant difference. Community composition was different between SPHPs and both production and natural forests. Conclusions: The findings of this review show that small protected patches within production forests are important part of biodiversity conservation. They cannot substitute larger protected areas but supplement the protected area network. However, there were gaps both in geographical distribution of the studies as well as in the selection of target species of the studies. Therefore, generalization of the results must be done carefully.Peer reviewe

What are the effects of even-aged and uneven-aged forest management on boreal forest biodiversity in Fennoscandia and European Russia? A systematic review protocol

Biodiversity is vital for human well-being, but is threatened by human actions world-wide. In the boreal zone, harvesting and management of forests on an industrial scale is the most important factor driving habitat change and degradation. Over time different forest management regimes have been implemented but their impact on biodiversity at different spatial and temporal scales has not been systematically reviewed although non-systematic reviews on the topic exist. The aim of this article is to describe a protocol for a systematic review to synthesise and compare the impacts of two different forest management systems on biodiversity at different spatial and temporal scales. The topic for the systematic review arose from the discussions with the Finnish forestry sector and was further defined in a stakeholder workshop. Research questions addressed by the systematic review protocol are: (1) What are the stand-level effects of even-aged and uneven-aged forest management on boreal forest biodiversity in Fennoscandia and European Russia? (2) What is the effect of these same forest management systems on biodiversity at landscape level?Peer reviewe

Understanding illnesses through a film festival: an observational study

Audio-visual materials play a fundamental role in the context of education, care and clinical treatment, as they seem to have a high impact on public awareness. This study aims to describe what messages are perceived by the society at an International Festival of Short Films and Art on Diseases that may help to understand difficult topics, such as illness, dying and suffering. Through an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study, using full participant observation and an open, self-administered questionnaire, 32 short films were analysed during a healthcare art festival. Categories were developed using inductive content analysis. The message perceived by the participants, after the viewing of the shorts and reflection of the debates among the attendees, were considered in four categories: i) creative and positive education is possible; ii) awareness of preconception and practical duties; iii) meaning of life changes the experience of illness; iv) family and caregivers also experienced suffering. The short films are considered as an excellent tool to generate social dialogue and debate. Public events can be understood as an opportunity to ac- quire, in an emotional and critical manner, other competencies for public awareness. Together, they are capable of communicating difficult messages through a fast, positive, and creative way

Interdisciplinary discussions on palliative care among university students in Spain: giving voice to the social debate

Background: University students are the future professionals who will influence society. It is thus essential to improve students' understanding of palliative care (PC), especially those in the non-health field, to generate and encourage propitious opinions about PC. This study describes the perceptions of PC among university students from different disciplines. Method: Qualitative exploratory study using virtual focus groups (FGs) and design thinking (DT) approach. An intentional sample of students from various disciplines, universities and cities from Spain were selected. Numerous researchers from different fields were involved in the discussion of the final thematic analysis. Results: Four themes and seven subthemes were found: i) Students have an ambiguous understanding about PC; ii) PC is not a common issue for non-health students; ii) Students see PC as an important and necessary field; iii) Students build counter-narratives against PC myths, demonstrating PC brings key benefits into people's lives; iv) PC is a synonym of death. Conclusion: Despite the fact that students do not know much about PC, the topic easily arouses reflection and positive discussion. Through the conversations they find positive values and arguments against misunderstand- ing. Students from different disciplines could be the target of innovative educational initia- tives and the social debate on PC

Correlation of Structure, Function and Protein Dynamics in GH7 Cellobiohydrolases from \u3cem\u3eTrichoderma atroviride\u3c/em\u3e, \u3cem\u3eT. reesei\u3c/em\u3e and \u3cem\u3eT. harzianum\u3c/em\u3e

Background: The ascomycete fungus Trichoderma reesei is the predominant source of enzymes for industrial conversion of lignocellulose. Its glycoside hydrolase family 7 cellobiohydrolase (GH7 CBH) TreCel7A constitutes nearly half of the enzyme cocktail by weight and is the major workhorse in the cellulose hydrolysis process. The orthologs from Trichoderma atroviride (TatCel7A) and Trichoderma harzianum (ThaCel7A) show high sequence identity with TreCel7A, ~ 80%, and represent naturally evolved combinations of cellulose-binding tunnel-enclosing loop motifs, which have been suggested to influence intrinsic cellobiohydrolase properties, such as endo-initiation, processivity, and off-rate. Results: The TatCel7A, ThaCel7A, and TreCel7A enzymes were characterized for comparison of function. The catalytic domain of TatCel7A was crystallized, and two structures were determined: without ligand and with thio-cellotriose in the active site. Initial hydrolysis of bacterial cellulose was faster with TatCel7A than either ThaCel7A or TreCel7A. In synergistic saccharification of pretreated corn stover, both TatCel7A and ThaCel7A were more efficient than TreCel7A, although TatCel7A was more sensitive to thermal inactivation. Structural analyses and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to elucidate important structure/function correlations. Moreover, reverse conservation analysis (RCA) of sequence diversity revealed divergent regions of interest located outside the cellulose-binding tunnel of Trichoderma spp. GH7 CBHs. Conclusions: We hypothesize that the combination of loop motifs is the main determinant for the observed differences in Cel7A activity on cellulosic substrates. Fine-tuning of the loop flexibility appears to be an important evolutionary target in Trichoderma spp., a conclusion supported by the RCA data. Our results indicate that, for industrial use, it would be beneficial to combine loop motifs from TatCel7A with the thermostability features of TreCel7A. Furthermore, one region implicated in thermal unfolding is suggested as a primary target for protein engineering