Making space in Stockholm : the landscape architect’s tools in designing for social sustainability

Social hållbarhet har på senare år fått ökad betydelse inom fysisk planering, något som bland annat syns i att målbeskrivningar rörande social hållbarhet tas upp i politiska styrdokument på global såväl som på nationell och kommunal nivå. I översiktsplanen för Stockholms stad nämns exempelvis att välutformade offentliga miljöer ska bidra med flera viktiga sociala funktioner i staden. Det är därmed relevant att undersöka hur landskapsarkitekter som arbetar med utformningen av dessa platser förstår och förhåller sig till begreppet social hållbarhet samt vilka verktyg de använder för att uppnå detta. Arbetet utgår från frågeställningen: Hur arbetar gestaltande landskapsarkitekter för att främja social hållbarhet vid gestaltning av offentliga rum i Stockholm? För att svara på detta utförs kvalitativa intervjuer med fyra landskapsarkitekter som arbetar med utformning av offentlig miljö i Stockholms stad. Intervjusvaren analyseras och diskuteras tematiskt mot bakgrund av litteratur i stadsplanering och designteori samt mot olika policydokument. Resultatet visar en komplexitet rörande begreppet social hållbarhet och kring de intervjuades arbetssituation, arbetsprocess och yrkesroll. Det finns verktyg som väljs eller läggs särskild stor vikt vid i gestaltning för social hållbarhet, viktigast av dessa verktyg är underlagen.In recent years questions surrounding social sustainability have been on the rise in the field of physical planning. This is seen in the fact that policy documents from different levels of society state goals for social sustainability. Examples of this are found in the principal guidelines for the municipality of Stockholm, in which it is stated that well designed public space should contribute social functions to the city. It is relevant therefore, to examine how landscape architects who design public space perceive the term social sustainability and what tools they use in order to reach these goals. This essay aims to answer the question: ”How do landscape architects work to promote social sustainability when designing public space in Stockholm?” Qualitative interviews were performed with four landscape architects who are currently working with designing public space within the municipality of Stockholm. In this essay the interview results are analysed and discussed thematically. They are compared to background literature in city planning, design theory and to various policy documents. The result shows complexity in the understanding of the term social sustainability as well as in the work environment, work process and professional role of the interviewed architects. It also shows that tools that are specifically chosen or seen as more important when designing for social sustainability do exist. Most important of these tools is project specific site information

Bovine oocyte exposure to perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) induces phenotypic, transcriptomic, and DNA methylation changes in resulting embryos in vitro

Knowledge on the effects of perfluorohexane sulfonate (PFHxS) on ovarian function is limited. In the current study, we investigated the sensitivity of oocytes to PFHxS during in vitro maturation (IVM), including conse-quences on embryo development at the morphological, transcriptomic, and epigenomic levels. Bovine cumulus-oocyte complexes (COCs) were exposed to PFHxS during 22 h IVM. Following fertilisation, developmental competence was recorded until day 8 of culture. Two experiments were conducted: 1) exposure of COCs to 0.01 mu g mL(-1) -100 mu g mL(-1) PFHxS followed by confocal imaging to detect neutral lipids and nuclei, and 2) exposure of COCs to 0.1 mu g mL(-1) PFHxS followed by analysis of transcriptomic and DNA methylation changes in blastocysts. Decreased oocyte developmental competence was observed upon exposure to & nbsp;>= 40 mu g mL(-1) PFHxS and altered lipid distribution was observed in the blastocysts upon exposure to 1-10 mu g mL(-1) PFHxS (not observed at lower or higher concentrations). Transcriptomic data showed that genes affected by 0.1 mu g mL(-1) PFHxS were enriched for pathways related to increased synthesis and production of reactive oxygen species. Enrichment for peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma and oestrogen pathways was also observed. Genes linked to DNA methylation changes were enriched for similar pathways. In conclusion, exposure of the bovine oocyte to PFHxS during the narrow window of IVM affected subsequent embryonic development, as reflected by morphological and mo- lecular changes. This suggests that PFHxS interferes with the final nuclear and cytoplasmic maturation of the oocyte leading to decreased developmental competence to blastocyst stage

Global, regional, and national mortality due to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning, 2000–2021: results from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

Background Unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning is a largely preventable cause of death that has received insufficient attention. We aimed to conduct a comprehensive global analysis of the demographic, temporal, and geographical patterns of fatal unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning from 2000 to 2021. Methods As part of the latest Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD), unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning mortality was quantified using the GBD cause of death ensemble modelling strategy. Vital registration data and covariates with an epidemiological link to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning informed the estimates of death counts and mortality rates for all locations, sexes, ages, and years included in the GBD. Years of life lost (YLLs) were estimated by multiplying deaths by remaining standard life expectancy at age of death. Population attributable fractions (PAFs) for unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning deaths due to occupational injuries and high alcohol use were estimated. Findings In 2021, the global mortality rate due to unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning was 0·366 per 100 000 (95% uncertainty interval 0·276–0·415), with 28 900 deaths (21 700–32 800) and 1·18 million YLLs (0·886–1·35) across all ages. Nearly 70% of deaths occurred in males (20 100 [15 800–24 000]), and the 50–54-year age group had the largest number of deaths (2210 [1660–2590]). The highest mortality rate was in those aged 85 years or older with 1·96 deaths (1·38–2·32) per 100 000. Eastern Europe had the highest age-standardised mortality rate at 2·12 deaths (1·98–2·30) per 100 000. Globally, there was a 53·5% (46·2–63·7) decrease in the age-standardised mortality rate from 2000 to 2021, although this decline was not uniform across regions. The overall PAFs for occupational injuries and high alcohol use were 13·6% (11·9–16·0) and 3·5% (1·4–6·2), respectively. Interpretation Improvements in unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning mortality rates have been inconsistent across regions and over time since 2000. Given that unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning is almost entirely preventable, policy-level interventions that lower the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning events should be prioritised, such as those that increase access to improved heating and cooking devices, reduce carbon monoxide emissions from generators, and mandate use of carbon monoxide alarms.publishedVersio

Unlocking pre-1850 instrumental meteorological records

A global inventory of early instrumental meteorological measurements is compiled that comprises thousands of mostly nondigitized series, pointing to the potential or weather data rescu

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Global, regional, and national burden of disorders affecting the nervous system, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BackgroundDisorders affecting the nervous system are diverse and include neurodevelopmental disorders, late-life neurodegeneration, and newly emergent conditions, such as cognitive impairment following COVID-19. Previous publications from the Global Burden of Disease, Injuries, and Risk Factor Study estimated the burden of 15 neurological conditions in 2015 and 2016, but these analyses did not include neurodevelopmental disorders, as defined by the International Classification of Diseases (ICD)-11, or a subset of cases of congenital, neonatal, and infectious conditions that cause neurological damage. Here, we estimate nervous system health loss caused by 37 unique conditions and their associated risk factors globally, regionally, and nationally from 1990 to 2021.MethodsWe estimated mortality, prevalence, years lived with disability (YLDs), years of life lost (YLLs), and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), with corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs), by age and sex in 204 countries and territories, from 1990 to 2021. We included morbidity and deaths due to neurological conditions, for which health loss is directly due to damage to the CNS or peripheral nervous system. We also isolated neurological health loss from conditions for which nervous system morbidity is a consequence, but not the primary feature, including a subset of congenital conditions (ie, chromosomal anomalies and congenital birth defects), neonatal conditions (ie, jaundice, preterm birth, and sepsis), infectious diseases (ie, COVID-19, cystic echinococcosis, malaria, syphilis, and Zika virus disease), and diabetic neuropathy. By conducting a sequela-level analysis of the health outcomes for these conditions, only cases where nervous system damage occurred were included, and YLDs were recalculated to isolate the non-fatal burden directly attributable to nervous system health loss. A comorbidity correction was used to calculate total prevalence of all conditions that affect the nervous system combined.FindingsGlobally, the 37 conditions affecting the nervous system were collectively ranked as the leading group cause of DALYs in 2021 (443 million, 95% UI 378–521), affecting 3·40 billion (3·20–3·62) individuals (43·1%, 40·5–45·9 of the global population); global DALY counts attributed to these conditions increased by 18·2% (8·7–26·7) between 1990 and 2021. Age-standardised rates of deaths per 100 000 people attributed to these conditions decreased from 1990 to 2021 by 33·6% (27·6–38·8), and age-standardised rates of DALYs attributed to these conditions decreased by 27·0% (21·5–32·4). Age-standardised prevalence was almost stable, with a change of 1·5% (0·7–2·4). The ten conditions with the highest age-standardised DALYs in 2021 were stroke, neonatal encephalopathy, migraine, Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, diabetic neuropathy, meningitis, epilepsy, neurological complications due to preterm birth, autism spectrum disorder, and nervous system cancer.InterpretationAs the leading cause of overall disease burden in the world, with increasing global DALY counts, effective prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation strategies for disorders affecting the nervous system are needed

Bemötande av flickor och pojkar i förskolan ur ett genusperspektiv

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka hur pedagoger på två olika avdelningar bemöter pojkar och flickor ur ett genusperspektiv. Studien fokuserar på pedagogernas förhållningssätt samt deras arbete kring genus. Pedagogernas bemötande har studerats utifrån två olika aspekter, nämligen positiv samt negativ förstärkning. I studien har sex intervjuer samt åtta observationer genomförts. Intervjuerna fokuserar på pedagogernas uppfattningar om sitt förhållningssätt gentemot pojkar och flickor. Observationerna fokuserar på pedagogernas faktiska agerande. Observationerna genomfördes vid matsituationer samt samlingar. Pedagogernas användande av positiv och negativ förstärkning registrerades i ett observationsschema. Resultatet visade att merparten av pedagogerna förhöll sig olika till pojkar respektive flickor. I resultatet framkom även att det ena arbetslaget var något mer fokuserade kring genusarbete än det andra arbetslaget. Slutsatsen av denna studie är att det krävs mer kunskap och kompetens kring genus samt tydlig kommunikation för att kunna utföra en genusmedveten pedagogik

Nudging- Less is more : An experimental study from a consumer perspective

Nudge syftar till att knuffa individer till att ta val som är i enlighet med deras välmående genom att göra förändringar i den miljö inom vilken individen tar beslut. För att få människor att ta särskilda beslut kan nudge delas in i låg och hög påträngandegrad baserat på hur stor graden av påträngande är på individens autonomi. I jämförelse med låg påträngandegrad har hög påträngandegrad kritiserats för att äventyra individens fria val. Vidare har privata aktörer kritiserats för att utnyttja nudging på ett sätt som inte nödvändigtvis gynnar konsumenten ifråga. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka huruvida hög (jfr. med låg) påträngandegrad påverkar konsumenters attityder och således deras antagande av nudge när avsändaren är privat (jfr. med offentlig). Då kritiker menar att nudging kan likställas med marknadsföring undersöks även om konsumenter upplever nudging som marknadsföring när privata aktörer tillämpar nudging. I studien har en experimentell forskningsdesign (2x2) använts där hög (jfr. med låg) påträngandegrad samt privat (jfr. med offentlig) avsändare manipulerades för att undersöka effekten på konsumentattityder samt deras antagande av nudge. Studien fastställer att konsumenter tenderar att anta nudge med hög (jfr. med låg) påträngandegrad i mindre utsträckning, vilket förklaras av att deras attityd till hög (jfr. med låg) påträngandegrad är mer negativ. Privata aktörer bör således vara försiktiga vid tillämpning av nudge med hög påträngandegrad. Vidare upplever konsumenter nudging som marknadsföring i högre grad då nudge utfärdas av privata avsändare (oavsett påträngandegrad). Att uppmärksamma detta är fundamentalt för att privata aktörer ska kunna implementera nudge på ett så effektivt sätt som möjligt.To get individuals to make specific decisions, nudge can be categorized into low and high degree of intrusiveness based on the degree of intrusiveness on the individual's autonomy. Nudge with high degree of intrusiveness has been criticized for endangering the individual’s freedom of choice. Moreover, private actors have been criticized for utilize nudging in a way that is not necessarily beneficial for the consumer. This study examines whether nudge with high (cf. low) degree of intrusiveness affect consumer attitudes and their adoption of nudge when the actor is private (cf. public). Since critics believe that nudging can be perceived as marketing, the study explores whether consumers also perceive nudging as marketing. An experimental design (2x2) was applied in this study and high (cf. low) degree of intrusiveness and private (cf. public) actors was manipulated in order to investigate the effect on consumer attitudes and their adoption of nudge. The results indicate that consumers adopt to nudge with low (cf. high) degree of intrusiveness in a greater extent, which can be explained by their negative attitude towards nudge with high (cf. low) degree of intrusiveness. Therefore, private actors should be careful when implementing nudge with high degree of intrusiveness. Furthermore, consumers tend to perceive nudging as marketing to a greater extent when private actors use nudge (regardless of the degree of intrusiveness). To consider this is fundamental for private actors in order to implement nudge in the most efficient way possible

Europeiska unionen – tillväxt och konvergens? : En kvantitativ undersökning angående den ekonomiska situationen för länderna i EU-25

Den ekonomiska situationen skiljer sig åt mellan länder i världen och tillväxt är ett instrument som ofta utnyttjas för att studera länders ekonomiska situation. Ett område inom studier av tillväxt är konvergens. Konvergens innebär att länder, som har ett lägre initialt BNP, har en högre tillväxt och växer därmed, över tid, ikapp länder med ett högre initialt BNP. Denna uppsats fokuserar på den ekonomiska situationen i Europeiska unionen, EU. EU består av länder som samarbetar för en ekonomisk och social sammanhållning, men trots detta finns det skillnader i den ekonomiska situationen mellan medlemsländerna. För att studera tillväxt och förekomsten av konvergens inom EU utförs en kvantitativ undersökning. Undersökningen baseras på paneldata för EU-25 över tidsperioden 1994 till 2013. Tre regressionsmodeller skapas, en modell för de 25 EU-länderna och två olika modeller för regioner i utvalda länder inom EU. I alla modeller är BNP-tillväxt beroende variabel och den huvudsakliga förklarande variabeln är BNP per capita. Övriga förklarande variabler varierar mellan modellerna. De resultat som framkommer i uppsatsen går i linje med en stor del av de resultat som visas i tidigare studier. En konvergens kan observeras mellan länder men är dock inte lika uppenbar på regionnivå. Resultatet för regionerna i uppsatsen visar att storstäderna växer fortare än övriga områden, vilket talar emot förekomsten av konvergens. Något som också framkommer i uppsatsens resultat är att ett inträde i EU har en positiv effekt på tillväxten hos länder. Uppsatsen avslutas med en diskussionsdel där resultaten diskuteras och analyseras. I slutet av diskussionen presenteras förslag till framtida studier