An overview of economics and regulation

To very briefly conclude: We could summarise the contents of this essay with stating that economic theory and empirical research is a valuable tool in regulation. It might be difficult to apply or to comprehend the implications of economic research in a regulatory context, but it would at least be fruitful in the long run to develop coherent methods to do this

Temperature stability of intersubband transitions in AlN/GaN quantum wells

Temperature dependence of intersubband transitions in AlN/GaN multiple quantum wells grown with molecular beam epitaxy is investigated both by absorption studies at different temperatures and modeling of conduction-band electrons. For the absorption study, the sample is heated in increments up to $400^\circ$C. The self-consistent Schr\"odinger-Poisson modeling includes temperature effects of the band-gap and the influence of thermal expansion on the piezoelectric field. We find that the intersubband absorption energy decreases only by $\sim 6$ meV at $400^\circ$C relative to its room temperature value

Pubertal maturation and affective symptoms in adolescence and adulthood: evidence from a prospective birth cohort

The higher prevalence of affective symptoms among women compared to men emerges in adolescence, and it has been associated with pubertal maturation. However, it remains unclear whether pubertal timing has long-term influences on affective symptoms. Using data from the British 1946 birth cohort, we investigated whether pubertal timing was associated with affective symptoms over the life course, distinguishing those with symptoms in adolescence only, symptoms in adulthood only, and symptoms in both adolescence and adulthood. In females, there was no evidence that early pubertal maturation was a risk factor for affective symptoms. However, those with particularly late menarche (≥15 years) showed a lower risk of adult-onset affective symptoms (OR = 0.54, 95% CI: 0.31, 0.95). This effect of late pubertal timing was not explained by a range of socio-behavioural factors. In contrast, in males, late pubertal timing was associated with increased risk of adolescent-onset affective symptoms that tracked into adulthood (OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.44, 3.06). This effect was partly explained by low pre-pubertal BMI. Sex-specific effects of pubertal timing on the long-term risk of affective symptoms might be due to different effects of gonadal hormonal on the CNS, as well as different social experiences during puberty

The Cambridge Prognostic Groups for improved prediction of disease mortality at diagnosis in primary non-metastatic prostate cancer: a validation study.

Purpose: To validate a new 5-tier prognostic classification system to better discriminate cancer specific mortality in men diagnosed with primary non-metastatic prostate cancer. Patients and Methods: We applied a recently described 5 strata model (Cambridge Prognostic Groups-CPG) in 2 international cohorts and tested prognostic performance against the current standard 3 strata classification of low, intermediate or high-risk disease. Diagnostic clinico-pathological data of men from Prostate Cancer Data Base Sweden (PCBaSe) and the Singapore Health Study were used. The main outcome measure was prostate cancer mortality (PCM) stratified by age group and treatment modality. Results: The PCBaSe cohort included 72,337 men, of whom 7,162 died of prostate cancer. The CPG model successfully classified men with different risks of PCM with competing risk-regression confirming significant intergroup distinction (p<0.0001). The CPGs were significantly better at stratified prediction of PCM compared to the current 3-tier system (C-Index 0.81 vs. 0.77, p<0.0001). This superiority was maintained for every age group division (p<0.0001). Also in the ethnically different Singapore cohort of 2,550 men with 142 prostate cancer deaths, the CPG model outperformed the 3 strata categories (C-Index 0.79 vs. 0.76, p<0.0001). The model also retained superior prognostic discrimination in treatment sub-groups - Radical prostatectomy (n=20,586): C-Index 0.77 vs. 074, radiotherapy (n=11,872): C-Index 0.73 vs. 0.68, and conservative management (n=14,950): C-Index 0.74 vs. 0.73. The CPG groups that sub-divided the old intermediate (CPG2 vs. CPG3) and high-risk categories (CPG4 vs.CPG5) significantly discriminated PCM outcomes after radical therapy or conservative management (p<0.0001). Conclusion: This validation study of nearly 75,000 men, confirms that the CPG 5-tiered prognostic model has superior discrimination in predicting prostate cancer death over the 3-tier model across different age and treatment groups. Crucially, it identifies distinct sub-groups of men within the old intermediate-risk and high-risk criteria who have very different prognostic outcomes We therefore propose adoption of the CPG model as a simple to use but more accurate prognostic stratification tool to help guide management for men with newly diagnosed prostate cancer

SNX10 gene mutation leading to osteopetrosis with dysfunctional osteoclasts

Acknowledgements We sincerely thank the patients and family members who participated in this study. We would also like to thank Stefan Esher, Umeå University, for help with genealogy, and Anna Westerlund for excellent technical assistance. This work was supported by grants from the FOU, at the Umeå university hospital, and the Medical Faculty at Umeå University. The work at University of Gothenburg was supported by grants from The Swedish Research Council, the Swedish Rheumatism Association, the Royal 80-Year Fund of King Gustav V, ALF/LUA research grant from Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg and the Lundberg Foundation. The work at the University of Gothenburg and the University of Aberdeen was supported by Euroclast, a Marie Curie FP7-People-2013-ITN: # 607446.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Inviting backchat: how schools and communities in Ghana, Swaziland and Kenya support children to contextualize knowledge and create agency through sexuality education

Education about sex, relationships and HIV and AIDS in African contexts is riddled with socio-cultural complexity. In this paper the authors argue that in extreme contexts education can lead change further by developing young people as significant actors in their own lives and in the lives of the community by bringing bring about change in attitudes in the community, as well as practices in schools. A qualitative study was undertaken in eight primary schools of the use of student knowledge and voice to change attitudes, impact upon socio cultural beliefs, adult-child dialogue and drive changes in practice in AIDS education. Drawing on a contextual framework that includes a socio-cultural approach to education, Basil Bernstein’s well established theories of everyday and school knowledge and Catherine Campbell’s notion of AIDS competent communities, it shows how this initiative variably unfolded in six sub-Saharan countries (Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Swaziland and Tanzania, – although only the latter three are discussed in detail) and analyses the potential of schools to operate for the benefit of children in difficult circumstances, especially with regard to poverty, gender, sexual violence and health. Participation, dialogue and agency were the key factors

Religious Identity, Religious Attendance, and Parental Control

Using a national sample of adolescents aged 10–18 years and their parents (N = 5,117), this article examines whether parental religious identity and religious participation are associated with the ways in which parents control their children. We hypothesize that both religious orthodoxy and weekly religious attendance are related to heightened levels of three elements of parental control: monitoring activities, normative regulations, and network closure. Results indicate that an orthodox religious identity for Catholic and Protestant parents and higher levels of religious attendance for parents as a whole are associated with increases in monitoring activities and normative regulations of American adolescents

Kemiska växtskyddsmedel i jordbruket : en förutsättning för tryggad livsmedelsförsörjning?

Jordbruket står inför stora utmaningar under de kommande decennierna. Jordens ökande befolkning driver upp efterfrågan på livsmedel och biobränslen från jordbruket. Men jordbrukets produktion bör inte öka genom att expandera till ytan eftersom det skulle ske på bekostnad av viktiga naturliga habitat. Den totala ytan som finns att nyttja för livsmedelsproduktion kommer därför sannolikt att minska i framtiden. Om mer livsmedel ska produceras på mindre yta måste produktiviteten per ytenhet öka. Historiska produktivitetsökningar i jordbruket har i stor utsträckning tillskrivits kemiska insatsmedel i form av gödnings- och växtskyddsmedel men EU har beslutat att unionens medlemsländer ska halvera användandet av kemiska växtskyddsmedel till år 2030. Kritiska röster menar att jordbrukets förmåga att producera livsmedel kommer minska, vilket kan komma att riskera livsmedelstryggheten, om EU:s målsättning nås. Syftet med den här studien var att redogöra för i vilken utsträckning jordbrukets avkastning är beroende av växtskydd i allmänhet och kemiska växtskyddsmedel i synnerhet. Genom en litteraturstudie sammanställs, presenteras och analyseras tidigare forskning inom området. Resultaten visar att jordbruket är helt beroende av växtskydd och att avkastning uppskattningsvis skulle minska med 50–80 % om inget växtskydd bedrevs. Jordbrukets avkastning är i dagsläget även mycket beroende av kemiska växtskyddsmedel. Beroende på hur stor andel av användandet av de kemiska växtskyddsmedlen som fasas ut och i vilken utsträckning andra förändringar av odlingssystemen genomförs, kommer effekterna på avkastningen att bli mer eller mindre stora. Hur stora dessa effekter skulle bli är svårt att förutse eftersom det råder en brist på forsknings- och dataunderlag. Försök att göra skattningar från en rad källor visar att om kemiska växtskyddsmedel helt fasas ut och inga andra förändringar av odlingssystemen genomförs kommer minst 34 % av jordbrukets befintliga avkastning att gå förlorad. Om odlingssystemen förändras för att kompensera för utfasningen kommer skördeförlusterna kunna begränsas till, i bästa fall, cirka 20 %. En bred omställning till ett jordbruk som drivs enligt det integrerade växtskyddets principer och som halverar sitt användande av kemiska växtskyddsmedel skulle uppskattningsvis leda till en minskad avkastning om 5–13 %. För att framgångsrikt minska användandet av kemiska växtskyddsmedel och samtidigt upprätthålla jordbrukets avkastning är det viktigt att både öka antalet grödor i växtföljden och antalet växtskyddsåtgärder, både preventiva och kurativa, i linje med det integrerade växtskyddets principer. Ett halverat användande av kemiska växtskyddsmedel kommer sannolikt leda till att produktionen av livsmedel minskar även om mycket kan göras för att minskningen ska bli så liten som möjligt. Det betyder dock inte nödvändigtvis att framtidens livsmedelstrygghet är hotad eftersom livsmedelsproduktionen bara är den första länken av flera, i en lång kedja, från jord till bord.The agricultural sector faces major challenges in the coming decades. The world's increasing population is driving up the demand for food and biofuel production. But the availability of agricultural land is limited, and production should not expand into the few natural habitats that still remain. The total area that can be used for food production is therefore likely to decrease in the future. If more food is to be produced on less land, productivity per area unit must increase. Major increases in productivity within the agriculture sector have historically been largely attributed to chemical inputs, i.e. fertilizers and pesticides, but the EU has decided that the Union's member states must reduce their use of pesticides by 50 % by the year 2030. Critics claim that food production will decrease, and threaten food security, if the targets of the EU are reached. The purpose of this study was to account for the extent to which crop yields are dependent on plant protection in general and chemical pesticides in particular. By using the methods of a literature review, previous research within the field is compiled, presented and analysed. The results of the review show that the agricultural sector is completely dependent on crop protection and that yields are estimated to decrease 50–80 % in the absence of crop protection. Crop yields are currently also highly dependent on pesticides. Depending on the extent to which the use of pesticides is phased out, and to what extent other changes to the cropping systems are carried out, yield effects will vary. How big these effects would be is difficult to predict because of the lack of available research and data. Attempts to make estimates from a range of sources show that if pesticides are completely phased out and no other changes to the cropping systems are implemented, at least 34 % of current yields will be lost. If the cropping systems are adjusted to compensate for the reduced use of pesticides, yield losses can be limited to, at best, around 20 %. A broad transition to the practices and principles of integrated pest management, parallel to a 50 % reduction in the use of pesticides, would lead to an estimated yield reduction of 5–13 %. In order to successfully reduce the use of pesticides while at the same time maintaining crop yields, it is important to increase both the number of crops in the crop rotation and the number of plant protection methods, both preventive and curative, in line with the principles of integrated pest management. A 50 % reduction in the use of pesticides will likely lead to a reduction in food production, although much can be done to make the reduction as small as possible. However, this does not necessarily mean that future food security is threatened since food production is only the first of several links in a long chain from farm to fork

Parent–child relationships and adolescents’ life satisfaction across the first decade of the new millennium

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Antonia Jiménez-Iglesias, Irene GarcÍa-Moya, and Carmen Moreno, ‘Parent–Child Relationships and Adolescents' Life Satisfaction Across the First Decade of the New Millennium’, Family Relations, Vol. 66 (3): 512-526, July 2017, which has been published in final form at: https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12249. Under embargo until 31 July 2018. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.Objective: To examine whether changes occurred in parent–child relationships (maternal and paternal affection, ease of communication with the mother and father, maternal and paternal knowledge, and family activities) between 2002 and 2010 in boys and girls and to examine the contributions of these family dimensions to life satisfaction. Background: Although parent–child relationships may be affected by social change, there are few investigations of change in parent–child relationships over time. Method: The sample consisted of 46,593 adolescents between 11 to 18 years of age who participated in the 2002, 2006, or 2010 editions of the Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study in Spain. Trend analysis including univariate analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and factorial ANOVAs were conducted separately for boys and girls, and effect size tests were calculated. Results: Communication with fathers and family activities statistically increased across HBSC editions and parent–child relationships were positively associated with life satisfaction across the examined period. Conclusion: There were small positive changes in some family dimensions, and some of them were increasingly important for adolescent life satisfaction over time. Implications: Interventions for strengthening parent-child relationships and promoting adolescent well-being should include mothers and fathers and emphasize affection, communication, and family activities.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Does government regulation work?

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