Connecting Social Science and Information Technology : Democratic Privacy in the Information Age

This work has two main ambitions. First, we will develop a generic framework which, properly used, can drastically reduce the intrinsic complexity of the continually evolving IT-environment, making it less unwieldy. That should prove advantageous for anyone trying to analyse social aspects of the moving target that is classified as "IT". Using (and at the same time demonstrating) his framework, we will then theoretically study and reformulate one aspect that has been extensively, but not always fruitfully, discussed with specific reference to the emergence of new communications technologies: privacy. Itself an ambiguous concept, privacy will be contemplated from a democratic-theoretical position. The eventual theoretical product will be a privacy subset labelled democratic privacy, which is considered an indispensable ingredient in a liberal-democratic society. Relevant aspects of the concept will be connected to the framework developed in part one to facilitate future analytical efforts. Democratic privacy is intended to be used as a benchmark and an analytical tool in its own right, and this will be demonstrated in a brief empirical study focusing on Swedish integrity legislation

The Weakest Link Human Behaviour and the Corruption of Information Security Management in Organisations - an Analytical Framework

In this paper we introduce the norm-injection analysis framework, a construct which can be employed to aid analysis of processes that affect information security management (ISM) in organisations. The underpinnings of this framework draw on and evolve - theories about how apparently mundane organisational processes, particularly managerial demands on employees, may in some instances lead to undesired, perhaps calamitous, consequences. Because the mechanisms between input (demand) and the adverse consequences work by gradually accruing and multiplying Subtle communication "problemettes" into major problems, they are almost undetectable to the untrained eye. Breaches of ISM protocol may appear wholly mysterious to the crash investigators brought in to analyse, post-event, what went wrong. The norm-injection analysis framework is intended to shed light on these below-the-radar processes, and to supplement the tool set an organisation analyst has at his disposal when preparing or evaluating strategic ISM measures

Omakotitalon lämmitysjärjestelmän muutos

Tämän opinnäytetyön tarkoituksena oli selvittää vuonna 1960 rakennetun hirsirakenteisen omakotitalon nykytilanne lämmitysjärjestelmän kannalta ja tarkastella mahdollisia uudistuksia sen kannalta. Tavoitteena oli löytää edullisempi ratkaisu sähkölämmityksen tilalle ja pysyä kehityksen perässä tulevai-suudessa. Lämmitysjärjestelmän uusiminen oli ajankohtaista vanhassa rakennuksessa, koska nykyinen järjestelmä oli saapumassa käyttöikänsä päähän. Alussa opinnäytetyön kohteeseen perehdyttiin ja tarkasteltiin rakennuksen ja lämmitysjärjestelmän nykykunto ja mietittiin rakennukseen sopivia lämmitysjär-jestelmiä. Lämmitysjärjestelmiin perehdyttiin internetistä löytyvän teoriaosuu-den, asiantuntijan ja seminaarin kautta. Tietojen perusteella valittiin vertailtavat järjestelmät ja vertailtiin niiden kustannuksia nykyiseen sähkölämmitykseen. Tuloksiksi saatiin tietoa eri järjestelmistä ja niiden kannattavuudesta sekä jär-jestelmien hyötysuhteet ja niiden käyttökustannukset verrattuna sähkölämmitykseen. Valittuihin järjestelmiin päädyttiin niiden energiatehokkuuden, käyttökustannusten ja hankintakustannusten johdosta.The purpose of this thesis was to find out the condition of the heating system in a detached house built in 1960 and to consider the possibilities for its renovation. The goal was to find a more economical solution to replace the electric heating and to update the system for future needs. The renewal of the heating system was timely in the old building because the current system was coming to the end of its life. At the beginning of the thesis work, the condition of the building and the heating system were studied and the heating systems suitable for the building were considered. New heating systems were studied based on the material on the Internet, an interview of an expert and a seminar about the topic. Based on the data the systems to be compared were chosen and their costs were compared. The result was information about the different systems and their profitability for this building, and the system efficiencies and their operating costs compared to the electric heating. The system that were chosen, were energy-efficient due to their investment costs and low operating costs

Citizenship Education and Liberalism: A State of the Debate Analysis 1990–2010

What kind of citizenship education, if any, should schools in liberal societies promote? And what ends is such education supposed to serve? Over the last decades a respectable body of literature has emerged to address these and related issues. In this state of the debate analysis we examine a sample of journal articles dealing with these very issues spanning a twenty-year period with the aim to analyse debate patterns and developments in the research field. We first carry out a qualitative analysis where we design a two-dimensional theoretical framework in order to systematise the various liberal debate positions, and make us able to study their justifications, internal tensions and engagements with other positions. In the ensuing quantitative leg of the study we carry out a quantitative bibliometric analysis where we weigh the importance of specific scholars. We finally discuss possible merits and flaws in the research field, as evidenced in and by the analysis

Genomic and drug target evaluation of 90 cardiovascular proteins in 30,931 individuals.

Circulating proteins are vital in human health and disease and are frequently used as biomarkers for clinical decision-making or as targets for pharmacological intervention. Here, we map and replicate protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) for 90 cardiovascular proteins in over 30,000 individuals, resulting in 451 pQTLs for 85 proteins. For each protein, we further perform pathway mapping to obtain trans-pQTL gene and regulatory designations. We substantiate these regulatory findings with orthogonal evidence for trans-pQTLs using mouse knockdown experiments (ABCA1 and TRIB1) and clinical trial results (chemokine receptors CCR2 and CCR5), with consistent regulation. Finally, we evaluate known drug targets, and suggest new target candidates or repositioning opportunities using Mendelian randomization. This identifies 11 proteins with causal evidence of involvement in human disease that have not previously been targeted, including EGF, IL-16, PAPPA, SPON1, F3, ADM, CASP-8, CHI3L1, CXCL16, GDF15 and MMP-12. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the utility of large-scale mapping of the genetics of the proteome and provide a resource for future precision studies of circulating proteins in human health

Genomic and drug target evaluation of 90 cardiovascular proteins in 30,931 individuals.

Circulating proteins are vital in human health and disease and are frequently used as biomarkers for clinical decision-making or as targets for pharmacological intervention. Here, we map and replicate protein quantitative trait loci (pQTL) for 90 cardiovascular proteins in over 30,000 individuals, resulting in 451 pQTLs for 85 proteins. For each protein, we further perform pathway mapping to obtain trans-pQTL gene and regulatory designations. We substantiate these regulatory findings with orthogonal evidence for trans-pQTLs using mouse knockdown experiments (ABCA1 and TRIB1) and clinical trial results (chemokine receptors CCR2 and CCR5), with consistent regulation. Finally, we evaluate known drug targets, and suggest new target candidates or repositioning opportunities using Mendelian randomization. This identifies 11 proteins with causal evidence of involvement in human disease that have not previously been targeted, including EGF, IL-16, PAPPA, SPON1, F3, ADM, CASP-8, CHI3L1, CXCL16, GDF15 and MMP-12. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the utility of large-scale mapping of the genetics of the proteome and provide a resource for future precision studies of circulating proteins in human health

Worldwide trends in hypertension prevalence and progress in treatment and control from 1990 to 2019: a pooled analysis of 1201 population-representative studies with 104 million participants

Background Hypertension can be detected at the primary health-care level and low-cost treatments can effectively control hypertension. We aimed to measure the prevalence of hypertension and progress in its detection, treatment, and control from 1990 to 2019 for 200 countries and territories. Methods We used data from 1990 to 2019 on people aged 30–79 years from population-representative studies with measurement of blood pressure and data on blood pressure treatment. We defined hypertension as having systolic blood pressure 140 mm Hg or greater, diastolic blood pressure 90 mm Hg or greater, or taking medication for hypertension. We applied a Bayesian hierarchical model to estimate the prevalence of hypertension and the proportion of people with hypertension who had a previous diagnosis (detection), who were taking medication for hypertension (treatment), and whose hypertension was controlled to below 140/90 mm Hg (control). The model allowed for trends over time to be non-linear and to vary by age. Findings The number of people aged 30–79 years with hypertension doubled from 1990 to 2019, from 331 (95% credible interval 306–359) million women and 317 (292–344) million men in 1990 to 626 (584–668) million women and 652 (604–698) million men in 2019, despite stable global age-standardised prevalence. In 2019, age-standardised hypertension prevalence was lowest in Canada and Peru for both men and women; in Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and some countries in western Europe including Switzerland, Spain, and the UK for women; and in several low-income and middle-income countries such as Eritrea, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Solomon Islands for men. Hypertension prevalence surpassed 50% for women in two countries and men in nine countries, in central and eastern Europe, central Asia, Oceania, and Latin America. Globally, 59% (55–62) of women and 49% (46–52) of men with hypertension reported a previous diagnosis of hypertension in 2019, and 47% (43–51) of women and 38% (35–41) of men were treated. Control rates among people with hypertension in 2019 were 23% (20–27) for women and 18% (16–21) for men. In 2019, treatment and control rates were highest in South Korea, Canada, and Iceland (treatment >70%; control >50%), followed by the USA, Costa Rica, Germany, Portugal, and Taiwan. Treatment rates were less than 25% for women and less than 20% for men in Nepal, Indonesia, and some countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Control rates were below 10% for women and men in these countries and for men in some countries in north Africa, central and south Asia, and eastern Europe. Treatment and control rates have improved in most countries since 1990, but we found little change in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Oceania. Improvements were largest in high-income countries, central Europe, and some upper-middle-income and recently high-income countries including Costa Rica, Taiwan, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Turkey, and Iran. Interpretation Improvements in the detection, treatment, and control of hypertension have varied substantially across countries, with some middle-income countries now outperforming most high-income nations. The dual approach of reducing hypertension prevalence through primary prevention and enhancing its treatment and control is achievable not only in high-income countries but also in low-income and middle-income settings

DemokraIT : regional demokrati och ny informationsteknologi

I en tid där det allmänna politiska intresset tycks vara vikande, har många förhoppningar knutits till de nya kommunikationskanalernas demokratiska potential. Dessa förhoppningars eventuella realiserande är ena utgångspunkten för detta arbete. Den andra stödjepunkten är den pågående regionaliseringsprocessen i Sverige, med särskilt fokus på Skåne- och Kalmarregionerna. Bland andra drivkrafter bakom regionaliseringen skymtar även här tydliga förhoppningar att kunna vitalisera demokratin. Regionala IT-projekt med demokratiska målsättningar bör ju således i bästa fall generera en lyckad symbios mellan dessa två vägar att förbättra själva grundförutsättningarna för politiskt deltagande. Det är dock långt ifrån självklart hur IT egentligen skall användas för att förbättra de demokratiska processerna. Vilka är egentligen de demokratiska processerna? Hur kan dessa kopplas till kommunikationsteknologier, både nya och gamla? Hur kan de demokratiska målsättningarna integreras med andra målsättningar? Dessa är några av de komplicerade frågor som måste besvaras om demokratiska förhoppningar skall generera mer än vaga fraser. Detta arbete söker först utveckla ett ramverk för förståelse av kopplingarna mellan IT och demokrati, dels för att kunna göra relevanta bedömningar av den därnäst undersökta empiriska verkligheten, dels för att fungera som hjälpmedel för beslutsfattare när de överväger informationsteknologiska strategival. Även själva projekthanteringsprocessen läggs här under luppen. Efter denna ganska utförliga teoretiska och metodologiska del blickar vi ut i IT-verkligheten 1998/99 - visserligen med särskilt intresse riktat på utvecklingen i Kalmar- och Skåneregionerna, men även med andra jämförande exemplifieringar

Sätt gräns för privatliv

Efter terrorattackerna i London är det troligt att acceptansen ökar för övervakning av det offentliga rummet. Ytterligare ökade be-fogenheter för polis och underrättelseväsen kan också väntas. Då blir det viktigt att utifrån demokratiska principer definiera vad som är den offentliga respektive den privata sfären, skriver statsvetaren Mikael Sundström vid Lunds universitet