Keynote Reflections: The Public Governance Duty

Firms must take ever greater risks to try to innovate and create value in our increasingly competitive and complex global economy. Corporate governance law generally delegates control over excessive risk-taking to the firm’s investors, principally its risk-seeking shareholders. But this does not cover the type of risk-taking that led to the global financial crisis and that is becoming ever more common - risk-taking that could have systemic consequences to the financial system. I argue for a “public governance duty,” requiring managers of systemically important firms to assess the impact of risk-taking on the public as well as on investors, and to balance the costs and benefits using a precautionary principle to protect the public. I also analyze the extent to which managers performing this public governance duty should be protected by a business judgment rule

Ecological marginality and recruitment loss in the globally endangered freshwater pearl mussel

Aim Ecological marginality is the existence of species/populations in the margins of their ecological niche, where conditions are harsher, and the risk of extinction is more pronounced. In threatened long-lived species, the disparity between distribution and population demography may provide understanding of how environmental heterogeneity shapes ecological marginality, potential extinction patterns and range shifts. We set out to evaluate this by combining a species distribution model (SDM) with population-specific demography data. Location Sweden, 450,000 km(2). Major Taxa Studied Freshwater pearl mussel (FPM, Margaritifera margaritifera) and two salmonid fish species. Methods A SDM for the mussel was constructed with MaxEnt using salmonid host fish (Salmo trutta plus S. salar) density, extreme low and high temperatures, precipitation, altitude, and clay content as explanatory variables. The output was used to test the ecological marginality hypothesis by evaluating whether lowly predicted populations had higher loss of recruitment. Logistic regression was used to explicitly test the factors involved in recruitment loss. Results Host fish density contributed the most (50.3%) to the mussel distribution, followed by lowest temperature the coldest month (34.3%) and altitude (10.3%), while the remaining explanatory variables contributed minimally (<3.3%). Populations with lower SDM scores lacked recruitment to a significantly higher degree. Populations inhabiting areas at low altitude, with lower densities of host fish, and warmer winter temperatures have lost recruitment to a higher degree. Main Conclusions We found support for the ecological marginality hypothesis. The patterns indicate that FPM habitat niche may shift northwards over time. Salmonid host fish density seems to be a driving factor for both historical distribution and recent demographic performance. Finally, we emphasize the value of combining SDMs with independent data on population demography as it both lends rigidity to model validation and understanding of how ecological marginality affects species distribution and viability

The NHS Health Check in England: an evaluation of the first 4 years

Objectives: To describe implementation of a new national preventive programme to reduce cardiovascular morbidity. Design: Observational study over 4 years (April 2009—March 2013). Setting: 655 general practices across England from the QResearch database. Participants: Eligible adults aged 40–74 years including attendees at a National Health Service (NHS) Health Check. Intervention: NHS Health Check: routine structured cardiovascular check with support for behavioural change and in those at highest risk, treatment of risk factors and newly identified comorbidity. Results: Of 1.68 million people eligible for an NHS Health Check, 214 295 attended in the period 2009–12. Attendance quadrupled as the programme progressed; 5.8% in 2010 to 30.1% in 2012. Attendance was relatively higher among older people, of whom 19.6% of those eligible at age 60–74 years attended and 9.0% at age 40–59 years. Attendance by population groups at higher cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, such as the more socially disadvantaged 14.9%, was higher than that of the more affluent 12.3%. Among attendees 7844 new cases of hypertension (38/1000 Checks), 1934 new cases of type 2 diabetes (9/1000 Checks) and 807 new cases of chronic kidney disease (4/1000 Checks) were identified. Of the 27 624 people found to be at high CVD risk (20% or more 10-year risk) when attending an NHS Health Check, 19.3% (5325) were newly prescribed statins and 8.8% (2438) were newly prescribed antihypertensive therapy. Conclusions: NHS Health Check coverage was lower than expected but showed year-on-year improvement. Newly identified comorbidities were an important feature of the NHS Health Checks. Statin treatment at national scale for 1 in 5 attendees at highest CVD risk is likely to have contributed to important reductions in their CVD events

There are more women in joggeur·euses than in joggeurs : On the effects of gender-fair forms on perceived gender ratios in French role nouns

The present paper reports findings from a controlled large-scale (N = 1018) experimental study investigating how four different gender-fair forms influenced native French speakers’ estimated percentage of women compared to the masculine form (interpretable as generic) in 22 non-stereotyped French role nouns. The findings show that the masculine form generated lower perceived percentages of women compared to all other tested forms. In addition, gender-neutral and double forms were found equally efficient in resolving the male bias induced by the masculine form. Since the role nouns were non-stereotyped in terms of gender, these results suggest that the actual form of a role noun has indeed a strong influence on how the gender ratio of that role noun will be perceived. Moreover, the direction of the questionnaire’s response scale had a significant effect on the results, which entails methodological implications for future research. Finally, the provided ratios can be used for future studies investigating French role nouns in different gender-fair forms. In sum, our study suggests that gender-fair forms in French are an efficient tool for increasing the visibility of women, at least in nouns representing non-stereotypical activities

Impact of Screening on Prognosis in the Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia Type 2 Syndromes: Natural History and Treatment Results in 105 Patients

We evaluated the effects of screening for multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2A (MEN-2A) in 12 families. Genealogical studies going back to 1730 show a common ancestry for seven Swedish families and one American family. The total number of patients included 105 individuals, 68 of whom were diagnosed by our screening program. Our screening methods for medullary carcinoma of the thyroid (MTC) had an optimal sensitivity and specificity. The frequency of gene carriers detected in MEN-2A families was 55%. Screening will lead to early diagnosis and early therapy, which in turn, will significantly decrease morbidity, incidence of surgical complications, and mortality related to the tumors of this hereditary syndrome

Consumption of freshwater fish: A variable but significant risk factor for PFOS exposure

PFOS, PFOA, PFNA and PFHxS are the PFAS substances that currently contribute most to human exposure, and in 2020 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) presented a draft opinion on a tolerable intake of 8 ng/kg/week for the sum of these four substances (equaling 0.42 mu g/kg if expressed as an annual dose). Diet is usually the dominating exposure pathway, and in particular the intake of PFOS has been shown to be strongly related to the consumption of fish and seafood. Those who eat freshwater fish may be especially at risk since freshwater and its biota typically display higher PFOS concentrations than marine systems. In this study, we estimated the range in PFOS intake among average Swedish "normal" and "high" consumers of freshwater fish. By average we mean persons of average weight who eat average-sized portions. The "normal consumers" were assumed to eat freshwater fish 3 times per year, and the "high consumers" once a week. Under these assumptions, the yearly tolerable intake for "normal" and "high" consumers is reached when the PFOS concentrations in fish equals 59 and 3.4 mu g per kg fish meat. For this study, PFOS concentrations in the muscle tissue of edible-sized perch, pike and pikeperch were retrieved from three different Swedish datasets, covering both rural and urban regions and a total of 78 different inland waters. Mean PFOS concentrations in fish from these sites varied from 0.3 to 750 mu g/kg. From the available data, the annual min-max dietary PFOS intake for male "normal consumers" was found to be in the range 0.0021-5.4 mu g/kg/yr for the evaluated scenarios, with median values of 0.02-0.16 mu g/kg/yr. For male "high consumers", the total intake range was estimated to be 0.04-93 mu g/kg/yr, with median values being 0.27-1.6 mu g/kg/yr. For women, the exposure estimates were slightly lower, about 79% of the exposure in men. Despite highly variable PFOS concentrations in fish from different sites, we conclude that the three most commonly consumed freshwater species in Sweden constitute an important source for the total annual intake even for people who eat this kind of fish only a few times per year. The analyses of PFOA, PFNA and PFHxS showed values which were all below detection limit, and their contribution to the total PFAS intake via freshwater fish consumption is negligible in comparison to PFOS

La cooperación sueca con El Salvador 1979–2001 : una relación un poco más allá

Este estudio tiene tres objetivos: 1. Documentar los diferentes aspectos y etapas del aporte sueco en El Salvador durante el período 1979–2001; 2. Hacer un análisis general de la eficacia del aporte y al mismo tiempo responder algunas interrogantes, referidas, entre otras, a las relaciones entre los diferentes actores suecos, su cooperación con las contrapartes salvadoreñas y el rol que fueron asumiendo los diferentes actores; 3. Recoger las lecciones aprendidas del aporte sueco al proceso de paz en El Salvador, que puedan ser de utilidad en contextos similares. El estudio está compuesto de tres partes: una documentación del aporte sueco a El Salvador 1979–2001, la cual sigue en parte un orden cronológico; un análisis de la eficacia del aporte sueco y de las diferentes interrogantes planteadas en los términos de referencia, así como otros temas que se consideraron relevantes; y, un cierto número de lecciones aprendidas en las diferentes fases del aporte de la cooperación sueca hacia El Salvador por más de 20 años

La cooperación sueca con El Salvador 1979–2001 : una relación un poco más allá

Este estudio tiene tres objetivos: Documentar los diferentes aspectos y etapas del aporte sueco en El Salvador durante el período. Hacer un análisis general de la eficacia del aporte y al mismo tiempo responder algunas interrogantes, referidas, entre otras, a las relaciones entre los diferentes actores suecos, su cooperación con las contrapartes salvadoreñas y el rol que fueron asumiendo los diferentes actores. Recoger las lecciones aprendidas del aporte sueco al proceso de paz en El Salvador, que puedan ser de utilidad en contextos similares. El estudio está compuesto de tres partes: Una documentación del aporte sueco a El Salvador, la cual sigue en parte un orden cronológico. En algunos casos ese orden se interrumpe para destacar aspectos o acontecimientos con el fin de hacer la lectura más accesible y facilitar la comprensión general. Un análisis de la eficacia del aporte sueco y de las diferentes interrogantes planteadas en los términos de referencia, así como otros temas que se consideraron relevantes. Un cierto número de lecciones aprendidas en las diferentes fases del aporte de la cooperación sueca hacia El Salvador