Manufacturing debt: the co-evolution of housing and finance systems in Sweden

This thesis investigates long-run financial dynamics in Sweden in order to understand how changes in the constitution of housing finance have both shaped and been shaped by the Swedish housing system from the mid-nineteenth century to the present era. Once heralded as one of the most effective housing models in the world, Sweden’s housing system is, today, widely considered to be in a state of acute crisis. Housing scholars often attribute the current state of housing dysfunction to a ‘system switch’ which saw Sweden’s social market system ‘rapidly transition’ to neoliberalism during the 1990s. However, by citing processes such as neoliberalism as core drivers of contemporary housing system dysfunction, scholarly appeals to what are largely perceived as exogenous ideological influences tend to obscure the path-dependant nature of housing and finance system development. As such, the behavioural legacies, norms, and expectations which a housing stock and attendant system of housing finance generate over many decades, and the sectoral actors and interests which help to shape the rules of the game vis-à-vis housing investment, production, consumption and distribution are, all too often, left empirically and theoretically unchecked. This thesis argues that the Swedish model of housing, which was for so long held up as a paragon of social market efficiency and stability, was in fact an ephemeral phenomenon and that, far from being a contemporary aberration of financialised neoliberalism, the current levels of precarity and dysfunction in Sweden’s housing system have a longer pedigree than many scholars assume. I show how a unique model of political economy and industrial relations created a housing industrial complex, producing one of the most concentrated and powerful construction and finance sectors in the world. How speculative housing dynamics and changing attitudes to financial risk generated from outside formal banking channels undermined the basis of this complex and, with it, traditionally decommodified housing forms. How the state moved from attempting to mitigate the risk-taking behaviours of financiers, investors and households, to promoting speculative housing dynamics and embracing the development of a housing finance complex. And how, sponsored by the state, debt-fuelled housing consumption has been a central feature of the Swedish model of housing for over 40 years. Adopting an actor-centred, historicist approach, this thesis studies housing systems as complexes of production, distribution and exchange, which are inextricably linked to long-run evolutions in finance. Exploring longitudinal patterns and trends relating to credit flows to the housing sector, tenure composition, household debt, housing construction, and institutional governance, the thesis emphasises the centrality of housing finance system development – and the state’s role therein - in engendering particular practices and behaviours which, in turn, shape housing system dynamics and attitudes to housing risk on both the demand- and supply-side. In so doing, it positions housing and finance systems as proper objects of historical enquiry, whose path-dependent, coevolutionary dynamics can never be fully appreciated in isolation of each other, or, indeed, of broader political-economic trends. By examining the co-evolution of housing and financial forms in Sweden, this thesis seeks to answer fundamental questions such as: What impacts do changes in the constitution of housing finance have on housing system development? Which actors and expressions of interest have most influence over housing system outcomes? And: Why do housing policy regimes change

The origins of national housing finance systems: a comparative investigation into historical variations in mortgage finance regimes

This paper advances the first historically informed typology of housing finance systems. Using a novel collection of historical mortgage-market data, we identify four different ‘ideal type’ systems, which developed in mature economies when organised housing finance institutions began to emerge with the advance of industrialism and urbanism throughout the long nineteenth century: informal person-to-person lending, and state lending as solutions outside specialised banking circuits; and deposit-based and bond-based institutions as banking solutions. We adapt Alexander Gerschenkron's economic backwardness thesis in order to explain the temporal and spatial emergence of these distinct types, arguing that these systems created path-dependent logics, which made their influence felt over a century later

Radar Measurements of the LEO Orbital Debris Environment

Access to space and the preservation of the near-Earth space environment is of critical significance. Increased interest in issues surrounding space traffic management and the continued assessment and discussion of orbital debris at the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) illustrates the significance of the topic of orbital debris. There are currently over 20,000 tracked objects in the publicly available satellite catalog on Space-Track.org. The catalog is maintained by the US Air Force Space Command using a network of optical and radar ground-based sensors and is believed to be complete for a characteristic size of 10 cm or larger in low Earth orbit (LEO). Based on the work of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office (ODPO) over approximately the past 40 years it is understood that the small debris population ( 5 mm) in orbit, it is currently not practical to track and maintain precision orbits on every object. Instead the NASA ODPO uses powerful ground-based radars to sample the low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment and assign approximate orbits to each detection. This poses an interesting signal processing challenge as we are trying to detect the smallest objects possible on the edge of the radar's sensitivity. For approximately the last 30 years, NASA ODPO has partnered with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Lincoln Laboratory (MIT/LL) to utilize the Haystack Ultra-wideband Satellite Imaging Radar (HUSIR - formerly the Long-Range Imaging Radar or simply Haystack) and the Haystack Auxiliary (HAX) radar to collect orbital debris radar data. Additionally, the ODPO collaborates with the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) to use the Goldstone Solar System Radar. The orbital debris detections from these radars serve as inputs for statistical risk models used by the human spaceflight and satellite communities to assess risk to spacecraft posed by orbital debris. In this paper, we will describe the history of orbital debris radar measurements conducted by NASA, provide an overview of current radar measurements techniques and facilities, discuss the signal processing software used for orbital debris measurements and the inference of debris size and orbital parameters from these measurements, and discuss how orbital debris radar measurements are validated for use in models that are used throughout the aerospace industry

When Are Inpatient and Emergency Dermatology Consultations Appropriate?

Hospitalists and emergency physicians continue to struggle with the assessment of dermatologic conditions, often consulting dermatology whenever a patient has a “rash” or skin concern. Dermatology is still not emphasized in medical education and often is taught to most medical students in an abbreviated fashion, which results in physicians feeling ill-equipped to deal with any dermatologic condition—either mundane or potentially life-threatening. Better guidelines are needed for physicians in the ED and on inpatient units to guide them on appropriate use of dermatologic consultation outside the ambulatory office and the clinic. We constructed a consultation flowchart to help guide the triage of patients in need of dermatologic evaluation by inpatient teams and possibly to avoid unnecessary consultation fees. We believe that the flowchart can educate inpatient medical teams about appropriate dermatology consultation. Use of the flowchart also may decrease unnecessary consultations, which ultimately will lower health care spending overall

The use of Cosmic-Rays in Detecting Illicit Nuclear Materials

Muon tomography represents a new type of imaging technique that can be used in detecting high-Z materials (such as shielded HEU). As muons pass through materials, they continuously lose energy via ionisation and can stop within a material. Upon stopping secondary processes can occur, which result in the production of excess neutrons and gamma-rays. Due to their high energies most muons can pass through large depths of different materials. These muons will also undergo multiple scattering. Previous radiographic methods that looks to differentiate high-Z materials from low-Z clutter tend to be based on multiple scattering of muons only. Presented is the development of two new types of analysis algorithm, which makes use of the different interactions cosmic-ray muons undergo when passing through a material. The first algorithm developed makes use of the multiple Coulomb scattering that a muon will undergo. This involves using a novel density based clustering approach that ascertains regions of high-Z material placed within an inspected volume. The capability of this new type of algorithm has been tested under realistic scenarios. These scenarios involve placing shielded HEU in cargo containers filled with a variety of different clutter. The algorithm has been shown to be efficient in detecting shielded HEU amongst low-Z clutter, but struggles upon the introduction of blocks of aluminium, or materials with densities higher than this. Whereas previous radiographic methods were based on multiple scattering of muons only, the second developed algorithm uses muon absorption on nuclei to enhance the detection capabilities of the scattering technique. In particular, the goal is to improve on the distinction between high-density materials and low-density clutter. Muons will more readily lose energy in higher density materials. Therefore multiple muon disappearances within a localised volume may signal the presence of high-density materials. Muons that disappear have their track evaluated using a 3D line extrapolation algorithm, which is in turn used to construct a 3D tomographic image of the inspected volume. The ability to differentiate between materials using the 3D line extrapolation algorithm is established. The technique of muon disappearance has been applied to identifying shielded HEU in realistic scenarios. Despite being capable of identifying shielded HEU in otherwise empty cargo containers, multiple additional regions (due to the lorry and container itself) were misclassified as possible threat materials. This makes accurate detection systems that solely use this technique for shielded HEU unlikely. However, since the build-up of nuclear materials was apparent, we have demonstrated how this technique can be used as a supplementary technique to help enhance muon scattering tomography capabilities. This is done through first identifying `areas of interest' using muon scattering tomography before confirming whether they are threats or other materials with the muon disappearance algorithm. It is concluded that while muon disappearance can slightly enhance the capabilities of muon scattering tomography, muon scattering still remains the most efficient method for detection of nuclear materials

Interleukin-32β Propagates Vascular Inflammation and Exacerbates Sepsis in a Mouse Model

Inflammation is associated with most diseases, which makes understanding the mechanisms of inflammation vitally important.Here, we demonstrate a critical function of interleukin-32beta (IL-32beta) in vascular inflammation. IL-32beta is present in tissues from humans, but is absent in rodents. We found that the gene is highly expressed in endothelial cells. Three isoforms of IL-32, named IL-32alpha, beta, and epsilon, were cloned from human endothelial cells, with IL-32beta being the major isoform. Pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNFalpha and IL-1beta) induced IL-32beta expression through NF-kappaB. Conversely, IL-32beta propagated vascular inflammation via induction of vascular cell adhesion molecules and inflammatory cytokines. Accordingly, IL-32beta increased adhesion of inflammatory cells to activated endothelial cells, a paramount process in inflammation. These results illustrate a positive feedback regulation that intensifies and prolongs inflammation. Importantly, endothelial/hematopoietic expression of IL-32beta in transgenic mice elevated inflammation and worsened sepsis. This was demonstrated by significant elevation of leukocyte infiltration and serum levels of TNFalpha and IL-1beta, increased vascular permeability and lung damage, and accelerated animal death. Together, our results reveal an important function of IL-32 in vascular inflammation and sepsis development.Our results reveal an important function of IL-32 in vascular inflammation and sepsis development

Long Term Functional and Esthetic Outcomes After Fibula Free Flap Reconstruction of the Mandible

Objectives: To report functional and esthetic outcomes, after fibula free flap (FFF) reconstruction of the mandible for oral cancer, assessed by physicians, non-clinicians and patients. Materials and Methods: Twenty-five long term survivors from oral cancer after FFF reconstruction were recalled for head and neck examination by surgeons and patient reported outcomes, using EORTC, QLQ C-30, H&N-35 and FACE-Q questionnaires. Results: Physicians reported 64% restoration of functionality compared to normal. Patients reported high scores on QLQ-C30, but lower scores on H&N-35. Esthetic scores were reported higher by clinicians than non-clinicians. The decline in function and appearance was attributed to loss of lower dentition, trismus, mal occlusion, xerostomia and tissue atrophy. Conclusion: To minimize the decline in function and appearance, immediate dental implants in FFF, better reconstruction of the temporomandibular joint, newer methods of radiotherapy to minimize xerostomia and oral exercises to prevent trismus should be considered

SHCal13 Southern Hemisphere calibration, 0–50,000 years cal BP

The Southern Hemisphere SHCal04 radiocarbon calibration curve has been updated with the addition of new data sets extending measurements to 2145 cal BP and including the ANSTO Younger Dryas Huon pine data set. Outside the range of measured data, the curve is based upon the Northern Hemisphere data sets as presented in IntCal13, with an interhemispheric offset averaging 43 ± 23 yr modeled by an autoregressive process to represent the short-term correlations in the offset

Stellar Archaeology: a Keck Pilot Program on Extremely Metal- Poor Stars From the Hamburg/ESO Survey. III. The Lead (Pb) Star HE 0024-2523

We present a detailed abundance analysis, including spectral syntheses, of a very metal-poor ([Fe/H]= -2.7), peculiar main sequence star, HE0024-2523 detected during the course of the Keck Pilot Program. Radial velocities of this star were obtained during four different observing runs over a time span of 1.1 years, and demonstrate that it is clearly a short period spectroscopic binary. An orbital solution was obtained, and orbital parameters were determined with high precision. The rotational velocity was also measured (vsin i=9.7$\pm$1.5 kms); rotation appears likely to be synchronous with the orbit. The abundance analysis and spectral syntheses indicate that the object is a CH star characterized by extreme s-process enrichment, likely due to mass accretion from an evolved companion which has now probably become a white dwarf. The lead (Pb) abundance of HE0024-2523 is very high, the same as that of the recently discovered lead-rich metal-poor star CS 29526-110, [Pb/Fe]=+3.3. The abundance ratio of the heavy-s to light-s elements, as characterized by Pb and Ba, [Pb/Ba]=+1.9, is the highest yet found for any metal-poor star, and is about 0.7 dex higher than that of CS29526-110. On the basis of the measured isotopic ratio of carbon (12C/13C about 6) we argue that the mass donor must have had an original mass of at least 3 Msun. The unusually short period of this CH star suggests that it underwent a past common-envelope phase with its evolved companion. Our results are compared to the latest available models for AGB yields and s-process nucleosynthesis. We also discuss the possible connection between HE0024-2523 the lithium depletion of halo stars, and halo blue straggler formation.Comment: 55 pages, 17 color figures included; Accepted for publication in the February 2003 issue of the Astronomical Journa