UKIP giveth and UKIP taketh away: why Brexit may prove an electoral dead end for the Tories

Although the Tories gained back votes from UKIP in 2017, their hard Brexit rhetoric also lost them votes to Labour. But if the party softens on Brexit to gain those back, they could once again bleed voters to a resurgent UKIP. Heinz Brandenburg and Anders Widfeldt explain the data behind this dilemma

Tensions beneath the surface : The Swedish mainstream parties and the immigration issue

Additional information Note: Except where otherwise stated, the documents can be retrieved from the Swedish National Data Service (SND) at Göteborg University (http://snd.gu.se/en/vivill). Some documents can be retrieved from more than one URL address, but they were all retrievable from SND, or the addresses given above, on 13 August 2014.Peer reviewedPostprin

While there are differences, there are also important similarities between the profiles of UKIP and BNP’s respective support bases

While UKIP has seen a rise in support, another party on the right, the BNP, have witnessed a dramatic decline. Heinz Brandenburg and Anders Widfeldt studied the similarities and differences between the UKIP and BNP support bases, finding that BNP fits the electoral profile of a radical right party better than UKIP in some ways; for instance, support for BNP is associated with little regard for the British democracy while UKIP supporter exhibit a high regard. But in other ways both parties fit the typical profile of radical right support; their supporters are predominantly male, young, lower class and less educate

Främjas kreativitet av ljudet i caféer? - det irrelevanta bakgrundsljudets effekt på kreativitet hos studenter

The main focus of the study was to investigate the relationship between irrelevant background sound and creativity. A creativity test which intends to measure creativity in a gestalt-oriented and broad way, “TCT-DP”, was used. The participants, 83 students, were tested under two different conditions, one with and one without bakground sound. The results from using a t-test for independent samples showed no significant difference between the groups. This was possibly due to the nature of the creativity test. Furthermore a Mann Whitney U-test was used to investigate a possible difference between distraction for the groups. However, results showed no significant difference here either.Huvudsyftet med studien var att undersöka om kreativitet påverkas av en vanlig miljöaspekt, irrelevant bakgrundsljud. Kreativitetstestet, “TCT-DP”, användes för att betrakta kreativitet från ett brett och gestaltorienterat perspektiv. Deltagarna var 83 studenter som testades under två olika förhållanden, med och utan bakgrundsljud. Resultatet från ett t-test för oberoende grupper visade att experimentgruppen inte fick signifikant bättre resultat än kontrollgruppen. Vidare undersöktes om skillnader fanns i distraktion hos grupperna. Dock hittades inga signifikanta skillnader här heller

Lead-Time Effect Comparison of Additive Manufacturing with Conventional Alternatives

This single case study used value stream mapping as input data to analyse alternatives for production of quenching tools in an on-site tool department of an automotive manufacturer. The existing manufacturing organised as a functional workshop was compared to the alternatives, adding an additive manufacturing cell or a conventional automated cell, with regards to lead-Time and needed process changes. The results indicate that lead-Time savings should not be the only reason for considering additive manufacturing. When it is beneficial for design and product functionality improvements, however, lead time improvements may give a contribution to the business case

Guide for Automation of Low Volume Production

There is a remaining need from both academia and practitioners, to gain further knowledge about the decision making process for automation of low volume production. This paper includes insights of drivers for automation, the development of a guide for low volume production and the outcome of using the guide. The research in this study is based on both empirical data and theoretical considerations. The empirical data was collected in five case studies and a questionnaire. This paper is part of a research project with the main objective to develop knowledge about how flexible automation may contribute to improvements in efficiency, ergonomics, quality and production economics in different industries with low volume production. One of the results in the project was a comprehensive guide, developed, refined and improved in an iterative collaborative process, where tools and parts ofthe guide were tested and verified by five manufacturing case companies. The paper describes briefly the development process of the guide and content. The requirements of the guide derived from literature, case companies, questionnaire as well as industrial experts. The resulting guide can be used in several ways, depending on the requirements of the application. The guide includes guiding principles, a decision model for the analysis of the company, choice of automation and facts about automation. In the end of the project, four companies had invested or decided to invest in different types of automation

Gendered nationalism : the gender gap in support for the Scottish National Party

Recent major surveys of the Scottish electorate and of Scottish National Party (SNP) members have revealed a distinct gender gap in support for the party. Men are markedly more likely than women to vote for the SNP and they comprise more than two-thirds of its membership. In this article, we use data from those surveys to test various possible explanations for the disproportionately male support for the SNP. While popular accounts have focused on the gendered appeal of recent leaders and on the party’s fluctuating efforts at achieving gender equality in its parliamentary representation, we find much stronger support for a different explanation. Women are less inclined to support and to join the SNP because they are markedly less supportive of its central objective of independence for Scotland. Since men and women barely differ in their reported national identities, the origins of this gender gap in support for independence presents a puzzle for further research

Contribution of α2-adrenoceptors and Y1 neuropeptide Y receptors to the blunting of sympathetic vasoconstriction induced by systemic hypoxia in the rat

There is evidence that sympathetically evoked vasoconstriction in skeletal muscle is blunted in systemic hypoxia, but the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are not clear. In Saffan-anaesthetized Wistar rats, we have studied the role of α2-adrenoceptors and neuropeptide Y (NPY) Y1 receptors in mediating vasoconstriction evoked by direct stimulation of the lumbar sympathetic chain by different patterns of impulses in normoxia (N) and systemic hypoxia (H: breathing 8% O2). Patterns comprised 120 impulses delivered in bursts over a 1 min period at 40 or 20 Hz, or continuously at 2 Hz. Hypoxia attenuated the evoked increases in femoral vascular resistance (FVR) by all patterns, the response to 2 Hz being most affected (40 Hz bursts: N = 3.25 ± 0.75 arbitrary resistance units (RU); H = 1.14 ± 0.29 RU). Yohimbine (Yoh, α2-adrenoceptor antagonist) or BIBP 3226 (Y1-receptor antagonist) did not affect baseline FVR. In normoxia, Yoh attenuated the responses evoked by high frequency bursts and 2 Hz, whereas BIBP 3226 only attenuated the response to 40 Hz (40 Hz bursts: N + Yoh = 2.1 ± 0.59 RU; N + BIBP 3226 = 1.9 ± 0.4 RU). In hypoxia, Yoh did not further attenuate the evoked responses, but BIBP 3226 further attenuated the response to 40 Hz bursts. These results indicate that neither α2-adrenoceptors nor Y1 receptors contribute to basal vascular tone in skeletal muscle, but both contribute to constrictor responses evoked by high frequency bursts of sympathetic activity. We propose that in systemic hypoxia, the α2-mediated component represents about 50% of the sympathetically evoked constriction that is blunted, whereas the contribution made by Y1 receptors is resistant. Thus we suggest the importance of NPY in the regulation of FVR and blood pressure increases during challenges such as systemic hypoxia