A type catalogue of Campylopodioideae and Paraleucobryoideae (Musci, Dicranaceae) : part 2, Campylopus

All species of Campylopus Brid. are listed, including citations of basionyms and homotypic synonyms, completed by citation of the type specimen and its location, as well as the current use or other uses of the name

Measuring enterprises’ investments in social capital - a pilot study

Research on the impact of social capital on economic growth has mainly focused on civil society’s social capital. The social capital related to enterprises has received little attention. This paper aims at developing a method for measuring enterprises’ investments in social capital. We define enterprise-related social capital as social and economic networks in which enterprises intentionally and unintentionally invest and interact in. Certain components of these networks are open for ownership while others are not. Interaction in these networks generates network advantages and economic utility in individual firms as well as in the place/region in which they are located. Based on a division in internal and external social capital, we divide the latter in production-related, environment-related and market-related respectively. We differ between the networks’ links and the norms, values, etc that are distributed in the links by the nodes/enterprises. The study is delimited to measurement of the existence and structure of the links. The study shows that it is possible to measure enterprises’ investments (in money or time) in social capital. We also found some significant indications on connections between investments in social capital and the enterprises’ growth, however without being able to establish any casual relationship. Due to the limited number of participating enterprises these connections are merely indications.

Opposing Ugandan homosexual policies—an activist perspective

Based on the perspective of LGBTI-activists, the aim of this study was to analyze the policy processes that frame homosexuality in Uganda, as well as to illuminate different powerful stakeholders involved in the debate with power in the policy process. In October 2009, Member of Parliament David Bahati tabled the Anti-homosexuality Bill in Uganda. The drafting of the Bill condemns people convicted of homosexuality to life imprisonment and anyone convicted of aggravated homosexuality to suffer death. The Bill has caused protest among both local and international Human Right groups. This study is based on an eight-week Minor Field Study conducted in Uganda, which consisted of interviews with LGBTI-activists representing NGOs working toward improvement of homosexual rights. In my analysis I use different structural approaches in order to study the policy process. This helps to understand the complexity of the homosexuality debate and to locate sources of power and at the same time establish the division power among these sources. Marxist and Top Down perspectives show an unequal power deviation in which the government has much power and acts as a controller in the society. Elite theory brings forward elite stakeholders in the policy process; these include as religious leaders, politicians and the president. Turning to a Bottom Up perspective, the Pluralistic theory shows that the power division in the policy process is unequal and that the government is using authoritative means to maintain the power in society. Globalization theory shows that the Anti-homosexuality movement creates tensions between Uganda and its international relations. For instance, donor countries that contribute to its foreign aid have criticized Uganda. This study shows that the democratic system in Uganda is dysfunctional, implying that the LGBTI-activists face obstacles to their advocacy work for homosexual rights from the government and elite stakeholders. On the other hand, the LGBTI-organizations can gain power in the policy process, as depicted by the network theory, by networking with other stakeholders

Girls changing the language : a comparison between the Meiji schoolgirls and the present day kogals

When girls in Japan acquired the right to higher education in the wake of the Meiji reformation in the 19th century, these girls began to talk in a way that was considered vulgar by the public. It was called teyo dawa kotoba (teyo dawa speech) – and over time it became what we call female speech today. During the Meiji and Taisho periods proper ladies did not talk that way, and it was considered to be vulgar slang. Today that is the way proper ladies are expected to talk. Teyo dawa kotoba was not considered to be female speech until the 1930s. Kogals (a subculture of girls in their late teens) have been around since early 1990s, and they have their own vocabulary also considered to be vulgar slang – are there any signs that the same thing is happening today? Are present day Japanese people aware of which words they use (if any) that originated as kogal slang? If not, can this be considered the beginning of a similar assimilation of slang of teenage girls? A comparison between the Meiji schoolgirls and the present day kogals is possible and certain similarities can be found at just a quick glance

Consequences of a glyphosate ban for Swedish crop production

Under 2017 fördes flera diskussioner angående ett glyfosatförbud i Europa där flera skribenter menade på att det saknades konsekvensanalyser i ämnet. Detta bidrog till att jag beslutade mig för att undersöka hur svenska växtodlare ansåg att de skulle påverkas av ett glyfosatförbud. Rapporten utfördes delvis genom en litteraturstudie, men bygger främst på en enkätstudie där de tillfrågade lantbrukarna var kunder till Varaslättens Lagerhus. Enkäten delades ut under två olika medlemskvällar och av samtliga tillfrågade valde 102 lantbrukare att besvara enkäten vilket gav en svarsfrekvens på 67 %. Under 2017 diskuterades frågan kring glyfosatets fortsatta godkännande. International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, klassade under 2015 glyfosat som cancerogent för människor. European Chemicals Agency, ECHA, å sin sida ansåg att glyfosat ej kunde anses vara cancerogent. Detta gjorde även European Food Safety Authority, EFSA, samt Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States, FAO. Det EU-kommissionen röstade igenom under år 2017 var ett fortsatt godkännande i fem år, fram till 15 december 2022. I vanliga fall är det vanligaste att EU-kommissionen beslutar om en förlängning på femton år av kemiska preparat. EU-kommissionens beslut i detta fall indikerar på en viss reservation för ett fortsatt användande av glyfosat. Frågorna i enkätstudien fokuserade på hur lantbrukarna ansåg sig påverkas av ett glyfosatförbud i aspekter så som växtföljd, produktionskostnader, jordbearbetningsmetod och maskinanvändning. En återkommande konsekvens som lantbrukarna angav oberoende fråga var det faktum att jordbearbetningen med diverse redskap antas öka och därmed även dieselförbrukningen. Ökad ogräsförekomst och svårare att hantera dessa problem var också ett svar som förekom på fler frågor. Dessutom ansåg en del av lantbrukarna att deras växtföljd skulle behöva förändras och grödor som vete, baljväxter och lin exkluderas ur den. Samtliga konsekvenser som angavs kan i förlängningen innebära ökade kostnader för lantbrukarna och utifrån vilken utveckling spannmålspriserna förmodas få kan det diskuteras hur den fortsatta lönsamheten för svenska växtodlare kommer att se ut.This thesis aims to examine the perceived effect of a Glyphosate ban on crop production among Swedish farmers. In 2017 there was an intense debate as to how this ban would affect crop production, this thesis sets out to give a new perspective on this debate through a quantitative survey and a literature study. The survey was distributed to 154 Swedish Farmers through Varaslättens Lagerhus, a Swedish distributor of agricultural products. The response rate was 67 %. Glyphosate is a chemical substance common used in agriculture through the world. In 2017 the issue of Glyphosates’ continued approval was debated among researchers, governments and health organizations. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) rated Glyphosate as “potentially cancerogenic”, while other organizations such as the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA), The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) as well as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States (FAO) did not consider Glyphosate a cancerogenic substance. To further emphasize the uncertainty that surrounds this chemical, the European Commission took the unorthodox decision to approve the continued use of the chemical within the European Union for only five years instead of fifteen years, which is the standard period of extension for a chemical substance. While the continued use of Glyphosate is debated, one should not forget the effect of this potential ban on farmers. The main focus of this thesis is to gain a better understanding of how farmers believe that a potential ban might affect them, through a quantitative survey, in aspects such as crop rotation, productions costs, tillage and the use of machines. From this survey one can conclude that the respondents believe that tillage and diesel consumption is expected to increase as a result of the potential ban. Moreover, the respondents believed that the occurrence of weeds among their crop would increase which would lead to new difficult problems to handle. Other respondents anticipated that their crop rotation would change if plants like wheat, legumes and flax would be more difficult to grow. To conclude, the participating farmers anticipate that a ban on Glyphosate will lead to new productions problems and hence increase their long-term costs

Litteratursamtalets landskap: gymnasieelevers kunskapsutveckling i samtal om skönlitteratur

I föreliggande arbete undersöks kunskapsutvecklingen i en gymnasieklass som samtalar om ett antal lästa romaner med arbete, klass och utanförskap som teman. Samtalen förbereddes, strukturerades och fördes av eleverna själva i mindre grupper och genomfördes som en del av elevernas ordinarie undervisning. Syftet med studien är att synliggöra hur eleverna bearbetar det lästa och vilken typ av kunskap som utvecklas i samband med samtalet, samt undersöka var elevernas gemensamma närmaste utvecklingszon finns. Det teoretiska ramverket utgörs av ett sociokulturellt och dialogiskt perspektiv samt receptionsteori. Materialet, som bestod av samtalsinspelningar, har kategoriserats och analyserats genom empiristyrd tematisk analys. Resultatet visar att eleverna baserar sina observationer på och utvecklar kunskap inom fem olika domäner: historisk, politisk, erfarenhetsbaserad, litterär/textnära respektive psykologisk. Behovet av ytterligare stöttning för att nå nästa utvecklingszon visade sig tydligast i samband med att eleverna försökte relatera det lästa till respektive tema och i samband med detta göra kopplingar till samtiden och omvärlden

DESIGNING AN M-GOVERNMENT SOLUTION: ENABLING COLLABORATION THROUGH CITIZEN SOURCING

y combining openness with m-government, OECD and the research community envisage benefits, and action is called for within this field. The objective of this paper is to answer these calls and address the research question How to design a citizen sourcing m-government solution to facilitate collaboration between governments and citizens? An instantiation of a complaint and problem management solution is designed and evaluated using design science. The solution (named Munizapp) comprises a mobile application (app) and an integration platform (ePlatform). The app is the front-end for citizens, enabling them to report complaints and problems to municipalities. The ePlatform facilitates seamless two-way communication between the app and back-end case management system in municipalities. Different evaluation activities have been carried out that proved the enabling features of the solution for facilitating collaboration. Usability evaluation and knowledge gained through the research process provides new knowledge to citizen sourcing and m-government theory. One example is the need to expand citizen sourcing frameworks to also include stakeholders other than citizens and governments as well as the need to explicate value co-creation between all stakeholders touched by the solution. The paper ends with suggestion for future research on value co-creation