Corrective Taxation of a Consumption Externality in the Presence of an Optimal Non-linear Income Tax

This paper is concerned with the problem of combining a non-linear income tax with an indirect externality correcting tax. The analysis is performed in a model economy with two types of individuals and two types of consumption goods. The government wants to redistribute from the more able individuals to the less able, and also to correct for the externality arising from the total consumption of the dirty good. It turns out that the optimal tax structure depends on the complementarity or substitutability between the dirty good and leisure. The second-best externality correcting tax can be interpreted as consisting of a redistributive and an environmental component. Consequently, the dirt tax can be lower or higher than the first-best Pigouvian tax.Pareto efficient taxation; environmental externalities; commodity tax; Nonlinear income tax

Optimal power and efficiency of single quantum dot heat engines: theory and experiment

Quantum dots (QDs) can serve as near perfect energy filters and are therefore of significant interest for the study of thermoelectric energy conversion close to thermodynamic efficiency limits. Indeed, recent experiments in [Nat. Nano. 13, 920 (2018)] realized a QD heat engine with performance near these limits and in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions. However, these experiments also highlighted a need for more theory to help guide and understand the practical optimization of QD heat engines, in particular regarding the role of tunnel couplings on the performance at maximum power and efficiency for QDs that couple seemingly weakly to electronic reservoirs. Furthermore, these experiments also highlighted the critical role of the external load when optimizing the performance of a QD heat engine in practice. To provide further insight into the operation of these engines we use the Anderson impurity model together with a Master equation approach to perform power and efficiency calculations up to co-tunneling order. This is combined with additional thermoelectric experiments on a QD embedded in a nanowire where the power is measured using two methods. We use the measurements to present an experimental procedure for efficiently finding the external load $R_P$ which should be connected to the engine to optimize power output. Our theoretical estimates of $R_P$ show a good agreement with the experimental results, and we show that second order tunneling processes and non-linear effects have little impact close to maximum power, allowing us to derive a simple analytic expression for $R_P$. In contrast, we find that the electron contribution to the thermoelectric efficiency is significantly reduced by second order tunneling processes, even for rather weak tunnel couplings

Characterization of hiv-1 populations in infected cells

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is one of the most fatal diseases in the world today, and the most important worldwide infectious disease in terms of mortality. This virus infects and kills cells of the immune system involved in defending the body against infectious agents such as viruses and bacteria. Infected cells can circulate throughout the body enabling HIV to disseminate and cause infection in many different anatomical compartments. HIV can either establish active infection causing the death of the infected cell or become a latent infection allowing the virus to escape HIV specific immune response and antiretroviral therapy (ART). Latent infection can keep the virus silent for years hindering the possibility of a cure with current therapies. In addition, HIV can quickly evolve into new viral variants which can escape immune pressure, develop resistance to ART and impede the development of a functional vaccine. In order to better understand the pathogenesis and dynamics of HIV infection it is important to analyze the infected cells and the viral variants that reside within them. In this thesis, highly sensitive assays have been developed and used to analyze which cells are infected and the genetic makeup of the HIV-1 variants within these infected cells isolated from different cellular populations and anatomical compartments from treatment naïve and treatment experienced patients. In papers I and II the number of HIV-1 DNA molecules in single infected cells from peripheral blood and lymph node tissue from untreated patients was evaluated. The results from these studies revealed that the majority (>90%) of the CD4+ T-cells from peripheral blood and lymph node tissue contained only one HIV-1 DNA molecule. This result is in contrast to the generally accepted belief that most HIV-infected cells contain multiple HIV DNA molecules. In addition, we demonstrated a similar genetic composition of HIV-1 in lymph node tissue, peripheral blood and plasma. This finding indicates an exchange of virions and/or infected cells between these compartments during untreated early and chronic HIV-1 infection. In papers III and IV we analyzed the genetic makeup of HIV-1 populations located in different infected cells from patients on long-term suppressive therapy. In paper III we isolated CD34+ hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) from bone marrow to investigate if these cells are an HIV-1 reservoir in patients during long-term suppressive therapy. In conducting this study we found no HIV-1 in 100 000 to 800 000 CD34+ HPCs analyzed per patient indicating that CD34+ HPCs from the bone marrow are not a source of persistent HIV-1. In paper IV we analyzed infected cells from gut associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) and peripheral blood isolated from the same patients described and studied in paper III. Despite several years of therapy we found a high infection frequency of cells isolated from these patients. Moreover, the infection frequency of these cells was greater in patients treated during chronic infection compared to patients treated during early infection in both peripheral blood and GALT. In addition, we evaluated the degree of HIV-1 genetic change between samples isolated before the patients started therapy and after several years of therapy to understand if on-going viral replication can maintain HIV-1 during suppressive therapy. Our results show that very little change has occurred during years of suppressive therapy in the patient samples analyzed. In conclusion, the work presented in this thesis has provided new techniques to analyze the HIV-1 reservoir. The use of these techniques has resulted in a better understanding of which cell types act as HIV-1 reservoirs and the genetic nature of the virus residing in these infected cells during early and chronic infection in both treatment naïve and experienced patient

Play behaviour and maternal relationship between ewe and lambs in Urial sheep (Ovis vignei bochariensis)

Ex situ conservation is done to alleviate the risk of threatened species going extinct and one major conservation aim is increasing the population size. One place working with ex situ conservation is the zoo Nordens Ark in Sweden, and one of their target species is Urials (Ovis vignei bochariensis). The aim of this study was to investigate play- and maternal behaviour in Urials. The play behaviours performed by Urials could be an indicator of welfare and furthermore; to better understand the needs of Urials to preserve them, their welfare is important. Maternal behaviour is of course crucial for lamb survival and hence conservation of the species. As Urials only exist in four different parks in Europe and they have reproduction problems in captivity cooperation with Nordens Ark and their conservation program made it possible to study Urials. Nordens Ark was the only park in Europe in year 2021 where Urial lambs were born. The method used was video recording, using wildlife camera traps during summer after the lambs were born in 2021. Five cameras, set up to take one-minute video clips, were put up in the enclosure. To gain basic information on the Urials´ behaviours, this study registered behaviours performed during daylight hours when the park was open and daylight hours when the park was closed. The result showed that the Urials perform more play-, maternal and locomotor behaviour during park closed hours. The play behaviour performed the most during park open hours was “jumping on to object” performed 50 times. During park closed hours the play behaviour performed the most was “jump”, performed 174 times. “Vocalisation” was also performed almost 300 times during park closed hours, while during open hours only just over 40 times. When using only play behaviours as a parameter of welfare the conclusion is that the Urials have a better welfare during park closed hours since they play more, Urials could be disturbed by the visitors. However, an alternative explanation could be a difference in circadian rhythm. The information about Urials diurnal behavioural pattern is lacking and hence no conclusions can be drawn about the cause of the differences. The maternal behaviours performed by Urial was primarily suckling, also observed at a higher frequency during park closed hours.För att bevara hotade djurarter hålls de ibland i djurparker och hägn. Syftet är att de ska kunna reproducera sig och leva väl i fångenskap tills det finns habitat där de kan återintroduceras. En djurpark som fokuserar på bevarande av hotade arter är Nordens Ark. Där hålls många spektakulära rovdjur men även mindre kända och hemlighetsfulla bytesdjur. En av dessa arter är de Tadzjikiska stäppfåren eller urialerna. De är små, bruna vildfår som naturligt lever i Mellanöstern. Det är oerhört viktigt att dessa får, tillsammans med andra bytesdjur bevaras, bland annat eftersom de är bytesdjur för rovdjur och har stor betydelse för ekologin i de här områdena av världen. På djurparker har man dock problem med att vildfåren inte får tillräckligt med lamm och ibland att de inte tar hand om lammen. Därför är det viktigt att studera detaljer i deras modersbeteende och även deras lekbeteende eftersom lek är ett viktigt tecken på att djuren mår bra. Vad jag vet finns ingen tidigare forskning om urialer och deras lek- och modersbeteende. Eftersom urialer bara finns på fyra olika parker i Europa var samarbetet med Nordens Ark och deras bevarandeprogram det som möjliggjorde att Abstract Populärvetenskaplig sammanfattning studera urialerna på nära håll. Nordens Ark var den enda parken i Europa år 2021 som fick uriallamm. Metoden jag använde för att studera de här skygga vildfåren var att videofilma dem med åtelkameror. För att se om besökarna på Nordens Ark hade någon inverkan på beteendet, jämförde jag fårens beteende (i dagsljus) när parken var öppen med beteendena när parken var stängd. Resultatet visade att urialerna utför mer lek-, moder- och rörelsebeteende under parkens stängda timmar. Det lekbeteende som uppvisades mest under parkens öppna timmar var att "hoppa på ett föremål", oftast en sten eller stock. Under parkens stängda timmar var lekbeteendet som uppvisades mest "hopp", när lammen helt enkelt skuttar rakt upp eller gör en liten piruett när de hoppar. Jag registrerade också väldigt många bräkanden när parken var stängd. Att vildfåren lekte mer när parken var stängd kan betyda att de hade en bättre välfärd när det inte fanns några besökare där. Men det kan också betyda att de helt enkelt leker mer på morgon och kväll, när det blivit ljust men kanske inte så varmt. Vi vet inte när lammen leker i det vilda. Jag såg också att diande var vanligare på parken var stängd, men vet heller inte om det är en effekt av besökare eller av dygnsrytmen. Vi behöver fortsätta att studera urialerna så att vi kan bevara dem på allra bästa sätt tills de kan planteras ut i sin naturliga miljö

Psykobiologinen persoonallisuus : sitä ennustavat lapsuuden ympäristötekijät sekä kehittyminen ja yhteydet hyvinvointiin aikuisuudessa

Few prospective studies have studied the development and outcomes of personality from childhood to adulthood in the light of the psychobiological theory. This study takes personality, as defined by the psychobiological theory, as the core focus and explores the predictors, development, and outcomes of adulthood personality. This study also seeks to answer an important theoretical question in personality psychology: are there observable qualitative differences between temperament and character? The participants come from the Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study (CRYF), which started in 1980. It consists of six different birth cohorts that were from three to eighteen years old in 1980. There have been eight follow-ups since then, the latest in 2012. The participants parents answered questions about home environment in 1983. Personality was measured in 1997, 2001, and 2007, depressive symptoms in 1997, 2001, and 2007, and well-being in 2001. There were 2814, 1083, 1940, and 1911 participants in studies I-IV, respectively. The results showed that character developed towards greater maturity in adulthood, although Self-transcendence decreased with age. Self-transcendence was the strongest predictor of overall personality change. Regarding temperament, Novelty Seeking decreased and Persistence increased slightly with age. Temperament and character traits followed different kinds of developmental trajectories. Parental care-giving and home-environment were more strongly associated with offspring character traits reflecting personality maturity (Self-directedness and Cooperativeness) than with offspring temperament traits. The differences were most evident in the cumulative effects model. Self-directedness and Cooperativeness were positively associated with well-being. Self-transcendence increased both positive and negative affect. High Harm Avoidance and low Self-directedness strongly related to depressive symptoms. In addition, sensitive (NHR) and fanatical people (ScT) were especially vulnerable to depressive symptoms. Temperament and character had qualitative differences, which has important theoretical significance. Character was strongly influenced by childhood family environment and was strongly associated with well-being. Character development should be facilitated when trying to reduce ill-being and increase well-being.On olemassa vain muutamia prospektiivisia tutkimuksia, jotka ovat tarkastelleet persoonallisuuden kehitystä ja seurauksia lapsesta aikuisuuteen psykobiologisen teorian näkökulmasta. Tässä tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan psykobiologisen teorian mukaista persoonallisuutta ja sen ennustajia, kehitystä ja seurauksia aikuisuudessa. Tutkimus pyrkii vastaamaan myös tärkeään persoonallisuusteoreettiseen kysymykseen: onko temperamentin ja luonteen välillä havaittavia laadullisia eroja? Osallistujat tulevat Lasten Sepelvaltimotaudin Riskitekijät -tutkimuksesta (LASERI), joka alkoi vuonna 1980. Se koostuu kuudesta syntymäkohortista, jotka olivat vuonna 1980 3-18 -vuotiaita. LASERIssa on tehty 8 seurantatutkimusta, joista viimeisin vuonna 2012. Osallistujien vanhemmat vastasivat kysymyksiin kotiympäristöstä vuonna 1983. Persoonallisuutta mitattiin vuosina 1997, 2001 ja 2007, masennusoireita 1997, 2001 ja 2007, ja hyvinvointia 2001. Koehenkilöitä tutkimuksissa I-IV oli 2814, 1083, 1940 ja 1911. Tulosten mukaan luonne kehittyi kohti suurempaa kypsyyttä aikuisuudessa, vaikkakin henkisyys laski iän myötä. Henkisyys oli vahvin persoonallisuuden kokonaismuutoksen ennustaja. Temperamenttipiirteistä uutuudenetsintä laski ja sinnikkyys nousi hieman iän myötä. Temperamentti ja luonne seurasivat erilaisia kehityspolkuja. Lapsuuden hoiva- ja kotiympäristö oli voimakkaammin yhteydessä kypsyyttä kuvaavin persoonallisuuspiirteisiin (itseohjautuvuus, yhteistyö) kuin temperamenttiin. Erot olivat selvimpiä kumulatiivisten vaikutusten mallissa. Itseohjautuvuus ja yhteistyö olivat positiivisesti yhteydessä hyvinvointiin. Henkisyys lisäsi sekä positiivisia että negatiivisia tunteita. Korkea haitanvälttäminen ja matala itseohjautuvuus olivat voimakkaasti yhteydessä masennusoireisiin. Sensitiiviset (NHR) ja fanaattiset ihmiset (ScT) olivat erityisen haavoittuvia masennusoireille. Temperamentissa ja luonteessa havaittiin laadullisia eroja, millä on tärkeää teoreettista merkitystä. Luonteeseen vaikutti voimakkaasti lapsuuden perheympäristö, ja luonne oli voimakkaasti yhteydessä hyvinvointiin. Kun hyvinvointia yritetään lisätä ja henkistä pahoinvointia vähentää, luonnepiirteiden kasvua ja kehittymistä pitäisi pyrkiä tukemaan

Quantum-Dot Heat Engines

This thesis explores the possibilities of using quantum dots (QDs) in nanoscale energy har- vesters converting heat into electrical energy, i.e. heat engines. From a theory perspective, these possibilities have been investigated for almost two decades, and interest in them seem to continuously increase over time. However, a high degree of experimental control over the manufacturing and operation of QD engines have only recently been achieved. This opens up the possibility of verifying the theory predictions and brings new questions to be answered, which is where this thesis aims at making a contribution. The author’s contributions to the work that the thesis builds upon are theoretical, but are often used together with experimental results for synergistic effects.The thesis starts with an introduction to relevant concepts in classical thermodynamics and a quantum mechanical description of electron states in QDs. This is followed by a discus- sion of electron transport in QDs, as well as an introduction to the master equation based approaches used to model the relevant experimental devices.There are three studies included in the thesis, all of which have been peer-reviewed and published in scientific journals. The details of the physics relevant for each one are presen- ted together with a summary of the studies. The first is an investigation of the performance limits of an experimental implementation of a steady-state QD heat engine, in which the Curzon-Ahlborn efficiency is observed at maximum power and the highest efficiency was in excess of 70% of the Carnot efficiency. This is the first verification that QDs can be used in high efficiency heat engines. The second study investigates how to practically optimize the output power of similar devices, and quantifies how high efficiency one can hope to reach in other implementations of QD engines. The third study proposes an experimental quantum engine based on a double QD where entangled singlet spin states are used to drive the engine. This can be viewed as entanglement acting as the engine’s fuel

Exploring e-patients ’ heterogeneity: towards personalized e-health applications

Some of the major future healthcare challenges are related to demography, finances and the technological development. In search for solutions the field of ‘E-health’ is often discussed. Lately, in these discussions there has been a focus on the importance of creating patient-centrered applications. Associated with the democratisation of the healthcare service and the development of “the informed patient” an important part involves the accomplishment of increased personalized medical information online. By exploring E-patients’ heterogeneity, this paper aims to support the development of patient-centered E-health applications. Using a qualitative approach, the paper reports from 25 in-depth interviews performed with Swedish patients and representatives of patient associations. By means of theoretical ideas from information science, four important components of Epatients’ information use environment (People, Problem, Setting, and Problem resolution) serve as instruments to illustrate and exemplify E-patients’ heterogeneity. The results draw a complex and dynamic picture of the E-patient context introducing a dimension of personalization reaching further than patients’ general online activities and individual medical data. This dimension of personalization is discussed in relation to tentative implications for the development of patient-centered E-health applications

Thermoelectric transport and thermometry of quantum dots

Thermoelectricity is the physical principle of converting heat energy directly into electrical energy. Devices based on this principle so far fall short on efficiency but future thermoelectric devices based on QDs can have very high efficiency. Before QDs can be used in actual devices their behavior must the studied to a further extent. This work theoretically explores how a QD in a single electron transistor setup can be characterized from thermoelectric measurements. It is shown how asymmetric tunnel couplings between the QD and the leads, the temperatures of the leads and an applied magnetic field will influence the thermocurrent (electrical current generated by a temperature difference) through the dot. This work also contains comparisons of a Landauer-Büttiker and a Master equation approach to calculate the current through the QD. For the Master equation approach both infinite lifetime sequential tunneling and a lifetime broadening utilizing Lorentzian distribution functions to account for the widths of the energy levels are used. It is found that the broadening is important to include when calculating the thermopower but it fails at calculating the heat current

SODIUM/IODIDE SYMPORTER-NIS Abundant and Important in Gastric Mucosa

ABSTRACT Background: Iodine is essential for development and growth as a constituent in thyroid hormones. Biological mechanisms for iodide uptake and concentration are very important, espe-cially as iodine is a relatively scarce element. Active iodide transport into thyroid fol-licular cells is mediated by the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS), powered by Na+/K+-ATPase. NIS is expressed also in extra thyroidal tissues, most abundantly in gastric mucosa - the focus of this thesis. Cellular localisation of NIS: NIS expression was found basolaterally in gastric mucosal surface cells of several mammals including man, basolaterally in salivary gland ducts and apicolaterally in rat bile ducts. Weak NIS immunoreactivity was found basolaterally also in duodenal mucosal surface cells. Findings in gastric mucosa and salivary glands were confirmed by in situ hybridisation. Gastric iodide transport Considerable secretion of iodide from the bloodstream into the stomach, but negligi-ble uptake from the stomach, was shown in vivo and in vitro in rat using 125I as marker. In the Ussing-chamber in vitro system both the competitive NIS-inhibitor sodium perchlorate (NaClO4) and the Na+/K+-ATPase-inhibitor ouabain attenuated gastric iodide transport from serosal to mucosal side, proving that gastric iodide se-cretion is, to a large extent, mediated by NIS. NIS in MNNG-induced tumours: Gastric cancer was chemically induced in rats by the administration of N-methyl-N’-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG) in the drinking water. Multiple microadenomas as well as large adenomas were found in the stomachs of all MNNG-treated rats. The surface epithelium of gastric adenomas was NIS immunoreactive, but staining was less intense than in normal mucosa. In addition, almost all of the MNNG-treated animals displayed either large papillary cystadenomas in the liver, found to express NIS with varying staining intensity, and/or infiltrating carcinomas of Brunner’s glands, which did not express NIS. Conclusions: • NIS is abundantly expressed in gastric mucosa and also expressed in salivary gland and bile duct epithelium. • Iodide secretion into the gastric lumen is mediated by NIS. There are several theo-ries as to the function of this transport including mediating recirculation of io-dide, as well as securing presence of iodide in the stomach for antimicrobial or an-tioxidative purposes. • MNNG-induced tumours in gastric mucosa and bile ducts all express NIS, which might make radioiodine an aid in treatment and diagnosis of these cancer types