Institutions, Veto Players and Policy Change-The Privatization Process of the Telecommunication Sector in Germany and Switzerland

Veto player have come to serve as an explanatory fact in the divergence of policy outcomes. Contemporary research on the subject of policy making argues that policy stability is more likely in political settings with multiple veto players, although it restricts a government's ability to push through reforms. The ambition of this thesis is to examine the affect political institutions have on the policy making process. More precisely, it aims to evaluate the explanatory power of the veto player theory as provided by Tsebelis (1995). This thesis reconstructs and discuss the assumptions and predictions of the veto player theory. The method being used is a comparative study. The theory will be tested against the cases of the telecommunication reforms in Germany and Switzerland. In both countries the proposal of a complete privatization of the telecommunication sector been considered, but whereas in Germany (1994), the second post-reform transformed the state monopoly into a private sector Switzerland rejected the same proposal, as late as 2006. Even though the concept of veto player has a central role in explaining policy outcomes, the findings show that the veto player theory is not alone sufficient alone to explain the different policy outcomes in selected cases. The more general critics against the theory derives from how actors endowed with veto power are conceptualized. To strong assumptions on the actors behavior, might result in overlooking potential veto players

Kubas sjuk- och hälsovårdssystem -En analys av interna och externa drivkrafter

Abstract Sedan Kubas revolution 1959 har landet genomgått stora förändringar. Denna uppsats undersöker hur utvecklingen av Kubas sjuk- och hälsovårdssystem mellan åren 1959-1996 har påverkats av såväl interna som externa faktorer. Detta har gjorts ur ett empiriskt och ett teorikonsumerande perspektiv. Statistik har legat till grunden för den empiriska delen och de teoretiska perspektiv som används är hämtade ur legitimitetsteori, biståndsteori och sanktionsteori. I denna uppsats har vi använt oss av ett avvikande-perspektiv på Kubas sjuk- och hälsovårdssystem. Den bakomliggande processen bakom utvecklingen av sjuk- och hälsovårdssystemet har påverkats främst av relationer till Sovjetunionen och USA. Systemet är ett resultat av en komplex politisk situation

Effects of dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibition on inflammation in atherosclerosis: A 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose study of a mouse model of atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes

Background and aims: Dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors have anti-inflammatory and atheroprotective effects. We evaluated the effects of the DPP-4 inhibitor linagliptin on atherosclerotic plaque and hepatic inflammation using histology and 2-deoxy-2-[18F]-fluoro-d-glucose (18F-FDG), a positron emission tomography tracer of inflammation, in a mouse model of hypercholesterolemia and type 2 diabetes.Methods: Igf2/Ldlr-/-Apob100/100 mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 8 weeks and then randomly allocated to receive HFD (n = 14), or HFD with added linagliptin (n = 15) for additional 12 weeks. Five mice fed a chow diet were studied as an additional control. At the end of the study, glucose tolerance, aortic and liver uptake of 18F-FDG, and histology were studied.Results: Mice in linagliptin and HFD groups had similar fasting glucose concentrations, but linagliptin improved glucose tolerance. Aortas of linagliptin and HFD groups showed advanced atherosclerotic plaques with no difference in the mean intima-to-media ratio or number of macrophages in the plaques. Autoradiography showed similar 18F-FDG uptake by atherosclerotic plaques in linagliptin and HFD groups (plaque-to-wall ratio: 1.7 ± 0.25 vs. 1.6 ± 0.21; p = 0.24). In the liver, linagliptin reduced the histologic inflammation score but had no effect on 18F-FDG uptake. Compared with chow diet, uptake of 18F-FDG was similar in the aorta, but higher in the liver after HFD.Conclusions: Linagliptin therapy improved glucose tolerance and reduced hepatic inflammation but had no effect on plaque burden or atherosclerotic inflammation, as determined by histology and 18F-FDG uptake, in atherosclerotic mice with type 2 diabetes.   </p

Therapeutic Antibody Against Phosphorylcholine Preserves Coronary Function and Attenuates Vascular 18F-FDG Uptake in Atherosclerotic Mice

This study showed that treatment with a therapeutic monoclonal immunoglobulin-G1 antibody against phosphorylcholine on oxidized phospholipids preserves coronary flow reserve and attenuates atherosclerotic inflammation as determined by the uptake of 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose in atherosclerotic mice. The noninvasive imaging techniques represent translational tools to assess the efficacy of phosphorylcholine-targeted therapy on coronary artery function and atherosclerosis in clinical studies.</p

Using Blue Mussels as a Tool for Mitigating Eutrophication in the Baltic Sea

Eutrophication is a consequence of excess nutrients in the water which leads to increased algaegrowth, reduced water transparency and hypoxic bottoms. This is the biggest environmental problemfor the Baltic Sea which recently has resulted in stricter legislations and other initiatives to help theBaltic Sea to recover. However, the actions to reduce the nutrient input to the Baltic Sea have so farmainly been land-based. These actions seem to not be enough since the eutrophication continues tobe a problem for the Baltic Sea. Farming blue mussels has shown to have a mitigating effect on theeutrophication and could thus be a complementary action. Blue mussels are filter-feeding specieswhich means that they filter water for food and thus eat phytoplankton and accumulate nutrients atthe same time. When the blue mussels are removed from the sea, so is the nutrients accumulated inthe mussels, resulting in a mitigation of nutrients and thereby the eutrophication. Due to the brackishwater with the low salinity in the Baltic Sea, the blue mussels farmed there do not grow bigger thanaround 3 cm. This means that the mussels are not suitable for human food production and theharvested mussels need to be used for something else, even though the farming itself is anenvironmental action. Three possible mussel products from valorisation of the Baltic Sea blue musselshave been identified; producing mussel meal, biogas or compost.Region Östergötland is involved in a project, Baltic Blue Growth, with the main objective to study howto use mussel farming as an environmental measure and which of the three valorisation options is themost beneficial from an environmental perspective. This study is a part of their investigation to reachtheir goal and will study their mussel farm in St. Anna and the three valorisation options from anenvironmental perspective. The aim of this study is thus to investigate the net nutrient reduction froma mussel farm in the Baltic Sea in combination with the contribution to climate change. This is donefrom a life cycle perspective to include the valorisation of the mussels into the different productsmussel meal, biogas or compost. For this, an existing farm in the archipelago of St. Anna, Östergötland,Sweden is studied. The main results show that there is a nutrient reduction from the mussel farm andthis is not majorly affected regardless of which valorisation option that is chosen. However, the musselfarm does have an impact on climate change and the magnitude of the impact varies for the threevalorisation options. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the result from the life cycle canbe improved with future improvements of the mussel farm and transportation. The nutrient reductioncan become larger and the impact on the climate change can be reduced. Outside the result from thelife cycle analysis it is discussed that there are other future improvement possibilities in the productionof the mussel products, which would impact the result. The mussel farm and the mussel products alsohave other positive impacts that is not included in the life cycle analysis but discussed in the study,such as increased water transparency, recycling of nutrients and reduction of over fishing. However,the mussel farm could also have negative impacts, such as emissions of microplastics and locallyincreased sedimentation which affect the hypoxia. Those are discussed in this study but the probabilityand possible impact of them are not fully investigated and need further research

Situational and future analysis : Longer and heavier road and railway vehicles

VTI has previously shown that there are socio-economic benefits of using longer and heavier road vehicles than the rest of the EU, i.e. 25.25 metres and 60 tons are permitted. The aim of the Co-modality project is to investigate the consequences of using even longer and/or heavier road and railway vehicles. This first subproject aims to answer which dimensions and weight limits with regards to road and railway vehicles that the Co-modality project should investigate further as well as the effects. A literature review has been conducted and to capture the views of Swedish stakeholders and transportation experts, a questionnaire survey was conducted. The respondents were invited to a hearing, too. The reason for the survey was to establish which road and railway vehicles would be in demand year 2030. The results show that no extreme changes are expected and that volume capacity was requested to a further extent than weight. For road vehicles, it is mainly a question of continuing to build on the European Modular System that combines different standardised load carriers. It allows member states to have different dimensions to those in other EU countries. For railway vehicles the demand is mainly for longer trains, but also heavier. Road safety, infrastructure, congestion, environment and transportation economy are the aspects that we identified as relevant for longer and/or heavier road and railway vehicles

Using Blue Mussels as a Tool for Mitigating Eutrophication in the Baltic Sea

Eutrophication is a consequence of excess nutrients in the water which leads to increased algaegrowth, reduced water transparency and hypoxic bottoms. This is the biggest environmental problemfor the Baltic Sea which recently has resulted in stricter legislations and other initiatives to help theBaltic Sea to recover. However, the actions to reduce the nutrient input to the Baltic Sea have so farmainly been land-based. These actions seem to not be enough since the eutrophication continues tobe a problem for the Baltic Sea. Farming blue mussels has shown to have a mitigating effect on theeutrophication and could thus be a complementary action. Blue mussels are filter-feeding specieswhich means that they filter water for food and thus eat phytoplankton and accumulate nutrients atthe same time. When the blue mussels are removed from the sea, so is the nutrients accumulated inthe mussels, resulting in a mitigation of nutrients and thereby the eutrophication. Due to the brackishwater with the low salinity in the Baltic Sea, the blue mussels farmed there do not grow bigger thanaround 3 cm. This means that the mussels are not suitable for human food production and theharvested mussels need to be used for something else, even though the farming itself is anenvironmental action. Three possible mussel products from valorisation of the Baltic Sea blue musselshave been identified; producing mussel meal, biogas or compost.Region Östergötland is involved in a project, Baltic Blue Growth, with the main objective to study howto use mussel farming as an environmental measure and which of the three valorisation options is themost beneficial from an environmental perspective. This study is a part of their investigation to reachtheir goal and will study their mussel farm in St. Anna and the three valorisation options from anenvironmental perspective. The aim of this study is thus to investigate the net nutrient reduction froma mussel farm in the Baltic Sea in combination with the contribution to climate change. This is donefrom a life cycle perspective to include the valorisation of the mussels into the different productsmussel meal, biogas or compost. For this, an existing farm in the archipelago of St. Anna, Östergötland,Sweden is studied. The main results show that there is a nutrient reduction from the mussel farm andthis is not majorly affected regardless of which valorisation option that is chosen. However, the musselfarm does have an impact on climate change and the magnitude of the impact varies for the threevalorisation options. The results of the sensitivity analysis show that the result from the life cycle canbe improved with future improvements of the mussel farm and transportation. The nutrient reductioncan become larger and the impact on the climate change can be reduced. Outside the result from thelife cycle analysis it is discussed that there are other future improvement possibilities in the productionof the mussel products, which would impact the result. The mussel farm and the mussel products alsohave other positive impacts that is not included in the life cycle analysis but discussed in the study,such as increased water transparency, recycling of nutrients and reduction of over fishing. However,the mussel farm could also have negative impacts, such as emissions of microplastics and locallyincreased sedimentation which affect the hypoxia. Those are discussed in this study but the probabilityand possible impact of them are not fully investigated and need further research

Comparison of 68Ga-DOTA-Siglec-9 and 18F-Fluorodeoxyribose-Siglec-9 : Inflammation Imaging and Radiation Dosimetry

Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-like lectin 9 (Siglec-9) is a ligand of inflammation-inducible vascular adhesion protein-1 (VAP1). We compared Ga-68-DOTA-and F-18-fluorodeoxyribose-(FDR) labeled Siglec-9motif peptides for PET imaging of inflammation. Methods. Firstly, we examined Ga-68-DOTA-Siglec-9 and F-18-FDR-Siglec-9 in rats with skin/muscle inflammation. We then studied F-18-FDR-Siglec-9 for the detection of inflamed atherosclerotic plaques in mice and compared it with previous Ga-68-DOTA-Siglec-9 results. Lastly, we estimated human radiation dosimetry fromthe rat data. Results. In rats, Ga-68-DOTA-Siglec-9 (SUV, 0.88 +/- 0.087) and F-18-FDR-Siglec-9 (SUV, 0.77 +/- 0.22) showed comparable (P = 0.29) imaging of inflammation. In atherosclerotic mice, 18 FFDR- Siglec-9 detected inflamed plaques with a target-to-background ratio (1.6 1/8 0.078) similar to previously tested Ga-68-DOTASiglec- 9 (P = 0.35). Humaneffectivedose estimates for Ga-68-DOTA-Siglec-9 and (18) F-FDR-Siglec-9were 0.024 and 0.022 mSv/MBq, respectively. Conclusion. Both tracers are suitable for PET imaging of inflammation. The easier production and lower cost of (68)GaDOTA-Siglec-9 present advantages over F-18-FDR-Siglec-9, indicating it as a primary choice for clinical studies.Peer reviewe