Does direct democracy mean more equal democracy? A study of government responsiveness in advanced democracies

As it constitutes a main feature of contemporary democracy, government responsiveness has provided the basis for large a body of literature, usually finding that public policy tends to reflect the preferences of citizens. However, more recent research has found representational bias in that policies tend to be considerably more responsive to the preferences of the rich than to those of the poor, meaning that the democratic principle of political equality is violated. This has highlighted the need to further examine what the factors and causal mechanisms behind such differential responsiveness are. Since they decide how political preferences are translated into policy, institutional structures are expected to affect the extent to which public preferences are represented and to whose preferences policies are responsive to. Direct democratic institutions have raised attention in this respect because they may incentivise citizens to engage more in politics and the possibility of popular referendums may force representatives to consider potential vetoes from the population. On the other hand, direct democracy may also enhance representational inequalities because the rich are better positioned to take advantage of such institutions. To investigate whether direct democracy affects representational inequalities based on income, I construct an original dataset where I link ISSP survey data with corresponding public spending data. The dataset covers 26 advanced democracies over 5 time points in the period 1985-2016 and is analysed using time-series cross-sectional methods. In line with previous research, I find that governments tend to be responsive to the preferences of citizens, but that this responsiveness is tilted towards the preferences of the rich. Furthermore, I find that direct democracy has no significant impact on general responsiveness or inequality in terms of representation.MasteroppgaveSAMPOL350MASV-SAP

Modelling of Brainstem Toxicity Including Variable Relative Biological Effectiveness in Paediatric Proton Therapy

Revised edition. Minor spelling errors corrected.Brainstem necrosis is a rare but severe side-effect following paediatric proton therapy. Substructures of the brainstem may be associated with regional differences in radiosensitivity, but these are not accounted for clinically. The relative biological effectiveness (RBE), the ratio between a test dose and reference dose resulting in the same clinical endpoint, is also assumed to be constant for proton therapy. This may underestimate the biological effect of the radiation since the RBE is thought to be variable across the beam profile. Current dose constraints and normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) models for adult tissues are further developed than ones based on paediatric patients. However, paediatric tissue is associated with different radiosensitivity than adult tissues, and more data is required to quantify this. This study aimed to further explore the association between variable RBE, regional radiosensitivity of the brainstem and brainstem toxicity of paediatric proton therapy patients. A cohort of 36 paediatric proton therapy patients that received significant dose to the brainstem, and were subsequently at risk of brainstem necrosis, were included in a case-control study. The patients had RBE-weighted dose distributions and dose-averaged linear energy transfer (LETd) distributions recalculated with the FLUKA Monte Carlo code for variable RBE models. The brainstem was delineated into substructures. Dose-volume histograms and dose statistics of the cohort were used to fit Lyman-Kutcher-Burman(LKB) models to the data for different RBE-weighted dose distributions and substructures. Dose statistics were also used as a basis for cluster analyses to explore regional differences across the brainstem. The results showed higher average variable RBE-weighted dose and LETd observed for cases compared to controls, while this was not the trend for the constant RBE factor. This thesis shows the first fitting of LKB models to substructures of the brainstem. For the full brainstem structure, the tolerance dose (TD50) range was 61.7−68.6 Gy(RBE) using RBE1.1 and 65.4−70.0 Gy(RBE) based on the variable RBE models. The cluster analysis separated the data points into a small number of relatively solid clusters but overall did not show clear trends in sorting out cases from controls.Masteroppgave i fysikkPHYS399MAMN-PHY

A Multimodal evaluation of Malala Yousafzai's speech at Harvard University

XIX Jornades de Foment de la Investigació de la Facultat de Ciències Humanes i Socials (Any 2014)Through language speakers express thoughts, experiences, feelings, values and attitudes. Nevertheless, language is not only verbal communication, as multiple devices are included in interaction in order to make something coherent. Thus, people inform others about feelings through a combination of verbal and non-verbal interactions. Language is not made up exclusively of words, phrases and sentences but also of images as it is the main resource for conveying meaning. Non-verbal behaviour covers all forms of non-spoken human conduct possessing the capacity to construct communicative messages. Hence, the nature of the connection between speech and gestures has become a popular topic to study among researchers in the field of linguistics among others. This paper presents a multimodal evaluation of an academic speech performed at Sanders Theater, Harvard University, September 27th, 2013, by Malala Yousafzai, the Nobel Peace Prize winner 2014. Even though the speech is a monologue, the speaker achieves interaction and engagement with the audience by means of using both verbal expressions and nonlinguistic resources throughout her presentation. This study exhibits an evaluation of how non-linguistic resources such as paralanguage and kinetics are used as complementary tools in spoken discourse

Redescribing fossil-fuel investments: how hegemony challengers ‘invert’ arguments in the Norwegian public discourse on climate risk

This article introduces the concept of inversion as a rhetorical-political strategy used to redescribe climate concerns from being sacrificed in favour of profitability to seeing that profitability necessitates climate concerns. Drawing on discourse theory and rhetorical analysis, the article analyses discursive struggles in the dominant discourse of fossil-fuel growth in Norway, from 2013 to 2019. By inverting the image of fossil-fuel dependency from growth and success to loss and stagnation in the Norwegian public discourse on fossil fuels and climate risk, those who challenge the hegemonic pro-fossil fuel-investments system pave the way for an alternative description of an ideal welfare state. As such, inversion, as a practice and rhetorical-political strategy may help us understand the strategic manoeuvring of the environmental movements as counter-hegemonic forces.publishedVersio

Momentum and Longevity for Tribally-Driven Health Equity Science: Evidence from the Gathering for Health Project

American Indian (AI) health disparities have reached crisis levels, and there is a need to develop culturally congruent interventions through meaningful tribal involvement and ethical community-oriented approaches. Hence, it is imperative that researchers and university administrators better understand how research translation occurs for tribally-driven, health equity research projects. Utilizing thematic analysis methods, we examined documents from a 12-year community-based participatory research partnership called the Gathering for Health Project to elucidate factors that ignite momentum and support partnership longevity. The overarching finding was that trust and respect provide a foundation for momentum and longevity and are closely intertwined with other themes identified in analyses. Seven themes were extrapolated and classified into two domains: 1) investments, which are catalyzing factors that advance research, and 2) intermediate processes, which link investments to success. Investment themes include Indigenous scholar involvement, time and effort, establishing rapport, and clear and appropriate communication. Generative co-learning, active participation, and recognition and celebration were themes classified into the domain of intermediate processes. Community-based participatory research principles were reflected in our findings. This study also upholds prior published work on Indigenous research methodologies, promotes the lived experiences of Indigenous people, and contributes to Indigenous theory building and science

Experimental studies of Elaphostrongylus rangiferi in reindeer (Rangifer tarandus tarandus): Clinical observations

Clinical observations were made on 12 reindeer calves (Rangifer tarandus tarandus) experimentally infected with 200-1000 infective larvae of Elaphostrongylus rangiferi and autopsied 2.5-196 days post inoculation (p.i). Seven experimental animals autopsied later than 20 days p.i. all developed neurologic signs starting 4-8 weeks p.i. In six of these animals, signs lasted until autopsy 0-12 weeks after onset. The seventh animal recovered completely after a disease period lasting five months. A dose-response relationship between the infective dose and severity of signs was observed. Clinical signs observed in all affected animals were paraparesis, tail paresis and posterior ataxia. Other signs included lowered head, general weakness, lameness, tetraparesis, scoliosis, anal hypotonia, head and neck turn, depression and reduced vision. The prepa-tent period was 4-4.5 months

Kyststaten sin jurisdiksjon over krigsskip i uskuldig gjennomfart i lys av reglane i FN sin havrettskonvensjon.

Temaet for masteroppgåva er navigasjon og maritim tryggleik. Hovudproblemstillinga er kyststaten sin jurisdiksjon over krigsskip i uskuldig gjennomfart i lys av særreglane (for krigsskip) i Havrettskonvensjonen. I oppgåva vert det gjort greie for kva retten til uskuldig gjennomfart for krigsskip inneber, dei folkerettslege avgrensingane i retten og kyststaten sitt høve til å handheve desse avgrensingane med heimel i havretten.MasteroppgåveJUS399MAJURMAJUR-

Bærekraftig utvikling: Imøtekommelsen av verdens energibehov innenfor rammen av miljøets grenser

Master's thesis in Risk management and societal safetyI denne oppgaven undersøkes det nærmere hva to innflytelsesrike olje- og gassprodusenter, Statoil og Total, definerer som sin rolle i bærekraftig utvikling i energisektoren. Det er blitt benyttet en eksplorativ, abduktiv forskningsstrategi for å kartlegge disse aktørenes rammeforståelse av bærekraftig utvikling i praksis. Bærekraftig utvikling er et komplekst normativt begrep hvor det hersker uenighet om hvordan man skal prioritere innbyrdes, til dels motstridende hensyn. I denne anledning sammenlignes disse to olje- og gassprodusentenes rammeforståelse med to overordnede diskurser eller perspektiv som kan sies å representere hovedkonfliktlinjene i forhold til å operasjonalisere bærekraftig utvikling som begrep i energisektoren i dag. Hensikten er å nyansere olje- og gassprodusentenes rammeforståelse og fremheve hvilke utviklingsveier som eksisterer i energisektoren, enten hvor fossile brensler fortsetter å være de dominerende energikilder i verdens energietterspørsel, eller hvor fornybare energikilder ender opp med å ha den største andelen. Poenget er som oppgaven illustrerer at uansett hvilken vei man velger, er minstekravet innen bærekraftig utvikling at man opprettholder det kravet til fysisk bærekraft som kan sies å ha blitt operasjonalisert gjennom 2-gradersmålet. Både Statoil og Total satser på tiltak som energieffektivisering, utvikling av fornybare energikilder og karbonfangst og -lagring for å gjøre virksomheten mer bærekraftig i klimamessig forstand. Likevel gir de uttrykk for et syn der verden i flere tiår fremover kommer til å være avhengig av fossile brensler som de primære energikilder i den globale energimiksen, og planlegger ut fra dette å eskalere sin olje- og gassproduksjon. Uten utbredt anvendelse av karbonfangst og -lagring vil man imidlertid ikke kunne imøtekomme 2-gradersmålet etter et slikt scenario. Grunnet usikkerheten knyttet til utviklingen av denne teknologien, gir olje- og gassprodusentene uttrykk for et syn der en temperaturøkning som overstiger 2-gradersmålet er det mest realistiske. Fremtiden er imidlertid ikke gitt og som denne oppgaven illustrerer, er det mulig å nå 2-gradersmålet, men det krever betydelig internasjonal politisk innsats og omfattende endringer i vårt nåværende energisystem

Fartøy til fartøy lastoverføring

Masteroppgave i mekatronikk - Universitetet i Agder, 2015In the o shore industry there is a need to compensate motions caused by waves and wind. It is important if loading is to be transferred from one vessel to another in a safe and e cient manner. To make this happend, the relative movement between the two vessels must be measured. A common way for doing this is to use a MRU (Motion Reference unit). This measures the orientation of boat related to world coordinates. This assignement is based on a scenario where two vessels are in motion related to the world coordinate system asynchronously relative to each other. A MRU on one of the vessels will not be able to measure this movement on it's own, but must be connected to a common control system along with a MRU on the second vessel. Linking two vessels together with a physical wire is neither safe or convenient. As a substitute for the MRU system it was made a passive vision system for measuring the relative movement. The system operates by having a camera attached to one of the vessels, and a pattern in the form of a chessboard to a plan surface on the other vessel. The camera acquires images of the familiar pattern. The image processing and homography is used in LabVIEW to calculate the relative pose between the camera and the plan surface. It is shown that this system is operating correctly, but the measurements are vulnerable to noise and small changes in the ambient light. For this assignement the problem statement has been to create a vision system that is more robust for changes in light conditions and noise. Two new vission systems were made for this master thesis. One of them is a passive vision system that incorporates much of the same theory that the previously developed system. The pattern which is analyzed in the new system is concentric contrasting Circles(CCC). The second is an active vision system where four laser pointers projecting a pattern is analyzed. The latter system is using trigonometry to calculate the heave, roll and pitch. For testing the systems, it was built a platform with the 4 lasers and a camera centered in the middle. Static tests were conducted for the three vision systems using this platform. The noise were de ned using standard deviation. A circle with a diameter of 40mm had a noise level about 24% relative to a corner. The noise level of a laser dot was measured to 140% relative to a corner. The results indicated that the circle is most robust with respect to noise. The 3 systems were tested with 5 di erent light intensities. The corner system managed to calculate the pose for 1 of the 5 lighting conditions. When the lightning conditions became too dark or too bright, this system failed to calculate the pose. The system analyzing concentric circles calculated pose for the 4 brightest lightning conditions, and the laser system for the 3 darkest lighting conditions. Together, the two new systems will cover all of the 5 lightning conditions that have been tested, and they will also overlap in two of them. It will then be possible to get a complementary system by merging these two systems. The complementary system will be able to measure results for all of the 5 lighting conditions, and be redundant for the conditions overlapping. For this system the most convenient pattern to be analyzed must be desided at any given time. This can be determined by measuring the average grayscale value in the image up against two thresholds. In case the average grayscale value is smaller than the smallest threshold, the lazer dots will be analyzed. In case it is larger, both the patterns are analyzed. For an average grayscale value larger then the largest threshold, only the circles are analyzed

Barn med autismespekterforstyrrelse som viser skolevegringsatferd. Foreldres opplevelse av samarbeid med skolen og støtteapparatet.

Gjennom kvalitative semistrukturerte forskingsintervju med seks foreldre/foreldrepar, har målet med dette prosjektet vært å få økt innsikt i, og forståelse for, hvordan foreldre som har barn med autismespekterforstyrrelse som viser skolevegringsatferd, opplever samarbeid med skolen og støtteapparatet. Prosjektet er forankret i en systemteoretisk forståelsesramme, som viser at barnets faglige og sosiale læring og utvikling avhenger av hvorvidt samarbeidet mellom hjem og skole, og mellom hjem, skole og støtteapparat fungerer. Som metode for analyse er det tatt i bruk tematisk analyse, da den gir grunnlag for å sammenligne de ulike informantenes uttalelser. Den tematiske analysen resulterte i følgende fire kategorier: «autismespekterforstyrrelse og skolevegringsatferd», «opplevelse av samarbeid med skolen», «kompetanse og tilrettelegging», og «å få barnet tilbake på skolen». Informantene hadde alle en forventing om hvordan hjem-skole-samarbeidet skulle se ut, men det var delt hvorvidt samarbeidet ble slik de hadde sett for seg. Mens noen av informantene uttalte at de i dag hadde et godt samarbeid med skolen, påpekte andre at dette ikke var tilfelle. For de informantene som i dag hadde et positivt hjem-skole-samarbeid, hadde dette imidlertid tatt tid å utvikle, og det hadde vært stor forskjell på lærerne de hadde samarbeidet med. Det kom av alle frem at skolen ikke hadde tilstrekkelig kompetanse verken om autismespekterforstyrrelse eller skolevegringsatferd. Dette fikk negative konsekvenser for samarbeidsrelasjonen. De fleste av informantene opplevde likevel etter hvert å møte ressurspersoner både i skolen og i støtteapparatet som forsto både dem, barnet, og situasjonen, og som dermed ble viktige når det gjaldt å få til et godt samarbeid som tjente til barnets beste