1,720,990 research outputs found
Adaptation to paternal leave policies in Finnish municipalities : changing gender norms and cross-border policy legacies
No full textCountries where public opinion tends to favour gender equality tend to invest in policies supporting the dual-earner family model or the earner–carer family model, while countries where public opinion is more inclined to support conservative gender norms tend to have policies supporting the male breadwinner family model. However, even though gender equality norms may be endorsed by the majority of the population, conservative norms could still be largely supported at the sub-national level, potentially leading to lower responses to policy reforms intending to boost gender-equal practices.
This study examines shifting norms in fathers’ parental leave uptake in Finnish municipalities in the 2010s, around a reform that gave fathers an independent right to a 6-week quota of “solo” parental leave. We applied a Bayesian spatio-temporal model on administrative data from Finnish municipalities and approximated local norms based on voting data. We also used the proportion of Swedish-speaking residents as a proxy for cross-border policy influences from the neighbouring country Sweden, where paternal leave-taking has been practiced longer.
Local support to de-familialising policies was found to predict higher leavetaking, but only under a less supportive policy configuration. The proportion of Swedish-speaking residents was found to be increasingly important for predicting paternal leave-taking. We interpret this as a sign of cross-border influences from Sweden. Interestingly, uptake increased the fastest in a more conservative region, probably due to its strong linguistic and cultural links to Sweden. Furthermore, we observed spatial dependencies between neighbouring municipalities, which supports our spillover hypothesis; that interactions among families nearby lead them to adopt new practices.peerReviewe
Aorttaläpän stenoosin patobiologia
Full text linkAortic valve stenosis (AS) is an active disease process akin to atherosclerosis, with chronic inflammation, lipid accumulation, extracellular matrix remodeling, fibrosis, and extensive calcification of the valves being characteristic features of the disease. The detailed mechanisms and pathogenesis of AS are still incompletely understood, however, and pharmacological treatments targeted toward components of the disease are not currently available.
In this thesis project, my coworkers and I studied stenotic aortic valves obtained from 86 patients undergoing valve replacement for clinically significant AS. Non-stenotic control valves (n=17) were obtained from patients undergoing cardiac transplantation or from organ donors without cardiac disease. We identified a novel inflammatory factor, namely mast cell, in stenotic aortic valves and present evidence showing that this multipotent inflammatory cell may participate in the pathogenesis of AS. Using immunohistochemistry and double immunofluorescence stainings, we found that a considerable number of mast cells accumulate in stenotic valves and, in contrast to normal valves, the mast cells in diseased valves were in an activated state. Moreover, valvular mast cells contained two effective proteases, chymase and cathepsin G, which may participate in adverse remodeling of the valves either by inducing fibrosis (chymase and cathepsin G) or by degrading elastin fibers in the valves (cathepsin G). As chymase and cathepsin G are both capable of generating the profibrotic peptide angiotensin II, we also studied the expression and activity of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in the valves. Using RT-PCR, imunohistochemistry, and autoradiography, we observed a significant increase in the expression and activity of ACE in stenotic valves.
Besides mast cell-derived cathepsin G, aortic valves contained other elastolytic cathepsins (S, K, and V). Using immunohistochemistry, RT-PCR, and fluorometric microassay, we showed that the expression and activity of these cathepsins were augmented in stenotic valves. Furthermore, in stenotic but not in normal valves, we observed a distinctive pattern of elastin fiber degradation and disorganization. Importantly, this characteristic elastin degradation observed in diseased valves could be mimicked by adding exogenous cathepsins to control valves, which initially contained intact elastin fibers. In stenotic leaflets, the collagen/elastin ratio was increased and correlated positively with smoking, a potent AS-accelerating factor. Indeed, cigarette smoke could also directly activate cultured mast cells and fibroblasts.
Next, we analyzed the expression and activity of neutral endopeptidase (NEP), which parallels the actions of ACE in degrading bradykinin (BK) and thus inactivates antifibrotic mechanisms in tissues. Real-time RT-PCR and autoradiography revealed NEP expression and activity to be enhanced in stenotic valves compared to controls. Furthermore, both BK receptors (1 and 2) were present in aortic valves and upregulated in stenotic leaflets. Isolated valve myofibroblasts expressed NEP and BK receptors, and their upregulation occurred in response to inflammation.
Finally, we observed that the complement system, a source of several proinflammatory mediators and also a potential activator of valvular mast cells, was activated in stenotic valves. Moreover, receptors for the complement-derived effectors C3a and C5a were expressed in aortic valves and in cultured aortic valve myofibroblasts, in which their expression was induced by inflammation as well as by cigarette smoke.
In conclusion, our findings revealed several novel mechanisms of inflammation (mast cells and mast cell-derived mediators, complement activation), fibrosis (ACE, chymase, cathepsin G, NEP), and elastin fiber degradation (cathepsins) in stenotic aortic valves and highlighted these effectors as possible pathogenic contributors to AS. These results support the notion of AS as an active process with inflammation and extracellular matrix remodeling as its key features and identify possible new targets for medical therapy in AS.Aorttaläpän ahtauma eli aorttastenoosi on väestön ikääntyessä käynyt yhä yleisemmäksi ja merkittävän aorttaläpän ahtauman esiintyvyys yli 65-vuotiailla on 2-3%. Aorttaläpän ahtautuma johtaa lopulta sydämen vasemman kammion toiminnnan pettämiseen ja sydämen vajaatoimintaan. Taudin kulku on pitkään oireeton ja tyypilliset oireet; rasitusrintakipu, hengenahdistus ja tajuttomuuskohtaukset, ilmaantuvat vasta läppäahtauman edettyä pitkälle. Toistaiseksi aorttastenoosin etenemiseen ei ole voitu vaikuttaa lääkkeellisin keinoin ja taudin ainoana hoitona on läppäleikkaus. Tiedetään, että aorttaläpän ahtautuminen on aktiivinen prosessi, johon liittyy kolesterolin kertyminen läpän rakenteisiin sekä tulehdusta ja kalkkiutumista edistävien tekijöiden aktivoituminen. Aorttaläpän ahtauman kehittymisen mekanismit ovat kuitenkin vielä suurelta osin tuntemattomat. Tutkimustyömme keskeisenä tavoittena on ollut aorttastenoosin patogeneesin selvittäminen ja taudin etenemistä edistävien tekijöiden kartoittaminen.
Tutkimusta varten kerättiin 86 aorttastenoosin vuoksi leikkaushoitoon joutuvan potilaan kattava aineisto. Kontrolliaineistona käytettiin sydämensiirroista käyttämättä jääneitä aorttaläppiä. Tutkimuksemme keskeinen ensihavainto oli, että ahtautuneissa aorttaläpissä oli runsaasti tulehdussoluperheeseen kuuluvia syöttösoluja. Toisin kuin terveissä kontrolliläpissä, joissa syöttösolut olivat lepotilassa, ahtautuneissa aorttaläpissä syöttösolut olivat aktivoituneita. Stenoottisten läppien aktivoituneet syöttösolut erittivät ympäristöönsä mm. tryptaasia, kymaasia, ja katepsiini G:tä, jotka voivat edistää läppien sidekudoskasvua ja tulehdusta. Kymaasi ja katepsiini G voivat myös aktivoida angiotensiini II:n, jolla on tärkeitä tulehdusta ja sidekudoskasvua kiihdyttäviä ominaisuuksia. Tunnetuin angiotensiini II:sta muodostava entsyymi on angiotensiinikonvertaasi eli ACE, jonka toimintaa estävät lääkkeet ovat laajalti käytössä verenpainetaudin ja sydämen vajaatoiminnan hoidossa. Tutkimuksemme tärkeä löydös oli, että aktiivista ACE:ta on aorttaläpissä ja läpän ahtautuessa ACE:n muodostus läpässä kiihtyy. ACE ja neutraali endopeptidaasi (NEP) hajottavat myös bradykiniinia, jolla on useita sydäntä suojaavia vaikutuksia. Havaitsimme, että ACE:n lisäksi myös NEP:n määrä ja aktiivisuus olivat merkitsevästi lisääntyneet stenoottisissa läpissä terveisiin kontrolliläppiin nähden.
Tarkastelimme myös aorttaläppien tukirakennetta ja havaitsimme, että ahtautuneissa aorttaläpissä joustavat elastiinisäikeet olivat pilkkoutuneita ja epäjärjestäytyneitä. Löysimme aorttaläpistä elastiinia hajottavia entsyymejä, katepsiineja (katepsiini S, K, V ja G), ja osoitimme, että kyseiset katepsiinit voivat hajottaa aorttaläppien elastiinisäikeitä koeolosuhteissa. Mielenkiintoista oli, että aorttaläppien kollageeni/elastiini suhde assosioitui tupakointiin siten, että tupakoivien potilaiden aorttaläpissä oli enemmän jäykkää kollageenia ja vähemmän joustavaa elastiinia, kuin tupakoimattomilla potilailla. Osoitimme myös, että tupakansavu aktivioi syöttösoluja sekä sidekudossoluja soluviljelyolosuhteissa. Näin tupakansavu voisi suoraan aorttaläppään vaikuttamalla edistää aorttaläpän ahtauman kehittymistä. Tupakansavu myös kiihdytti ns. komplementtireseptorin, C3aR, tuotantoa aorttaläpän soluissa. Elimistön puolustusjärjestelmään kuuluvan komplementtijärjestelmän liiallinen aktivaatio voi johtaa monenlaisiin epäsuotuisiin vasteisiin ja kiihdyttää tulehdusta sekä solukuolemaa. Havitsimme, että komplementtijärjestelmä aktivoitui jo aorttaläppien alkuvaiheen stenoosimuutoksissa ja aktivaatio kiihtyi edelleen läppäahtauman vaikeutuessa.
Yhteenvetona todetaan, että väitöskirjatyössä olemme selvittäneet aorttastenoosin kehittymiseen johtavia läppätason mekanismeja havainneet useita aiemmin tässä taudissa tuntemattomia tekijöitä, jotka saattavat vaikuttaa taudin kehittymiseen. Aorttaläpän ahtauman solutason mekanismien tunteminen luo mahdollisuudet ehkäisevän lääkehoidon kehittämiselle. Vaikuttamalla läppien tulehdukseen ja muihin stenoosin keskeisiin patofysiologisiin piirteisiin saatetaan tulevaisuudessa jopa hidastaa tai ehkäistä tämän taudin kehittymistä.ei saavutettav
Kompleksisen luokitellun aineiston riippuvuusrakenteen pelkistäminen : sovellus ylioppilaskirjoitusaineistoon
No full textunknown accessibilityei tietoa saavutettavuudest
Statistical analysis of life sequence data
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Citizens candidates? Labour market experiences and radical right-wing candidates in the 2014 Swedish municipal elections
No full textThis article uses Swedish register data to study the labour market experiences of radical right-wing candidates standing in local elections. We look at different measures of economic insecurity (labour market participation trajectories, experience of unemployment in social networks and relative growth in the number of jobs for foreign-born workers vis-a-vis natives) and examine whether they are predictors of candidates running for the Sweden Democrats, the main radical right-wing party in Sweden, as opposed to running for mainstream political parties. We find that the labour market trajectories of such candidates are markedly different from those of mainstream party candidates. Those with turbulent or out-of-labour market trajectories are much more likely to run for the Sweden Democrats, as opposed to other parties. The same is also true for candidates embedded in social networks with higher levels of unemployment, while working in a high-skilled industry markedly lowers the probability of running for the Sweden Democrats, especially for male candidates with low educational attainment. We find mixed results for the ethnic threat hypothesis.Funding Agencies|Stockholm University</p
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Statistical analysis of life history calendar data
No full textThe life history calendar is a data-collection tool for obtaining reliable retrospective data about life events. To illustrate the analysis of such data, we compare the model-based probabilistic event history analysis and the model-free data mining method, sequence analysis. In event history analysis, we estimate instead of transition hazards the cumulative prediction probabilities of life events in the entire trajectory. In sequence analysis, we compare several dissimilarity metrics and contrast data-driven and user-defined substitution costs. As an example, we study young adults' transition to adulthood as a sequence of events in three life domains. The events define the multistate event history model and the parallel life domains in multidimensional sequence analysis. The relationship between life trajectories and excess depressive symptoms in middle age is further studied by their joint prediction in the multistate model and by regressing the symptom scores on individual-specific cluster indices. The two approaches complement each other in life course analysis; sequence analysis can effectively find typical and atypical life patterns while event history analysis is needed for causal inquiries.peerReviewe
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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