This study aimed to validate the summation methods suggested by ISO 9920. Twenty seven items from an ambulance personnel clothing system were selected for testing. The basic insulation of each garment item (Iclu) was calculated based on the thermal manikin tests. More than 100 realistic clothing combinations were compiled and basic insulation (Icl) of these ensembles was calculated according to IS

BackgroundEvaluation of emergency department (ED) performance remains a difficult task due to the lack of consensus on performance measures that reflects high quality, efficiency, and sustainability.AimTo describe, map, and critically evaluate which performance measures that the published literature regard as being most relevant in assessing overall ED performance.MethodsFollowing the PRISMA guide

This thesis consists of four self-contained papers in applied microeconomics with family as a common theme. The first paper documents how the financial portfolios of parents change in response to the birth of a child. To identify dynamic effects around child birth, we use an event study approach with a matched treatment and control sample and a novel implementation of the same sex instrument. We f

The efforts to measure people’s current preferences and values of ecosystem services raise questions about the link to sustainability transformations. The importance of taking social and cultural values of nature into account is increasingly recognised within ecosystem services research and policy. This notion is informing the development and application of social (or socio-cultural) valuation met

Background: Characteristics and prognosis of patients admitted with strong suspicion of myocardial infarction (MI) but discharged without an MI diagnosis are not well-described. Objectives: To compare background characteristics and cardiovascular outcomes in patients discharged with or without MI diagnosis. Methods: The DETermination of the role of Oxygen in suspected Acute Myocardial Infarction (

The Soviet Union is commonly cited as "totalitarian." But just how totalitarian was the Soviet Union? The modern Russian Federation? There is an ongoing debate in Georgia about the Soviet past, the role of Stalin in Georgian history, an importance of Soviet legacies in shaping the nationalist discourse after independence and etc. Various roundtables and conferences reflecting on the historical, po

α1-microglobulin (A1M) is found in all vertebrates including humans. A1M was, together with retinol-binding protein and β-lactoglobulin, one of the three original lipocalins when the family first was proposed in 1985. A1M is described as an antioxidant and tissue cleaning protein with reductase, heme- and radical-binding activities. These biochemical properties are driven by a strongly electronega

Consumer choice policies may improve the matching of consumers and providers, and may spur competition over quality dimensions relevant to consumers. However, the gains from choice may fail to materialise in markets characterised by information frictions and switching costs. We use two large-scale randomised field experiments in primary health care to examine if individuals reconsider their provid

The aim of this thesis is to critically investigate the discourses of Sweden’s Art and Music Schools (SAMS, kulturskolor in Swedish) connected to policy processes for the democratisation of music education for all children and adolescents. A further aim is to contribute to knowledge on the development and enactment of policy processes for the democratisation of music education. The empirical materThe aim of this thesis is to critically investigate the discourses of Sweden’s Art and Music Schools (SAMS, kulturskolor in Swedish) connected to policy processes for the democratisation of music education for all children and adolescents. A further aim is to contribute to knowledge on the development and enactment of policy processes for the democratisation of music education. The empirical mater

Spiral waves are ubiquitous in two-dimensional systems of chemical or biological oscillators coupled locally by diffusion. At the center of such spirals is a phase singularity, a topological defect where the oscillator amplitude drops to zero. But if the coupling is nonlocal, a new kind of spiral can occur, with a circular core consisting of desynchronized oscillators running at full amplitude. He

High proportion of patients with multiple myeloma suffer from comorbidities which may alter clinical management. Therefore, our aims were to evaluate the prevalence of comorbidities and their impact on survival. We included patients diagnosed with multiple myeloma 1990-2013 in Sweden and all diagnoses from each patient from 1985. A total of 13 656 patients with multiple myeloma were included in th

Anomalous seasonal patterns of precipitation variability over South America (SA) associated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and non-ENSO (residual) conditions were assessed during 1951–2016. Patterns were obtained from empirical orthogonal functions analysis of total and residual precipitation seasonal anomalies. In austral spring and summer, precipitation variability is dominated by a di

Objective: The comparative efficacy and safety of prasugrel and ticagrelor in patients with myocardial infarction (MI) treated with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) remain unclear. We aimed to investigate the association of treatment with clinical outcomes. Methods: In the SWEDEHEART (Swedish Web-system for enhancement and development of evidence-based care in heart disease evaluated accor

In unicellular bacteria, the ParA and ParB proteins segregate chromosomes and coordinate this process with cell division and chromosome replication. During sporulation of mycelial Streptomyces, ParA and ParB uniformly distribute multiple chromosomes along the filamentous sporogenic hyphal compartment, which then differentiates into a chain of unigenomic spores. However, chromosome segregation must