Obesity affects about 520 million people world-wide and more recently studies have shown that fat cells produce proteins called adipokines which have various influences on the human metabolism and has helped to change the perspectives of researchers on the concept of the adipose tissue being just a store of energy. As a result of this, adipokines have been reported to represent a connection between obesity and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and diabetes mellitus. The concentrations and the bases of the effects of the adipokines in beta cell failure of diabetes mellitus and endothelial cell dysfunction of cardiovascular diseases are still not fully understood. The effect of leptin and adiponectin, which are two adipokines with opposing effects, has been explored in this study. In the present study, therefore, the concentrations of leptin and adiponectin with significant effect on beta cell and endothelial cell function and the basis of these functions were explored. Also, attempts were made in the present study to correlate the concentrations of leptin and adiponectin with possible clinical pointers to complications. In order to achieve this, beta cells (BTC) were grown, made into pseudo-islets (which are said to produce more insulin) and treated with various concentrations of leptin and adiponectin and cells assayed for insulin and amylin (to investigate the role of amylin in insulin secretion). Also the cells were collected and mRNA extracted from these cells, reverse transcription PCR carried out to find out the role of protein phosphatase 1 (PP-1) in the effect of leptin on insulin secretion. PP-1 is a substrate that increases insulin secretion by allowing calcium influx into the cell and is said to be blocked by leptin). Leptin at 500ng/ml was found to significantly (p<0.05) inhibit the secretion of insulin and the expression of PP1 gene, thus supporting this as a basis for the effect of leptin on insulin secretion. Adiponectin however increased insulin secretion significantly but was not as consistent in its effect as leptin was in inhibiting insulin secretion. In order to explore the role of adipokines in cardiovascular diseases, EAHY human endothelial cells were cultured and treated with various concentrations of adiponectin and leptin both individually and in combinations and cells collected and mRNA extracted in order to carry out a reverse transcription PCR for the expression of angiogenic (TIMP2, TIMP3 and MMP2) genes and atherosclerotic (LPA and LPL) genes. Leptin (1nM) was shown to increase the expression of atherosclerotic and angiogenic genes while adiponectin (100nM) inhibited the expression of the atherosclerotic and angiogenic genes. A combination of leptin and adiponectin caused a reduction in the stimulatory effect of leptin on the expression of atherosclerotic and angiogenic genes. This shows that leptin may predispose to CVD while adiponectin reduces the risk of CVD. The clinical part of this study involved recruiting 150 patients with diabetes after the ethical approval for the clinical study was granted. The data collected from the patients included their age, sex, race, and physical parameters like the body mass index (BMI). Also blood samples were collected to measure the clinical indicators for CVD and renal function such as cholesterol, HDL levels, eGFR, albumin levels and their retinopathy status checked as these are the common complications seen in diabetic patients. The blood samples were also assayed in the laboratory for leptin and adiponectin levels and the leptin, adiponectin and the leptin/adiponectin ratio (LAR) were then correlated with the laboratory determinants of CVD, renal and retinopathy risks. It was found that the LAR and the leptin levels correlates significantly with the BMI, while the leptin levels were significantly correlated with the risk of nephropathy in diabetic patients while adiponectin levels correlated significantly with a reduced risk for developing CVD. The role of the enzymes in the leptin and adiponectin signaling pathway was also explored and it was discovered that ERK, P38 and AMPK all had roles in the effect of leptin and adiponectin on the expression of atherosclerotic and angiogenic genes. These data indicate that leptin and adiponectin play significant roles in the beta cell and endothelial cell function and are links between obesity and CVD and diabetes mellitus.

This study is based on discussions with three focus groups on the issue of individuals' views on environmental responsibility in everyday life. Responsibility is the red thread that emerged from the empirical material from the focus groups and the theoretical framework. The discussions have been focused on whether the problems from household related environmental issues are caused by individual or structural reasons and whether they should be resolved through changes in individuals' behavior or helping structures. Car usage has been a particular focus, since from all household activities that is the one causing the greatest environmental impact (SCB 2015b). Objectively speaking, most participants argued that environmental problems are or should be easy to solve and that the solutions should involve influencing individuals' values ​​and norms, thus referring to internal factors. Based on the individual's own situation, however, most participants indicated mainly external factors as obstacles from living out environmental responsibility in the way that they felt they should. Tendencies of various psychological and sociological defense mechanisms could be distinguished, which is an expected impact of the cognitive dissonance that many apparently are experiencing regarding environmental responsibility. Working for enabling structures is an important conclusion from this study. Regarding the car's role it is likely that it is about finding more ways of helping individuals to change their travel mode since the environmental impact of car usage is something that most people are aware of, but feel unable to change. Solutions must therefore involve external factors. / Denna uppsats bygger på samtal med tre fokusgrupper i frågan om individers syn på miljöansvar i vardagen. Ansvar är den röda tråd som vuxit fram mellan det empiriska materialet från fokusgrupperna och det teoretiska ramverket. Det har handlat om huruvida problem kopplade till hushållsrelaterade miljöfrågor är orsakade av individuella eller strukturella anledningar och om de bör lösas genom förändringar i individers beteenden eller hjälpande strukturer. Bilanvändningen har getts ett särskilt fokus, då det av hushållens olika aktiviteter är den som orsakar allra störst miljöpåverkan (SCB 2015b). Rent objektivt konstaterade de flesta deltagarna att miljöproblem är eller borde vara enkla att lösa, att lösningarna handlar om att påverka individers värderingar och normer, alltså inre faktorer. Utifrån individernas egen situation angavs dock främst yttre faktorer som hinder från att leva ut det miljöansvar på de sätt som de kände att de borde. Tendenser till olika psykologiska och sociologiska försvarsmekanismer kunde skönjas, vilka är väntade effekter av den kognitiva dissonans som många tycks uppleva i fråga om miljöansvar. Att arbeta för möjliggörande strukturer är därför en viktig slutsats. Gällande bilens roll, kan förmodas att det även här handlar om att hitta fler hjälpande sätt för individer att ändra färdsätt, då miljöeffekterna av bilanvändningen är något som de flesta är medvetna om men själva känner sig oförmögna att förändra. Lösningarna måste därför handla om yttre faktorer. / <p>Alternativ svensk titel:</p><p>Ingen kan inte göra allt, men alla kan göra något? - En komparativ studie om hur individer resonerar kring miljöansvar i vardagen</p>

The persisting gap between male and female wages in the United States offers a seemingly unusual disconnect between what is observed in the data and what is suggested by labor economics theory. Many authors have used aggregate or case methods to attempt to explain this gap. One characteristic of the earnings gap which has rarely been discussed is the large variation in female earnings as a percentage of male earnings by state. Why would median female earnings be 65% of male earnings in Louisiana while being 87% of median male earnings in New York? In this paper, using yearly Census data, I first find that the wage gap varies widely by state even when controlled for traditional determinants of wages and the gender pay gap. Then, deriving new variables to represent this controlled variation, I further find evidence that several state-specific characteristics represented by cross-section data explain a large portion of the controlled variation in gender pay gap by state. I conclude that the variables representing the structure of state economies as well as key measures of ideology and gender-related attitudes by state are significant determinant factors in why we see so much geographic variation in the gender pay gap.

Women today are still highly outnumbered by men in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). This study analyzes the relationship between girls’ gender role attitudes in adolescence and their likelihood of working in a STEM occupation between the ages of 25 and 30 years old. My paper focuses on how conservative gender role attitudes, with men thought of as the breadwinners and women as the homemakers, may negatively affect a woman’s likelihood of holding a STEM career. I use data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY79) to analyze both a strict definition of STEM as well as a broader one that includes related professions in the social sciences and teaching. Via a regression approach, I hold constant other adolescent attributes to find a direct, negative relationship between adolescent girls with conservative gender role attitudes and future STEM careers. I find that for strict STEM careers, women are .46 percentage points less likely than men to work in STEM between the ages of 25 and 30 years old with statistical significance at the 1% level. Creating an interaction variable for conservative gender role attitudes and female, I distinguish by gender to find an additional improbability of holding a STEM job for conservative women. Conservative women are .32 percentage points less likely work in a STEM job between the ages of 25 and 30 years old with statistical significance at the 5% level. Helping to explain the gender gap in STEM, my results show that adolescent girls with conservative gender role attitudes are much less likely than boys to work in a STEM career.

In order to enhance safety and prevent the recurrence of major accidents it is necessary to understand why they occur. This understanding is gained by utilising accident causation theory to explain why a certain combination of events, conditions and actions led to a given outcome: the process of accident analysis. At present, the systems approach to accident analysis is arguably the dominant research paradigm. Based on the concepts of systems theory, it views accidents as the result of unexpected and uncontrolled relationships between a system s components. Various researchers claim that use of the systems approach, via systemic accident analysis, provides a deeper understanding of accidents when compared with traditional theories. However, the systems approach and its analysis techniques are yet to be widely adopted by the practitioner community and, therefore, a research-practice gap exists. The implication of such a gap is that practitioners may be applying outdated accident causation theory and, consequently, producing ineffective safety recommendations. The aim of this thesis was to develop the current understanding of the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap by providing a description of the gap, considering its extent and examining issues associated with bridging it. Four studies were conducted to achieve this aim. The first study involved an evaluation of the systemic accident analysis literature and techniques, in order to understand how their characteristics could influence the research-practice gap. The findings of the study revealed that the systems approach is not presented in a consistent or clear manner within the research literature and that this may hinder its acceptance by practitioners. In addition, a number of issues were identified (e.g. model validation, analyst bias and limited usage guidance) which may influence the use of systemic analysis methods within industry. The examination of how the analysis activities of practitioners may contribute to the gap motivated Study 2. This study involved conducting semi-structured interviews with 42 safety professionals and various factors, which affect the awareness, adoption and usage of the systems approach and its analysis methods, were highlighted. The combined findings of Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap is multifaceted in nature. Study 3 investigated the extent of the gap by considering whether the most widely used analysis technique (the Swiss Cheese Model) can provide a systems approach to accident analysis. The analysis of a major rail accident was performed with a model based on the Swiss Cheese Model and two systemic analysis methods. The outputs and usage of the three analysis tools were compared and indicate that the Swiss Cheese Model does provide a means of conducting systemic accident analysis. Therefore, the extent of the research-practice gap may not be as considerable as some proponents of the systems approach suggest. The final study aimed to gain an insight into the application of a systemic accident analysis method by practitioners, in order to understand whether it meets their needs. Six trainee accident investigators took part in an accident investigation simulation and subsequently analysed the data collected during the exercise with the Systems Theoretic Accident Modelling and Processes model. The outputs of the participants analyses were studied along with the evaluation feedback they provided via a questionnaire and focus group. The main findings of the study indicate that the analysis technique does not currently meet the usability or graphical output requirements of practitioners and, unless these issues are addressed, will struggle to gain acceptance within industry. When considering the research findings as a whole a number of issues are highlighted. Firstly, given the benefits of adopting the systems approach, efforts to bridge the systemic accident analysis research-practice gap should be made. However, the systemic analysis methods may not be best suited to analyse every type of accident and, therefore, should be considered as one part of an investigator s analysis toolkit . Adapting the systemic analysis methods to meet the needs of practitioners and communicating the systems approach more effectively represent two options for bridging the gap. However, due to the multidimensional nature of the gap and the wide variety of individuals, organisations and industries that perform accident analysis, it seems likely that tailored solutions will be required. Furthermore, due to the differing needs of the research and practice communities, efforts to bridge the gap should focus on collaboration between the two communities rather than attempting to close the gap entirely.

Strategic planners in retail banks are increasingly challenged to improve productivity, ensure high service quality and reduce operations costs while implementing their e-service strategy. This work aims to assess the current e-service operations strategy in the bank sector in Jordan and develop a framework for formulating e-banking strategies using gap analysis. Limitation of resources is hindering the shift from the current situation of the bank sector to a point where both the customer and the bank perspectives are fully matched and the gap between them is zero. If the available resources of the bank sector are utilised properly, the bank sector can move to a position near to that point which is closer to the customer requirements than the current situation. This can be achieved by constructing a model for an e-bank, the 'Composite bank', which represents the industry best practice. Its performance captures the capabilities, resources and competences of the bank sector. A representative sample of the bank's customers was interviewed to fulfil a fully structured questionnaire based on the extant literature. Targeted managers in the bank 3 sector were then interviewed and completed a fully structured questionnaire based on the customer questionnaire. Both questionnaires were pre-tested to assure validity and reliability. The data analysis method was based on gap-analysis technique. The gap model provides a tool to identify critical elements for successful implementation of operations strategy and suggests actions to deal with them. The gap analysis approach was proved to be useful in other settings, such as measuring service quality, but there is paucity of applications in e-service operations strategies. An assessment tool and 'working sheet' were delivered to pave the way for the strategic planners to assess the current situation of the e-banking strategy and to focus on the attributes/services which need more development. This procedure can be generalised to be applied in other industries (in service or e-service contexts), and other countries, both developed and developing.

published_or_final_version / abstract / Electrical and Electronic Engineering / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This study aims to investigate the relation between foreign direct investment (FDI) and per capita gross domestic product (GDP) in Pakistan. The study is based on a basic Cobb-Douglas production function. Population over age 15 to 64 is used as a proxy for labor in the investigation. The other variables used are gross capital formation, technological gap and a dummy variable measuring among other things political stability. We find positive correlation between GDP per capita in Pakistan and two variables, FDI and population over age 15 to 64. The GDP gap (gap between GDP of USA and GDP of Pakistan) is negatively correlated with GDP per capita as expected. Political instability, economic crisis, wars and polarization in the society have no significant impact on GDP per capita in the long run.

The primary aims of this dissertation were to (1) identify and characterize the water-gap complex in seeds of Geraniaceae, (2) investigate its role in physical dormancy (PY) break and (3) develop a new classification system for water-gap complexes in seeds of angiosperms. The winter annuals Geranium carolinianum and G. dissectum were selected as the main representative species for the study, and seeds of an additional 29 species from the Geraniaceae were used to compare the water-gap complex within the family. A new classification system for water-gap complexes in species with PY was developed by comparing the morpho-anatomical features of PY seeds and fruits of 16 families. The water-gap complex of G. carolinianum was identified as a micropyle-hinged valve gap complex, and only a slight morpho-anatomical variation was observed within the family. Ontogenetic studies of the seed coat of G. carolinianum revealed that the water-gap region of Geraniaceae develops as an entity of the micropyle. The timing of seed germination with the onset of autumn can be explained by PY-breaking processes involving (a) two-temperature-dependent steps in G. carolinianum, and (b) one or two moisture-dependent step(s) along with the inability to germinate under high temperatures in G. dissectum. Step-I and step-II in PY-breaking of G. carolinianum are controlled by chemical and physical processes, respectively. This study indicates the feasibility of applying the developed thermal time model to predict or manipulate sensitivity induction in seeds with two-step PY-breaking processes. The model is the first and the most detailed one yet developed for sensitivity induction in PY-break. Based on the morpho-anatomical features, three basic water-gap complexes (types I, II and III) were identified in species with PY in 16 families. Depending on the number of openings involved in initial imbibition, the water-gap complexes were subdivided into simple and compound. The new classification system enables the understanding of relationships between water-gap complexes of taxonomically unrelated species with PY.

La maîtrise du calcul prévisionnel du comportement dynamique de structures mécaniques demeure un enjeu majeur pour l'amélioration de la conception en présence de facteurs mal maîtrisés. Dans ce document, nous présentons des méthodologies de conception permettant de prendre en compte dans le processus de décision, les incertitudes sur les paramètres de conception, les incertitudes sur les mesures ou encore l'impact des modifications. Dans la première partie, nous étudions le potentiel d'une méthode de synthèse modale basée sur l'utilisation des modes propres orthogonaux. Une méthodologie de vérification et d'optimisation de super-éléments est également présentée. Enfin, nous montrons qu'un algorithme génétique peut permettre une sélection optimale des coordonnées physiques dans les méthodes de réduction. La deuxième partie concerne l'identification paramétrique des structures mécaniques à partir d'observations incertaines et la quantification de l'information susceptible d'être obtenue grâce à des mesures expérimentales. Nous utilisons dans cette étude une formulation probabiliste des problèmes inverses. Une planification d'essais en vue d'un gain d'information est réalisée avec des plans d'expérience bayésiens. Dans la dernière partie, l'approche non-probabiliste info-gap est appliquée afin d'évaluer la robustesse aux incertitudes de deux méthodes de recalage. Cette méthode permet aussi de vérifier que, dans un environnement incertain et pour un critère de performance donné, il peut être préférable de choisir un modèle " satisfaisant" plutôt qu'un modèle optimal.