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The pandemic resulting from the spread of COVID-19 is an ongoing event. What started as a public health crisis, has triggered political, economic and social crises all over the world. In 2022, the term COVID-19 crisis (and its equivalents), in addition, of course, to the millions of lives lost to the disease, describes economic depression, personal economic hardship, lost livelihoods, psychotic fear of the disease, change of public order, loss of basic personal freedoms, educational crisis, and so much more. This study was designed to understand the role media reporting has had in the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, it will focus on how containment measures were established for the German society through their discussion in the media. The study is based on the analysis of German evening news programme Tagesschau from the periods 15 March to 15 April and 15 October to 15 November 2020. Containment measures dominated human lives and the media in 2020. This paper seeks to answer the following research questions: How was opposition to the containment measures framed in German public tv news? and Which frames to containment measures can be identified in public broadcast news media in Germany? Using a mixed method approach, this study is based on a deductive and an inductive frame analysis as well as public opinion data. Based on agenda-setting and framing theory as well as the spiral of silence theory, it comes to the conclusion that lopsided media coverage shaped public opinion to the extent that the public largely accepted and supported the government's containment strategy.

A key aspect in legitimacy from an institutional perspective is the social evaluation of collective actors that create a generalized perception that an organizations action is desirable within some socially constructed system. Based on an empirical case based research, this paper interprets legitimacy highlighting the complex dynamics in a social enterprise in regards to the dualistic institutional logics. By adapting the evaluators perspective on legitimacy, we interpret the collective actors perception on the social enterprise examining the actors from various economic sectors. We further discuss the implication of the complex dynamic arguing for the impact from the institutional setting on the perception of social enterprises, suggesting that the social welfare system influences the perception and thus the positioning of the social enterprise. Lastly, we discuss the positioning of the social enterprise and its implication on the long-term sustainability in organization.

The 1980’s were troublesome years for the Nicaraguan Sandinist government and its citizens. After accomplishing the task of overthrowing the 43 years of Somoza rule in Nicaragua, a new challenge was waiting in the shape of the American war against communism. The former Somoza National Guard transformed into the notorious contras, also known as the CIA- and American government-backed freedom fighters who worked hard to recoup the nation and halter the socialist movement in the Central Americas. Today in 2007 the world knows what kind of interventions the Sandinist rule stood victims of; air-raids, sabotage, embargos and mining of the Nicaraguan harbour. Eventually the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that the United States should immediately cease and refrain from any action restricting access to or from Nicaraguan ports, and, in particular, the laying of mines. But what did the American public know about its country’s silent war against Nicaragua? This is the core question of this paper. How did the media, and more specifically, how did one of the largest American newspapers the New York Times present the events in Nicaragua to its readers? This essay examines New York Times-headlines and articles covering the years between 1979-1990 in the Nicaraguan history, by means of using the agenda-setting theory, developed by Maxwell McCombs in cooperation with his colleagues Don Shaw and David Weaver. The results of this study will show confirmation of how the New York Times framed the nation of Nicaragua into a communist framework, describing the country as a authentic threat against the American society and its values. The information provided by the New York Times during this era played without doubt a key role in the construction of the American public’s visions of the Nicaraguan reality. By using attributes when mentioning Nicaragua such as “Cuba”, “the threat of nuclear war”, “Soviet” and “communism”, the American public opinion most certainly came to reflect and support the media agenda. To paraphrase McCombs, ‘The media set the agenda when they are successful in riveting attention on a problem. They build the public agenda when they supply the context that determines how people think about the issue and evaluates its merits.’

<p>In this thesis deposit and loan rate-setting equations for chartered banks are derived on the premise that these rates are set so as to maximize the banking industry's profits. Because of the oligopolistic nature of the Canadian banking industry and because explicit collusion is illegal an optimizing model of chartered bank ratesetting behaviour was integrated into the institutional framework of the Canadian banking industry.</p> <p>To do this a two-stage model of the Canadian banking industry is proposed. At the first stage, the prime rate on loans and the rate on non-chequing personal savings deposits are set so as to maximize the collective profits of the industry. To circumvent the illegality of explicit collusion a price leadership model is developed. In this model it is not one of the individual banks which is a price leader, but rather changes in the bank rate act as a signal for all of the individual banks to change their rates. The formulation proposed was tested and the hypothesis accepted for both rates. The second stage of the two-stage model is concerned with asset and liability management and is not developed in this thesis.</p> <p>A second contribution of this thesis is to take into account chartered bank rate-setting behaviour when estimating demand equations for both business loans and nonchequing personal savings deposits. When the estimation procedure used reflects these problems it is found that there are large changes in the values of the estimated coefficients in the demand functions for loans and deposits, compared to the simple O.L.S. estimates of the parameter values.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Hunger and food insecurity are lingering public health problems, made more challenging by their evolving definitions, broad landscapes of interest groups, and complex political solutions. There is an important role for public health professionals and congressional committees in shaping the discourse and fortifying their relevance in food security policymaking. In short, the what, when, and who of issue definition becomes a foundation for food security policymaking. This study used in-depth content analysis to examine the evolution of food security discourse and interest group mobilization between 1974 and 2009 in media coverage of the issue of food security. Additionally, over 200 congressional documents were analyzed to investigate the role of specialized congressional committees in sustaining political attention to the issues of hunger and food security. The findings of this three-paper dissertation indicated that the evolution of food security conceptualization is ongoing and less comprehensive than anticipated. The study also found public health groups' remained at the periphery of mobilization on the issue. Finally, results demonstrated that congressional attention to hunger was significantly sustained during periods when a select committee, along with prominent policy entrepreneurs, was dedicated to the issue. The chapters and conclusion of the dissertation discuss ways in which public health groups can refine their media presence and move from the margin of mobilization to more effectively drive food security discourse in both the informal media venue and more formal policymaking venue of Congress in order to positively influence public health policies and outcomes related to food security. / Public Health

Resource withdrawal from unnecessary medical services is an important issue as the cost of health care continues to rise. In many countries, resource withdrawal is primarily determined by government policies that remove, restrict, reduce, or limit the availability of publically insured medical services. Ideally, resource withdrawal is the result of a careful assessment of clinical and economic evidence regarding a service’s safety and effectiveness in order to ensure that it is the most efficient use of resources. Despite advocacy for a routinized and systematic approach to the withdrawal of resources from medical services, research has indicated that political and social factors often influence government, resulting in decisions that are neither consistent nor transparent. In this dissertation I seek to understand factors that may influence resource withdrawal decisions in an attempt to promote a more routinized and systematic approach. In order to understand the resource withdrawal landscape and provide greater conceptual clarity, the first study in this dissertation identifies and explores its characteristics (antecedents, attributes, and outcomes). Definitions of two prominent terms, disinvestment, and rationing are proposed. In the second study, a qualitative analysis of two examples of resource withdrawal reveals how the characteristics of problem frames affect the shape and timing of government resource withdrawal policies. Findings support the proposition that the complexity of the story told within the problem frame affects the shape of the policy; while visibility affects the timing. In the third study, I analyzed the perspectives of key informants about the Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) campaign, which has the aim of reducing unnecessary services by encouraging a discussion between physician and patient. Findings reveal that CWC was designed to address pressures from government, patients, and the public. However, CWC was not designed in a way that is expected to address the underlying reasons unnecessary services are provided, including limited time in the clinical encounter, patient demands, uncertainty in the care pathway, and physician fear of litigation. Results from all three studies help establish a common language, identify influences on government led resource withdrawal and reasons why CWC is unlikely to reduce unnecessary services. Together this thesis provides insights into some of the factors affecting resource withdrawal from medical services, and findings may be used to help assess ways to improve the formulation of resource withdrawal policies. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / Currently several governments pay for unnecessary medical services, leading to suboptimal patient health outcomes and a waste of public resources. Several researchers and organizations have proposed methods to identify and assess medical services to determine if they are unnecessary; however, governments have been slow to adopt such methods on a routine basis. It is clear that evidence is rarely sufficient to motivate governments to withdraw resources from unnecessary medical services. Instead, governments are often influenced by social and political factors when they make such decisions. Through a better understanding of these factors, we may be able to find ways to incorporate evidence into governments’ decisions to withdraw resources from medical services. Qualitative methods were used to investigate how resource withdrawal is defined, factors influencing government resource withdrawal decisions in Ontario, and the effectiveness of Choosing Wisely Canada, an initiative led by the medical community to reduce unnecessary services.

no / Marls were identified from a range of European sources and assessed for their Cementation Index, as proposed by Eckel. Two were selected for calcination in a laboratory kiln; one from Folwark in Poland (CI 1.75) and one from Lillienfeld in Austria (CI 2.03). Analysis of historical documents, while not revealing precise kiln conditions, does suggest that they were such as not to yield complete decarbonation of the calcite. Consequently, a series of calcinations was undertaken in which the peak temperature control of the kiln was set in the range 730°C to 1100°C, with residence times in the range 150 to 1250 min. The airflow through the kiln was sufficient to maintain a minimum oxygen content of at least 12 %. The resulting clinker was ground to comply with the 19th century Austrian Norme. Pastes were produced at w/c = 0.65 and assessed for setting time and strength development (6 h to 1 year). Both parameters were highly dependent upon calcination conditions with both ¿low¿ and ¿high¿ calcinations producing slower setting and slower strength development than intermediate conditions. Two strength development profiles were identified; one being the expected continuous increase of strength, albeit with a declining rate of increase with time, while the other showed a three-step sequence of high initial strength, a dormant period which could last for many weeks and a final increase in strength to an age of one year. The cements were compared using X-ray diffraction (XRD). Considerable variation in the composition was noted and related to the calcination conditions. Of particular interest is the formation of both ¿'-belite and ß-belite under differing calcination conditions. Clinker particles were also compared using the SEM in back-scattered electron imaging mode and the development of morphology observed.

This study aims to investigate how female and male murder victims are represented in two swedish newspapers Aftonbladet and Svenska Dagbladet. By analyzing articles about the murders of Lisa Holm, Ida Johnsson, Ahmed Obaid and Rami Amin this study seeks to understand how they differ depending on the gender of the victim. To answer this, three research questions have been included; 1) How is the murder victim represented depending on if it’s a man or a woman? 2) Which other aspects than the murder victim is given a focus in the articles and what realities is formed from it? 3) ​Are there any differences between the morning newspaper and the evening newspaper, if so, which? The theoretical framework that was used to answer these three questions are social constructivism, Stuart Halls encoding/decoding and representation, gender theory, agenda theory and attribute agenda, priming and framing. The material consists of articles from the two newspapers, and the chosen methods are both a quantitative and qualitative textual analysis. The results shows that the male murder victims are described by their future plans and careers in a way that the female victims were not. There were two other aspects which were given a focus in the articles, the location and the murderer. ​The location of the murders of Ahmed Obaid and Rami Amin, which in both cases were Malmö, was described as a dangerous place with a lot of criminal acts. Since none of the victims were involved in any criminal activity they were represented as innocent, who fell victims to the city. In the case of Ida Johansson, the exact location of the murder, a jogging track, was given focus. Since a jogging track normally is not seen as a dangerous place the murder of Ida was represented as an unfortunate case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The murderer was only known in the two cases with the female victims, and were given almost as much focus in the articles as the victims. The main differences between the two newspapers were that Aftonbladet wrote more articles about the cases and also had a tendency to use more media dramaturgy than Svenska Dagbladet.

Bakgrund: Tobaksanvändande är kraftigt associerat med ohälsa i munnen. Socioekonomiskt svaga grupper har högre tobaksanvändning, vilket resulterar i att de drabbas av mer tobaksrelaterad ohälsa. Denna ojämlikhet i hälsa minskar möjligheten till en hållbar utveckling. I synnerhet är rökare överrepresenterade bland patienter med tandlossningssjukdom. Tidigare forskning har fokuserat på tandvårdens upplevelser av att tillhandahålla tobaksrådgivning och tobaksavvänjning, mycket få studier har fokuserat på patienternas perspektiv. Sveriges åtta folkhälsopolitiska mål strävar åt en mer jämlik hälsa och betonar vikten av att agera mot tobaksanvändning. För att nå framgång i detta arbete måste organisationer samarbeta och samverka tvärsektoriellt. Detta har givit tandvården incitament att ge rökande patienter tobaksrådgivning och stöd i tobaksavvänjning. Syfte: Syftet är att utforska patienters upplevelse av råd och stöd för tobaksavvänjning inom tandvård genom en systematisk litteraturöversikt. Metod: Systematisk litteraturstudie har genomförts på 15 artiklar publicerade mellan 1999–2021. Samtliga artiklar hämtades från PubMed och behandlade patienters upplevelser kring tobaksrådgivning och stöd för tobaksavvänjning. Resultat: Majoriteten av patienterna upplever tandvården som en god arena för tobaksrådgivning och tobaksavvänjning. Tandläkare har möjlighet att påverka patienterna, då resultatet visar att yrkesrollen erhåller ett högt förtroendekapital. Tobakens påverkan på munhälsan betonas vara en viktig faktor för att inse att en beteendeförändring måste ske. Slutsats: Efter analys av granskade artiklar visar resultatet att en majoritet av patienterna förväntar sig råd om tobaksanvändning och även stöd i tobaksavvänjning av sin tandläkare. Genom att använda samtalsmetoder för att stärka empowerment kan tandläkare och tandvårdspersonal bidra till folkhälsofrämjande interventioner.