Downstream activities: The possibilities and the realities

The paper discusses the practical possibilities of achieving increased downstream processing and the policies that are commonly used for this purpose. It reviews the reasons why forward vertical integration is not always an optimal choice for extractive industry companies. It finds little support for the argument that differences in market power dictate the geography of downstream processing. Tariffs on processed products may also play only a limited role. The degree of vertical integration varies and appears to be mainly driven by production economics. Market determined processing margins fluctuate, which raises the risks of investing in downstream processing capacity. Policies for downstream processing are discussed based on experiences in four countries: India, Indonesia, Zambia, and Tanzania. In most of these cases, a very limited amount of analysis appears to have been undertaken to design the policies. Results so far seem to indicate that a number of unintended consequences dominate the outcomes

Local content, supply chains, and shared infrastructure

Local content policies in the context of extractive industries have attracted increased interest in recent years. Most countries with a significant extractive industry have included local content requirements either in their legislation or exploitation contracts. Such efforts may be constrained by low capacity of potential suppliers, low skills, and a number of other factors constituting the general business environment. A number of extractive industry companies have introduced supplier development programmes that attempt to reduce the constraints and skill gaps. Government policies on local content vary, with some prescribing quantitative targets for local content, while others focus on improving skills and raising the capacity of domestic industry. Infrastructure built for extractive industries can often be used by local populations and other economic activities. Difficulties in finding suitable financing arrangements have, however, limited the number of successful greenfield multi-client/multi-user extractive industry-related infrastructure projects

Molecular signatures of a TLR4 agonist-adjuvanted HIV-1 vaccine candidate in humans

Systems biology approaches have recently provided new insights into the mechanisms of action of human vaccines and adjuvants. Here, we investigated early transcriptional signatures induced in whole blood of healthy subjects following vaccination with a recombinant HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein subunit CN54gp140 adjuvanted with the TLR4 agonist glucopyranosyl lipid adjuvant-aqueous formulation (GLA-AF) and correlated signatures to CN54gp140-specific serum antibody responses. Fourteen healthy volunteers aged 18-45 years were immunized intramuscularly three times at 1-month intervals and whole blood samples were collected at baseline, 6 h, and 1, 3, and 7 days post first immunization. Subtle changes in the transcriptomic profiles were observed following immunization, ranging from over 300 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) at day 1 to nearly 100 DEGs at day 7 following immunization. Functional pathway analysis revealed blood transcription modules (BTMs) related to general cell cycle activation, and innate immune cell activation at early time points, as well as BTMs related to T cells and B cell activation at the later time points post-immunization. Diverse CN54gp140-specific serum antibody responses of the subjects enabled their categorization into high or low responders, at early ( < 1 month) and late (up to 6 months) time points post vaccination. BTM analyses revealed repression of modules enriched in NK cells, and the mitochondrial electron chain, in individuals with high or sustained antigen-specific antibody responses. However, low responders showed an enhancement of BTMs associated with enrichment in myeloid cells and monocytes as well as integrin cell surface interactions. Flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from the subjects revealed an enhanced frequency of CD56 dim NK cells in the majority of vaccines 14 days after vaccination as compared with the baseline. These results emphasize the utility of a systems biology approach to enhance our understanding on the mechanisms of action of TLR4 adjuvanted human vaccines

A Possible Mechanism behind Autoimmune Disorders Discovered By Genome-Wide Linkage and Association Analysis in Celiac Disease

Celiac disease is a common autoimmune disorder characterized by an intestinal inflammation triggered by gluten, a storage protein found in wheat, rye and barley. Similar to other autoimmune diseases such as type 1 diabetes, psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis, celiac disease is the result of an immune response to self-antigens leading to tissue destruction and production of autoantibodies. Common diseases like celiac disease have a complex pattern of inheritance with inputs from both environmental as well as additive and non-additive genetic factors. In the past few years, Genome Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have been successful in finding genetic risk variants behind many common diseases and traits. To complement and add to the previous findings, we performed a GWAS including 206 trios from 97 nuclear Swedish and Norwegian families affected with celiac disease. By stratifying for HLA-DQ, we identified a new genome-wide significant risk locus covering the DUSP10 gene. To further investigate the associations from the GWAS we performed pathway analyses and two-locus interaction analyses. These analyses showed an over-representation of genes involved in type 2 diabetes and identified a set of candidate mechanisms and genes of which some were selected for mRNA expression analysis using small intestinal biopsies from 98 patients. Several genes were expressed differently in the small intestinal mucosa from patients with celiac autoimmunity compared to intestinal mucosa from control patients. From top-scoring regions we identified susceptibility genes in several categories: 1) polarity and epithelial cell functionality; 2) intestinal smooth muscle; 3) growth and energy homeostasis, including proline and glutamine metabolism; and finally 4) innate and adaptive immune system. These genes and pathways, including specific functions of DUSP10, together reveal a new potential biological mechanism that could influence the genesis of celiac disease, and possibly also other chronic disorders with an inflammatory component

The man who vacuum cleaned the Atlantic : the aerosol collector and Gunnar Erdtman’s attempts to measure pollen rain

Acknowledgements It is a pleasure to acknowledge the archival assistance provided by the Center for History of Science, The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and by Maria Asp in particular. The Center and the Palynologiska laboratoriet, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet are both thanked for permission to reproduce images used in this paper and in the associated online Supplementary files. We are grateful to Tony Hooley for his advice concerning the electrical components of the aerosol collector and Malin Eriksson of the Electrolux Company for historical guidance. The sharing of personal reminiscences of the Palynological Laboratory by Elisabeth Grafström is much appreciated.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

”If we want change, then we have to do something!” : how two municipalities managed to include cooperative farming in the public procurement

Sveriges beredskap vid en eventuell kris är mycket låg och vi är idag bara självförsörjande på mjöl, morötter och socker. Ett sätt att stimulera det svenska jordbruket kan vara en högre grad av samverkan mellan myndigheter och producenter. Dock är det regelverk som förknippas med upphandlingar, Lagen om offentlig upphandling, detaljerat, komplext och omfattande vilket försvårar för enskilda tjänstepersoner att hantera utmaningen hur de kan inkludera lokala producenter. Trots det utmanande regelverket pågår det sedan några år ett innovativt arbete inom kostenheterna i Sollefteå och Kramfors kommun. Som första kommun i Sverige har Sollefteå sjösatt en modell för att öka andelen lokalproducerad mat i de offentliga köken. Vad de gjorde var att köpa andelar hos ett lokalt andelsjordbruk under två odlingssäsonger. Året efter Sollefteå startat tog Kramfors efter och deras samarbete med andelsjordbruket är fortfarande aktivt. För att studera hur arbetet gått till åkte jag till Västernorrland för att intervjua personerna som är ansvariga för de båda kostenheterna. Med utgångspunkt ur Anthony Giddens struktureringsteori har jag undersökt det handlingsutrymme inom vilket kommuntjänstepersonerna agerat inom. Vad som speciellt intresserat mig är de drivkrafter som får dessa personer att lägga ner extra resurser i form av tid, energi och pengar för att möjliggöra inkluderandet av lokala producenter i kommunens livsmedelsupphandlingar. Det empiriska och teoretiska materialet har synliggjort tre nyckelkomponenter för att möjliggöra upphandlingarna. Den mest grundläggande är den politiska viljan och ambitionen från kommunledningen. Den andra delen är de kommuntjänstepersoner som vågar tänka annorlunda och använda sin kunskap för att inkludera andelsjordbruk i livsmedelsupphandlingarna. Avslutningsvis vore inte samarbetet möjligt utan de andelsjordbruk som valde att ingå samarbete med kommunen

Dagens ungdom - vad är problemet?

Recurring statistics in the media, which describes adolescent mental illness as a growing problem in the Swedish society gave rise to an interest to pursue a research which sought to explore how young people's mental illness is constructed as a social problem. The media appears to be important in the construction of a social problem, as they through claims-making current the putative condition, have an opportunity to shape the public's perceptions and opinions about it (Loseke, 2003). Therefore, the aim of this study was to within a media context, examine a part of that process by which members of a society, define a putative condition as a social problem. The study is based on collected data consisted of 55 articles published in various Swedish newspapers in the year of 2010, where over the past decade this particular year published the most number of articles, concerning adolescent mental illness. Is adolescent mental illness a social problem and if so, how is the problem defined as a social problem within a media context? This is qualitative study, which from a social constructionist perspective with the terminology of Loseke (2003) and Spector and Kitsuse (1987) and Blumers (1971) theory of social problems as collective behavior, suggest conclusions that adolescent mental illness is a social problem. Within a Swedish media context adolescent mental illness is constructed as a social problem. The problem is defined as a serious and widespread problem, which society doesn’t have sufficient capacity to meet. The most serious consequence, in addition to adolescent mental health problems can lead to suicide, is that it leads to school absenteeism, which in turn increases the risk of further problems with mental health. The causal explanations referred to in the media can be found at macro-, meso- and micro levels. Solutions to the problem in the current context are presented primarily at macro- and meso level, such that Swedish society needs to prioritize more resources, both in terms of skills improvement and in terms of more professionals, dealing with the problem. Key words: social problem, social construction perspectives, mass media, claims-making, adolescent mental illnes

Parsing the myth and reality of employment creation through resource investments

Employment creation is often claimed as an important benefit of investment in mining and large-scale agriculture. A closer look at employment tied to these investments provides greater clarity on the challenges of estimating employment effects and optimizing employment outcomes through targeted policies

Dare to have a dream : a study about people living as self-sufficiency farmers, their driving forces and the creation of a new social movement

Världen är i förändring och vi står inför en rad framtida utmaningar. Bland annat kommer fossildrivna städernas hegemoni utmanas allt mer i takt med att oljan blir dyrare att framställa. Det leder till en högre grad av ruralisering, men redan idag finns ett flyttmönster av stadsmänniskor in till landsbygden. Uppsatsen är en kvalitativ studie baserad på intervjuer med åtta personer som lämnat staden för ett liv som självhushållare på landsbygden.Materialet består av informanternas egna berättelser om hur de format sitt liv för att vara där de är idag. De kan betraktas som en social rörelse eftersom det finns ett tydligt motstånd, accepterade beteenden och vilja att påverka den allmänna opin-ionen. Analytiska begrepp som varit viktiga för uppsatsen är socialt kapital, sociala rörelser och ontologisk trygghet. Motiven bakom valen att leva som självhushållare är en längtan till jorden, leva ett enklare och ärligare liv samt att skapa en meningsfull plats.Materialet visar också att ingen av de intervjuade har jordbrukande föräldrar. Däremot är det mångas mor- eller farföräldrar som kommer från en gård eller har på annat sätt jordbrukserfarenheter. Kunskapen att bruka jorden tycks ha hoppat över en generation. Därmed har en del av den praktiska kunskapen som ärvts mel-lan generationer gått förlorad. De intervjuade försöker överbrygga kunskaps-glappet och på olika sätt sprida kunskap om sin verksamhet – till sina barn, allmänheten och inom rörelsen av självhushållare. De är alla övertygade om vikten av hållbara jordbruk. De strävar därför efter att återskapa kretsloppen på gårdarna så som det var brukligt innan industrialiseringen och inte ta ‘gen-vägen’ via konstgödsel. Materialet visar att sociala medier och arbetssamar-beten är viktiga verktyg för känslan av samhörighet inom den sociala rörelsen.The world is changing and we face a number of future challenges. Among other things, the hegemony of fossil-fueled cities will be increasingly chal-lenged as oil becomes more expensive to produce. This leads to a higher de-gree of ruralization, but already today there is a migration pattern of urban people into the countryside. The thesis is a qualitative study based on interviews with eight people who left the city for a life as self-sufficiency farmers in rural areas. The main basis for the thesis materials consists of the informants' own stories about how they shaped their lives to be where they are today. Their way to live can be regarded as a social movement because there is a clear resistance, accepted behavior and willingness to influence public opinion. Analytical concepts that have been important for the thesis are social capital, social movements and onto-logical security. The motives behind the choices to be self-sufficiency farmers are a longing back to the soil and roots, to live a simpler and more honest life and to create a meaningful place. The material also shows that none of the interviewees have farming parents. However, a majority of the interviewees grandparents grew up on a farm or have otherwise gained agricultural experience. The knowledge of farming seems to have skipped a generation. As a result, some of the practical knowledge inherited between generations has been lost. The interviewees try to bridge the knowledge gap and in different ways dissemi-nate knowledge about their activities - to their children, the public and within the movement of self-sufficiency farming. They are all convinced of the im-portance of sustainable agriculture. Therefore they strive to recreate the eco-system on the farm as it was customary before industrialization and not taking the 'short cut' through industrially produced fertilizers. The material shows that social media and work collaborations are important tools for the sense of belonging in the social movement