Health plays an essential role for human and economic development. This thesis consists of four independent empirical papers on health and health care in developing countries. The first paper investigates the relationship between globalization, democracy, and child health in low- and middle-income countries. Using panel data for 70 developing countries between 1970 and 2009 we examine how globaliz

Introduction: Serum lactate is considered to be a marker of tissue hypoxia (1) Cut-off values >4 mM predict poor outcome, yet many patients after resuscitation according Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines (SSCG) (2) have high mortality despite decreases in blood lactate. Our hypothesis was that dynamic, rather than absolute blood lactate concentrations predict survival. Further we tested the abi

If we do not consider religious rituals as given to us from the gods, but designed by humans at certain times and in certain contexts we might also track the art of designing and performing the human practice of rituals. Even if we agree that all rituals are taught and learned, they are not meant to be perceived as products of human imagination. The concept “ritual invention” could thus be seen as

This doctoral dissertation investigates how Plato elaborates and incorporates the works of the poets in the preludes to the laws. It is argued that the poetic style of the preludes represents a key element for the Athenian’s purpose of persuading the citizens of Magnesia to spontaneously abide to the new legislation that is being laid out.The analysis is divided in four chapters. Chapter 1 discuss

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) has a prevalence of 20% based on weekly symptoms of heartburn and regurgitation. As reflux symptoms are unspecific for GERD, an objective evaluation of the presence of the disease is often needed. Ambulatory pH monitoring is the most commonly used diagnostic method but it is limited by relatively poor sensitivity, especially in patients without esophagitis. T

Introduction: The fact that the majority of older people wish to remain and live independently in their current homes calls for a more comprehensive understanding of which aspects of the home support healthy ageing. Perceived aspects of home influence life satisfaction, perceived health, independence in daily activities and well-being among people aged 80 years and older. However, health and perce

We use Baker, Bloom, and Davis’s (2016) economic policy uncertainty indices in combination with the mixed data sampling (MIDAS) approach to investigate long-run stock market volatility and correlation, primarily for the US and UK. Long-run US–UK stock market correlation depends positively on US economic policy uncertainty shocks. The dependence is asymmetric, with only positive shocks - increasing

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the most common forms of cancer. The cause of CRC is multifactorial, and lifestyle factors are thought to be a major contributor to the development of CRC. It can be hypothesised that the association between food intake and the risk of developing CRC depends not only on the food consumed, but what it is consumed in combination with. The associations between food a

By measuring scattering parameters over a wide range of bias points, we study the intrinsic gate capacitance as well as the charge partitioning of vertical nanowire tunnel field-effect transistors (TFETs). The gate-to-drain capacitance Cgd is found to largely dominate the on-state of TFETs, whereas the gate-to-source capacitance Cgs is sufficiently small to be completely dominated by parasitic com

This paper provides a simplified method of exploring the geographical limits of a knowledge shock over the long run. Using a geographically decomposable distance weighed sum of world GDPs by county, differences in differences regression analysis shows that a new university will not only have a positive impact on the local economy, but also on the GDP of nearby counties. Furthermore, challenging th

Drawing on tropes, stories, and symbols emanating from lost layers of urban cultural diversity has been an important resource in post-socialist city branding in many cities in Eastern and Central Europe that saw significant ethno-demographic changes in connection with World War II. In Chernivtsi, this is usually framed by narratives emphasizing tolerance, cultural diversity, and Europeanness, noti