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The history of Swedish analytical philosophy begins with the writings of Ingemar Hedenius, Anders Wedberg, and Konrad Marc-Wogau, who introduced the country to a new style of thinking that was to become the dominant mode of academic philosophizing in it from the mid- 1940s to the late 1960s. The article presents a sociological analysis of how that hegemonic position was claimed and established for it in Swedish philosophy departments. In particular, the critique that Hedenius, Wedberg, and Marc-Wogau levelled in their popular writings against continental philosophy is looked upon in detail. Drawing upon Thomas Gieryn's theory of boundary work, it is shown how the three strove for epistemic authority by demarcating their own 'scientific' enterprise from the 'unscientific' philosophy of their competitors. This quest for authority, however, was pursued not solely for its own sake: Hedenius, Wedberg, and Marc- Wogau were also all firmly committed to the ideals of enlightenment and cultural radicalism shaping the Swedish society of their time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The small, southern city of Landskrona has emerged in the 2000s as one of the strongholds of the Sweden Democrats, a populist, ultra-nationalist party. In the local elections in 2006, over 20 per cent of the inhabitants of Landskrona voted for the party, and in a number of predominantly working-class electoral districts the party took nearly 50 per cent of the vote. This article uses a critical, explorative approach to examine not only these events, but also the well-established notion -- advanced by the historian Heléne Lööw -- that the party's successes can be explained by a very specific, historical tradition of xenophobia that is particularly strong in certain regions and communities. Against this background, the article brings a historical focus to bear on the city of Landskrona, the better to trace and analyse the complex historical connections between National Socialism's historical presence in the 1930S and 1940S and the Sweden Democrats' exceptional successes at the ballot box in the 2000s. Using a broad, ideologizing perspective, drawing on Roger Griffin and George L. Mosse, ultra-nationalisms politicization of xenophobic attitudes in both these periods is here seen as being of a part with modern, generic Fascism's masculine framework. The empirical focus falls on two influential men who were long active in Landskrona, and who in their respective social contexts furthered the cause of radical ultra-nationalism both in theory and in practice. With such an ideologically informed reading, primarily of previously classified source material in the Swedish Security Service archive, the political lives of Liljas, a police constable, and Weibull, a company director, are charted and analysed, as is their importance for National Socialism's position in the city in the 1930S and 1940s. Thus Landskrona's position as one of Sweden's Nazi strongholds during the Second World War could be seen as bearing out the thesis that the Sweden Democrats' present strength stems from a place-specific, historical tradition of xenophobia. Yet the causation is considerably more complex than it might appear at first glance. In the first place, there is much to indicate that collected past experiences vested in the place itself go some way, in discursive terms, to explain ultra-nationalism's politicization of xenophobic attitudes. Second, when it comes to understanding the fertile ground in which ultranationalism thrived it appears that the working class, and what would prove to be its rather unpredictable political behaviour, was to play a crucial role as a socio-economic factor. In Landskrona, a classic working-class city with an exceptionally strong and influential social-democratic past, it became evident in the 2000s that the Sweden Democrats' electoral successes principally depended on a disillusioned and wavering working class attracted by the xenophobic undertones of ultra-nationalism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates how the participation of voluntary organisations in the remiss-procedure has changed between 1964 and 2009 and how to interpret this. Drawing on evidence from 33 remiss-directories in nine different policy fields, the results conclude that the proportional level of voluntary organisations has declined and more organizations have chosen to abstain from participating in the remiss- procedure. In addition, the number of conflict-oriented organisations has declined while the number of consensus-oriented organisations active in the output side of the political system has increased. It is argued that the result can be understood in relation to the changing mode of governance, new challenges presented by the welfare state and the rise of transnational organisations that seek influence in less formal arenas for policy making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article deals with the radical liberal politician, publicist and (former) army captain Julius Mankell (1828-1897). Starting with the death and glorious funeral of this honoured man in Stockholm in 1897, it provides a survey of his political ideas and life. Mankell was a well-known, controversial and pugnacious, but also at times important and influential, political actor in the latter half of 19th-century Sweden. An analysis of three of Mankell's many works shows that his ideological position was a specific version of a historic "Swedish radicalism". This radicalism was ultimately based on a view of history and society as fraught with conflicts. It also seems to have contained a separatist and negative attitude towards the State authority and, in line with this, a tendency to anarchism and an ambition to decentralize government. Furthermore, Mankell's political thinking appears to have been characterized by strong nationalistic ideas and also a striking passion for weapons and their social significance. The life and political activity of Julius Mankell illuminate this version of liberal "Swedish radicalism". In the revolutionary year of 1848, he was excited by the new and radical ideas which spread throughout Europe, and from this time his military career became problematical. Instead, he gradually and successfully established himself during the following decades as one of the better known and active political actors in Stockholm and Sweden. In the 1850's, he acted as personal military counselor to the warlike King Karl XV, and in the 1860's he was a leader and organizing force behind the massive and popular mobilization of the widespread sharpshooters association. In the 1870's and afterwards he engaged in parliamentary and extra-parliamentary politics, mainly as advocate of universal suffrage. The radical liberal ideology that Mankell represents thus seems to have had an important influence on the political scene and its transformations in Sweden during the latter half of the 19th-century Sweden. Despite this fact, Mankell and his radical tradition seem to have left little trace in the political and academic historiography on the prehistory of Swedish democracy. The reason for this is probably to be found in the influential and still prevalent idea of a peaceful political culture in the long course of Swedish history. This conservative conception has had important effects on both the political and academic practice in 20th-century Sweden. Consequently Mankell, his "Swedish radicalism" and many other historical phenomena fraught with conflicts have been wrapped in mystery. But, by analysing conflicting interests and hidden agendas from the prehistory of modern Swedish democracy, historians of today can contribute to the important contemporary discussion about democracy, citizenship and the structure of politics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This review is based on recent published research on the BSE/CJD/vCJD problem mainly from UK, Germany and France. The situation in Sweden seems to be fortunate for several reasons. The use of meat and bonemeal as animal fodder was forbidden in this country 13 years ago. Sweden has not had any sheep with scrapie for many years. No animals with BSE have so far been found in our country. The incidence of sporadic CJD in this country followed retrospectively from 1985 to 1996 and prospectively from 1997 to 1999 has been around 1.2 per million per year with no significant increase. Only few cases of familial CJD are known. No patient with iatrogenic CJD has ever been found. The use of growth hormone derived from human pituitary glands was abandoned in 1985 when recombinant human growth hormone became available. So far there is no indication that any of the CJD cases diagnosed in Sweden has been of the vCJD type, the one linked to BSE. However, as the incubation period for prion diseases is very long and the Swedes are frequent travellers there is a risk that people from our country could have contracted vCJD through consuming meat products in countries with BSE. As a precaution the consumption of brain, spinal cord, lymphatic tissue, lungs, and gastrointestinal tract should be avoided. Human pituitary derived growth hormone is still available in some countries and might be illegally imported into Sweden.

Earlier observations of increased plasma concentrations of immunoreactive calcitonin (32 amino acids) in sepsis and other non-tumorous conditions may be explained by increased secretion of procalcitonin, the 116-amino acid prohormone. At present, the site(s) of origin of procalcitonin in sepsis, the factors regulating its biosynthesis and release, the route(s) of its elimination from blood as well as its biological function(s) are unknown. The rapid increase in procalcitonin concentration in sepsis--in some patients earlier than that of C-reactive protein--and decrease upon successful chemotherapy makes procalcitonin a potentially important biomarker in monitoring patients with suspected or confirmed sepsis.

Prolactinoma is the most common functional pituitary tumor. Since appropriate treatment is often pharmacological rather than surgical, all patients with a tumor within or close to the sella turcica should be evaluated for prolactinoma before being sent for neurosurgery. Preanalytical factors affecting serum prolactin concentration should be taken into account when planning blood sampling. Diagnostic laboratories should aim for the use of common international calibrators and a common unitage for expressing concentrations. Assays should be carried out in such a way that the risk of falsely high or low values is minimized. Any patient with high values due to an immunometric method should be evaluated for the possible presence of endogenous antibodies against prolactin ("macroprolactinemia").

The measurement of plasma homocysteine concentrations may be important both in health care and preventive medicine, provided that it is applied correctly, and that blood sampling, transport, and assays are state-of-the art procedures.

In a survey commissioned by the National Institute of Public Health, and carried out by specially trained staff at SIFO Research and Consulting, a representative population sample (n = 2,810, or 59 per cent of the actual sample) were interviewed regarding sexual mores. The items included 800 variables reflecting social background, lifestyle, and health, as well as knowledge, attitudes and sexual behaviour. The results showed, for instance, that Swedes have more sexual partners than 30 years ago, that anal sex is a currently fashionable trend, that oral sex is common, that relatively few are coerced to participate in sexual practices, and that the abortion rate is disturbingly high.

A retrospective study of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in Sweden during the period 1985-96 yielded an annual incidence of 1.18 per million. Data for incidence, age distribution (at onset and at death), and duration of illness were similar to those of other countries, with the exception of new variant CJD (nvCJD) cases in the UK, and as far as can be judged the symptomatology was also similar. So far, there is no indication of the occurrence of any cases of nvCJD in Sweden.

Analysis of plasma natriuretic peptides and related propeptide fragments may be a cost-effective aid to diagnostic evaluation and treatment follow-up in cases of heart failure. In diagnostic potential such variables may constitute first-line measures of high negative predictive value, allowing further examination, e.g. by echocardiography, in cases where values are above the respective cut-off levels. However, in many cases evaluation of published reports is rendered difficult by their omission of information on such pre-analytical variables as blood sampling and storage, and drug therapy. Moreover, different analytical methods may yield widely divergent results. Thus, before such assays are introduced in general use, their long-term validity needs to be ensured, for instance by consistency in calibration, and measurements need to be made in representative series of unselected patients for the determination of appropriate cut-off levels.