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Trust has recently received some attention in demographic literature as one potential factor for fertility considerations in post-industrial societies. It has been argued that trust is relevant in a number of different ways, including as a resilience mechanism against different perceived uncertainties that may affect childrearing decisions. Trust is also related to a host of positive political and economic outcomes, all of which enable childbearing. To date, studies have used macro-level or multilevel frameworks and a measure of social trust that focuses on confidence in fellow members of society. In our study, we use two novel modules of the Swedish Generations and Gender Survey 2021 (GGS2021) to study this relationship further. First, we analyse the associations between different measures of interpersonal and institutional trust on the one hand and individuals’ fertility intentions on the other. Second, we examine whether either interpersonal or institutional trust acts as a resilience mechanism against various individual and global uncertainties. The results do not show trust to be a decisive factor behind fertility intentions in Sweden. The absence of strong associations may be attributable to Sweden’s position as a notably high-trust society, with its inclusive labour markets and welfare services.

The Swedish Generations and Gender Survey 2021 (GGS2021) was the second GGS that Sweden carried out. It was a web-based survey with a paper-based option. Like the first GGS in Sweden (GGS2012) it was linked to register data that cover key dimensions of respondents’ life courses. The Swedish GGS2021 contains two new modules implemented to further research on the link between subjective perceptions and fertility. Both modules will be part of the second wave of the international GGS standard questionnaire. In this contribution, we first describe our motivation to carry out the Swedish GGS2021. We then present our two new modules and sketch their theoretical underpinnings. This is followed by a summary of the data collection process and an assessment of data quality. We conclude with some reflections on the implementation of new modules in future international GGSs and on our experience with register-linked surveys.

Abstract Sickness absence from work has a large adverse impact on both individuals and societies in Sweden and the costs for sickness absence were calculated to 64.6 billion Swedish kronor (approx. 5.6 billion in Euros) in 2020. Although high cardiorespiratory fitness may protect against potential adverse effects of high physical workload, research on the moderating effect of respiratory fitness in the relation between having an occupation with high physical workload and sickness absence is scarce. To study the moderating effect of cardiorespiratory fitness in the association between occupation and psychiatric, musculoskeletal, and cardiorespiratory diagnoses. Data was retrieved from the HPI Health Profile Institute database (1988–2020) and Included 77,366 participants (mean age 41.8 years, 52.5% women) from the Swedish workforce. The sample was chosen based on occupational groups with a generally low education level and differences in physical workload. Hurdle models were used to account for incident sickness absence and the rate of sickness absence days. There were differences in sickness absence between occupational groups for musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory diagnoses, but not for psychiatric diagnoses. In general, the association between occupation and musculoskeletal and cardiorespiratory diagnoses was moderated by cardiorespiratory fitness in most occupational groups with higher physical workload, whereas no moderating effect was observed for psychiatric diagnoses. The study results encourage community and workplace interventions to both consider variation in physical workload and to maintain and/or improve cardiorespiratory fitness for a lower risk of sickness absence, especially in occupations with high physical workload.

Abstract Background Healthy lifestyle habits are recommended in prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, there is limited knowledge concerning the change in lifestyle-related factors from before to after a CVD event. Thus, this study aimed to explore if and how lifestyle habits and other lifestyle-related factors changed between two health assessments in individuals experiencing a CVD event between the assessments, and if changes varied between subgroups of sex, age, educational level, duration from CVD event to second assessment and type of CVD event. Methods Among 115,504 Swedish employees with data from two assessments of occupational health screenings between 1992 and 2020, a total of 637 individuals (74% men, mean age 47 ± SD 9 years) were identified having had a CVD event (ischemic heart disease, cardiac arrythmia or stroke) between the assessments. Cases were matched with controls without an event between assessments from the same database (ratio 1:3, matching with replacement) by sex, age, and time between assessment (n = 1911 controls). Lifestyle habits included smoking, active commuting, exercise, diet, alcohol intake, and were self-rated. Lifestyle-related factors included overall stress, overall health (both self-rated), physical capacity (estimated by submaximal cycling), body mass index and resting blood pressure. Differences in lifestyle habits and lifestyle-related factors between cases and controls, and changes over time, were analysed with parametric and non-parametric tests. Multiple logistic regression, OR (95% CI) was used to analyse differences in change between subgroups. Results Cases had, in general, a higher prevalence of unhealthy lifestyle habits as well as negative life-style related factors prior to the event compared to controls. Nevertheless, cases improved their lifestyle habits and lifestyle factors to a higher degree than controls, especially their amount of active commuting (p = 0.025), exercise (p = 0.009) and non-smoking (p

OBJECTIVES: This is the first population-level study to examine inequalities in COVID-19 mortality according to working-age individuals’ occupations and the indirect occupational effects on COVID-19 mortality of older individuals who live with them. METHODS: We used early-release data for the entire population of Sweden of all recorded COVID-19 deaths from 12 March 2020 to 23 February 2021, which we linked to administrative registers and occupational measures. Cox proportional hazard models assessed relative risks of COVID-19 mortality for the working-aged population registered in an occupation in December 2018 and the older population who lived with them. RESULTS: Among working aged-adults, taxi/bus drivers had the highest relative risk of COVID-19 mortality: over four times that of skilled workers in IT, economics, or administration when adjusted only for basic demographic characteristics. After adjusting for socioeconomic factors (education, income and country of birth), there are no occupational groups with clearly elevated (statistically significant) COVID-19 mortality. Neither a measure of exposure within occupations nor the share that generally can work from home were related to working-aged adults’ risk of COVID-19 mortality. Instead of occupational factors, traditional socioeconomic risk factors best explained variation in COVID-19 mortality. Elderly individuals, however, faced higher COVID-19 mortality risk both when living with a delivery or postal worker or worker(s) in occupations that generally work from home less, even when their socioeconomic factors are taken into account. CONCLUSIONS: Inequalities in COVID-19 mortality of working-aged adults were mostly based on traditional risk factors and not on occupational divisions or characteristics in Sweden. However, older individuals living with those who likely cannot work from home or work in delivery or postal services were a vulnerable group.

Abstract Background The impact of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF) and other lifestyle-related factors on severe COVID-19 risk is understudied. The present study aims to investigate lifestyle-related and socioeconomic factors as possible predictors of COVID-19, with special focus on CRF, and to further study whether these factors may attenuate obesity- and hypertension-related risks, as well as mediate associations between socioeconomic factors and severe COVID-19 risk. Methods Out of initially 407,131 participants who participated in nationwide occupational health service screening between 1992 and 2020, n = 857 cases (70% men, mean age 49.9 years) of severe COVID-19 were identified. CRF was estimated using a sub-maximum cycle test, and other lifestyle variables were self-reported. Analyses were performed including both unmatched, n = 278,598, and sex-and age-matched, n = 3426, controls. Severe COVID-19 included hospitalization, intensive care or death due to COVID-19. Results Patients with more severe COVID-19 had significantly lower CRF, higher BMI, a greater presence of comorbidities and were more often daily smokers. In matched analyses, there was a graded decrease in odds for severe COVID-19 with each ml in CRF (OR = 0.98, 95% CI 0.970 to 0.998), and a two-fold increase in odds between the lowest and highest (

Abstract Background Total sitting time is associated with a higher risk for cardio metabolic disease and mortality, while breaks in prolonged sitting attenuate these effects. However, less is known about associations of different specific domains and breaks of sitting on general health, back/neck pain and if physical activity could influence these associations. The aim was to investigate how workplace sitting and frequency of breaking up workplace sitting is associated with self-reported general health and self-reported back/neck pain. Methods 44,978 participants (42% women) from the Swedish working population, who participated in a nationwide occupational health service screening 2014–2019, were included in this cross-sectional study. Self-reported sitting duration and frequency of breaks from sitting at work, general health, back/neck pain, exercise, leisure time sitting, diet, smoking, stress and body mass index were assessed. Occupation was classified as requiring higher education qualifications or not. Logistic regression modelling was used to assess the association between workplace sitting/frequency of breaks in workplace sitting and poor general health and back/neck pain, respectively. Results Compared to sitting all the time at work, sitting ≤75% of the time showed significantly lower risks for poor general health (OR range 0.50–0.65), and sitting between 25 and 75% of the time showed significantly lower risks (OR 0.82–0.87) for often reported back/neck pain. For participants reporting sitting half of their working time or more, breaking up workplace sitting occasionally or more often showed significantly lower OR than seldom breaking up workplace sitting; OR ranged 0.40–0.50 for poor health and 0.74–0.81 for back/neck pain. Conclusions Sitting almost all the time at work and not taking breaks is associated with an increased risk for self-reported poor general health and back/neck pain. People sitting almost all their time at work are recommended to take breaks from prolonged sitting, exercise regularly and decrease their leisure time sitting to reduce the risk for poor health.

Abstract Background Identify and compare health risk indicators for common chronic diseases between different occupational groups. Methods A total of 72,855 participants (41% women) participating in an occupational health service screening in 2014–2019 were included. Occupation was defined by the Swedish Standard Classification of Occupation, and divided into nine major and additionally eight sub-major groups. These were analysed separately, as white- and blue-collar occupations and as low- and high-skilled occupations. Seven health risk indicators were self-reported: exercise, physical work situation, sitting at work and leisure, smoking, diet, and perceived health, whereas cardiorespiratory fitness, BMI and blood pressure were measured. These were further dichotomized (yes/no) and as clustering of risk indicators (≥3 vs.

Better understanding of who is at highest risk of death from COVID-19 is important for public health planning. Here, the authors demonstrate an unequal mortality burden associated with socially disadvantaged groups in Sweden.

Background: The downward fertility trend in Western countries during the 2010s is puzzling, not least in the Nordic region. Objective: In order to better understand its driving forces, we examine whether the decline is driven by differential behavior or compositional changes across sociodemographic population subgroups, for the empirical case of Sweden. Methods: Event-history techniques are applied to register data of the Swedish-born population to provide an in-depth analysis of the sociodemographic profile of the fertility decline. Results: The decline is confined to first births, with no apparent difference between individuals living in different types of municipalities or between those with fully Swedish and non-Swedish backgrounds. The first-birth decline is notable across labor market activity groups, but is somewhat more pronounced among those with weaker labor market positions. However, the shares of men and women who were active in the labor market and who had high earnings increased. The findings are strikingly similar for men and women. Conclusions: For the most part the factors driving the Swedish fertility decline do not appear to be structural. Other forces, perhaps global, may underlie the general tendency to increasingly forego or postpone having children. The polarization in childbearing across labor market positions is an area for future research. Contribution: The study provides new insights into the conundrum of Nordic fertility decline during the 2010s.

Abstract Background It is well-established that couples’ fecundities vary widely. Each couple has a relatively constant monthly probability of conceiving, which can vary from zero to quite high. This underlying probability is usually expressed as the time (number of menstrual cycles) the couple requires to conceive. Couples with high fecundity will, on average, need fewer cycles than couples with low fecundity. It is also well-documented that almost all human populations exhibit seasonal variation in births. Most European countries show seasonal variation that usually peak in the spring and are the lowest during the last quarter of the year. The increasingly strong pattern of depressed birth rates in November and December is likely explained by the December–January cut-off threshold for Swedish pupils’ school entry and their parents increasing awareness of the negative effects on school outcomes for children who are juniors in the school-entry cohort they belong to. To actively plan births for a specific time of the year, couples need to have some knowledge of the time required for them to conceive. Methods We use the duration between marriage of childless couples and first birth as a proxy measure of couples’ fecundity. Based on this time-to-pregnancy measure we study to what extent couples’ capacity to conceive affects the seasonality of their second births. We hypothesize that in a society with highly controlled fertility and a strong norm of having at least two children, sub-fertile couples will on average show less seasonal variation in second births. Sub-fertile couples, requiring more time to conceive the first time, will be less likely to try to target a desired birth month for their second child because doing so could jeopardize fulfilling their desired family size. We apply multinomial logistic regressions on 81,998 Swedish couples who married while being childless and subsequently gave birth to at least two children between 1990 and 2012, to investigate fecundity’s role in seasonal variation in second births. Results We found that seasonal variation in second births was strongly associated with couples’ observed fecundity, measured as the duration between marriage formation and first birth. Our results support the hypothesis that sub-fertile couples, requiring more time to conceive the first time, show less seasonal variation in second births. The seasonal variations in second order births among couples with normal fecundity shows some similarities to traditional patterns as seen in agricultural and industrial societies of the past, with high numbers of births during the spring, and low numbers during the last quarter of the year. However, two important differences are notable. The characteristic Christmas peak in September has vanished, and the low birth rates in November and December come out much stronger than in the past. Conclusions The birth seasonality among couples with normal fecundity are what we would expect if couples actively plan their births according to the cut-off date for Swedish pupils’ school entry. We argue that our findings support the notion that scheduled childbirth is a reality in contemporary sociality.

Objective To evaluate and compare ratio and allometric scaling models of maximal oxygen consumption (VO2max) for different body size measurements in relation to cardiovascular disease (CVD) incidence and all-cause mortality.Methods 316 116 individuals participating in occupational health screenings, initially free from CVD, were included. VO2max was estimated using submaximal cycle test. Height, body mass and waist circumference (WC) were assessed, and eight different scaling models (two evaluated in a restricted sample with WC data) were derived. Participants were followed in national registers for first-time CVD event or all-cause mortality from their health screening to first CVD event, death or 31 December 2015.Results Increasing deciles of VO2max showed lower CVD risk and all-cause mortality for all six models in the full sample (p

Summary: Background: Housing characteristics and neighbourhood context are considered risk factors for COVID-19 mortality among older adults. The aim of this study was to investigate how individual-level housing and neighbourhood characteristics are associated with COVID-19 mortality in older adults. Methods: For this population-based, observational study, we used data from the cause-of-death register held by the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare to identify recorded COVID-19 mortality and mortality from other causes among individuals (aged ≥70 years) in Stockholm county, Sweden, between March 12 and May 8, 2020. This information was linked to population-register data from December, 2019, including socioeconomic, demographic, and residential characteristics. We ran Cox proportional hazards regressions for the risk of dying from COVID-19 and from all other causes. The independent variables were area (m2) per individual in the household, the age structure of the household, type of housing, confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the borough, and neighbourhood population density. All models were adjusted for individual age, sex, country of birth, income, and education. Findings: Of 279 961 individuals identified to be aged 70 years or older on March 12, 2020, and residing in Stockholm in December, 2019, 274 712 met the eligibility criteria and were included in the study population. Between March 12 and May 8, 2020, 3386 deaths occurred, of which 1301 were reported as COVID-19 deaths. In fully adjusted models, household and neighbourhood characteristics were independently associated with COVID-19 mortality among older adults. Compared with living in a household with individuals aged 66 years or older, living with someone of working age (

AimTo identify and describe the characteristics of naturally occurring patterns of exercise, sitting in leisure time and at work and cardiorespiratory fitness, and the association of such profiles with metabolic risk factors, perceived health, and perceived symptoms.Methods64,970 participants (42% women, 18-75 years) participating in an occupational health service screening in 2014-2018 were included. Exercise and sitting were self-reported. Cardiorespiratory fitness was estimated using a submaximal cycle test. Latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles. BMI and blood pressure were assessed through physical examination. Perceived back/neck pain, overall stress, global health, and sleeping problems were self-reported.ResultsSix profiles based on exercise, sitting in leisure time and at work and cardiorespiratory fitness were identified and labelled; Profile 1 "Inactive, low fit and average sitting in leisure, with less sitting at work"; Profile 2 "Inactive, low fit and sedentary"; Profile 3 "Active and average fit, with less sitting at work"; Profile 4 "Active, average fit and sedentary in leisure, with a sedentary work" (the most common profile, 35% of the population); Profile 5 "Active and fit, with a sedentary work"; Profile 6 "Active and fit, with less sitting at work". Some pairwise similarities were found between profiles (1 and 2, 3 and 4, 5 and 6), mainly based on similar levels of exercise, leisure time sitting and fitness, which translated into similar dose-response associations with the outcomes. In general, profile 1 and 2 demonstrated most adverse metabolic and perceived health, profile 4 had a more beneficial health than profile 3, as did profile 6 compared to profile 5.ConclusionsThe present results implies a large variation in exercise, sitting, and fitness when studying naturally occurring patterns, and emphasize the possibility to target exercise, sitting time, and/or fitness in health enhancing promotion intervention and strategies.

Abstract Background Biting midges of the genus Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae) are vectors of bluetongue virus (BTV), African horse sickness virus and Schmallenberg virus (SBV). Outbreaks of both BTV and SBV have affected large parts of Europe. The spread of these diseases depends largely on vector distribution and abundance. The aim of this analysis was to identify and quantify major spatial patterns and temporal trends in the distribution and seasonal variation of observed Culicoides abundance in nine countries in Europe. Methods We gathered existing Culicoides data from Spain, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Poland. In total, 31,429 Culicoides trap collections were available from 904 ruminant farms across these countries between 2007 and 2013. Results The Obsoletus ensemble was distributed widely in Europe and accounted for 83% of all 8,842,998 Culicoides specimens in the dataset, with the highest mean monthly abundance recorded in France, Germany and southern Norway. The Pulicaris ensemble accounted for only 12% of the specimens and had a relatively southerly and easterly spatial distribution compared to the Obsoletus ensemble. Culicoides imicola Kieffer was only found in Spain and the southernmost part of France. There was a clear spatial trend in the accumulated annual abundance from southern to northern Europe, with the Obsoletus ensemble steadily increasing from 4000 per year in southern Europe to 500,000 in Scandinavia. The Pulicaris ensemble showed a very different pattern, with an increase in the accumulated annual abundance from 1600 in Spain, peaking at 41,000 in northern Germany and then decreasing again toward northern latitudes. For the two species ensembles and C. imicola, the season began between January and April, with later start dates and increasingly shorter vector seasons at more northerly latitudes. Conclusion We present the first maps of seasonal Culicoides abundance in large parts of Europe covering a gradient from southern Spain to northern Scandinavia. The identified temporal trends and spatial patterns are useful for planning the allocation of resources for international prevention and surveillance programmes in the European Union.

This paper explores how Engineering students and Work and Welfare students reflect upon their own engagement in a one-week cross-disciplinary project. To develop a better understanding of what unfolds during these activities we collected data through anonymous surveys two consecutive years. Data from these 141 respondents were analysed using a learning history approach and are presented as narratives. Results show major disruptions and conflicts driving the student projects, exposing inviting confrontations, social identity threats, managing diversity, and friction of ideas. Whereas this in many cases led to new and better project solutions, these real-world experiences raise awareness of the need for tools and methods for training students. The aim of the paper is to learn from students’ experiences through narrative distance, and fill a gap in the literature between problem-based learning (PBL) and the learning history method. Discussing different experiences of cross-disciplinary teamwork through the explanations of these theories, we also lay out potential questions for future research on the topic.

Abstract Background There is a shortage of registered nurses in the European Union (EU), and job dissatisfaction and perceived high work–family conflict have been identified as causes of nursing staff turnover. Reducing work hours is an organisational intervention that could have a positive effect on nurses’ and assistant nurses’ job satisfaction, work–life balance, and willingness to stay in the job. An orthopaedic surgery department at a large hospital in Sweden introduced reduced work hours for nurses and assistant nurses in order to improve the working situation. The aim of the study was to investigate the experiences of reduced work hours and no lunch breaks among nurses and assistant nurses at an orthopaedic surgery department at a hospital in Sweden, with a particular focus on recovery and psychosocial working environment. Methods A qualitative design was used in the study. Eleven nurses and assistant nurses working at the particular orthopaedic department took part in the study, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The interviews were analysed by interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results Four main themes were developed in the analysis of the data: A more sustainable working situation, Improved work–life balance, Consequences of being part of a project, and Improved quality of care. Each theme consisted of subthemes. Conclusions Overall, reduced work hours appeared to have many, mainly positive, effects for the participants in both work and home life.

Background: A key resource for cross-national comparative research on family dynamics (Andersson and Philipov 2002) is seriously outdated. Objective: We provide an update of the life-table estimates by Andersson and Philipov (2002) based on data from the Generations and Gender Surveys and other related surveys in 18 countries across Europe and the United States. Results: Life-table estimates of family formation of women and men, union dynamics, and children's experience of family disruption and family formation demonstrate the degree of variation in family dynamics across countries. Conclusions: Our findings provide the basis for more in-depth research on the causes and consequences of differences in family dynamics across contexts. Contribution: The Appendix of the current manuscript is a new resource for comparative research on family dynamics in the early 21st century.

Background: Previous research shows evidence of an interrelation between family formation and the migration of immigrants in Europe. Less research has been conducted on the fertility and family behavior of the descendants of immigrants. Objective: Our study provides analyses of the childbearing behavior of daughters of immigrants in Sweden. The context is that of a country with near-replacement-level fertility and social policies oriented towards social equality. Methods: The study is based on register data covering 1998-2012, which allows for highly detailed analyses of the childbearing behavior of 20 country origin groups of second-generation women. By means of event history techniques, we analyze the transition to any first, second, and third births. Results: Our analyses show that most groups of descendants of immigrants have lower fertility than those with a full Swedish background. The risk of having a first child is particularly depressed, and the risk of having a second child is also lower for daughters of immigrants than for women with two Swedish-born parents. In contrast, many groups of immigrant-descendant two-child mothers display elevated third-birth risks. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate the necessity to account for parity-specific differences in fertility when studying the fertility of descendants of migrants. Contribution: Our study is based on data large enough to allow for a disaggregated analysis by birth order and parental country background. It shows that, on average, the fertility of women in the so-called second generation in Sweden is lower than that of women with a full Swedish background.

BACKGROUND: Socio-demographic factors and area of residence might influence the development of esophageal and gastric cancer. Large-scale population-based research can determine the role of such factors. METHODS: This population-based cohort study included all Swedish residents aged 30-84 years in 1990-2007. Educational level, marital status, place of birth, and place of residence were evaluated with regard to mortality from esophageal or gastric cancer. Cox regression yielded hazard ratios (HR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI), adjusted for potential confounding. RESULTS: Among 84 920 565 person-years, 5125 and 12 230 deaths occurred from esophageal cancer and gastric cancer, respectively. Higher educational level decreased the HR of esophageal cancer (HR = 0.61, 95%CI 0.42-0.90 in women, HR = 0.71, 95%CI 0.60-0.84 in men) and gastric cancer (HR = 0.80, 95%CI 0.63-1.03 in women, HR = 0.73, 95%CI 0.64-0.83 in men). Being unmarried increased HR of esophageal cancer (HR = 1.64, 95%CI 1.35-1.99 in women, HR = 1.64, 95%CI 1.50-1.80 in men), but not of gastric cancer. Being born in low density populated areas increased HR of gastric cancer (HR = 1.23, 95%CI 1.10-1.38 in women, HR = 1.37, 95%CI 1.25-1.50 in men), while no strong association was found with esophageal cancer. Living in densely populated areas increased HR of esophageal cancer (HR = 1.31, 95%CI 1.14-1.50 in women, HR = 1.40, 95%CI 1.29-1.51 in men), but not of gastric cancer. CONCLUSION: These socio-demographic inequalities in cancer mortality warrant efforts to investigate possible preventable mechanisms and to promote and support healthier lifestyles among deprived groups.

We present an update of the main features of recent trends in vital family-demographic behavior in Sweden. For this purpose, time series of relative risks of childbearing, marriage, and divorce by calendar year are updated with another five years of observation added to previously published series. We demonstrate that fertility in Sweden continued its upward trend during much of the first decade of the 21st century. The rise pertains to all birth orders. It is driven by the halt in postponement of first childbearing at the younger ages and the continued fertility recuperation at higher ages. Marriage propensities increased as well, reversing a decades-long trend of decreasing marriage rates. The trend reversal comprises first marriages and remarriages alike. Interestingly, the increased popularity of marriage and childbearing is accompanied with a slight decline in divorce risks during the first decade of the new century.

BACKGROUND:Sequence similarity to characterized proteins provides testable functional hypotheses for less than 50% of the proteins identified by genome sequencing projects. With structural genomics it is believed that structural similarities may give functional hypotheses for many of the remaining proteins. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:We provide a systematic analysis of the structure-function relationship in proteins using the novel concept of local descriptors of protein structure. A local descriptor is a small substructure of a protein which includes both short- and long-range interactions. We employ a library of commonly reoccurring local descriptors general enough to assemble most existing protein structures. We then model the relationship between these local shapes and Gene Ontology using rule-based learning. Our IF-THEN rule model offers legible, high resolution descriptions that combine local substructures and is able to discriminate functions even for functionally versatile folds such as the frequently occurring TIM barrel and Rossmann fold. By evaluating the predictive performance of the model, we provide a comprehensive quantification of the structure-function relationship based only on local structure similarity. Our findings are, among others, that conserved structure is a stronger prerequisite for enzymatic activity than for binding specificity, and that structure-based predictions complement sequence-based predictions. The model is capable of generating correct hypotheses, as confirmed by a literature study, even when no significant sequence similarity to characterized proteins exists. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:Our approach offers a new and complete description and quantification of the structure-function relationship in proteins. By demonstrating how our predictions offer higher sensitivity than using global structure, and complement the use of sequence, we show that the presented ideas could advance the development of meta-servers in function prediction.

In this note, we present relative risks of giving birth for mothers with different numbers of children. We use Swedish register data and study the propensity to continue the childbearing beyond child number two. We pay special attention to births of those higher orders that are studied only rarely in conventional demographic analyses. As the parity increases to higher numbers, we expect to ? nd some kind of selection so that the group of mothers increasingly consists of very birth prone women. For births after a fourth child, we indeed ? nd such an effect in that the relative risk of giving birth to an additional child then increases with the birth order. In our intensity-regression models, we also check whether this selection effect of increasing birth risks can be picked up by the inclusion of a speci? c factor for unobserved heterogeneity in the mothers propensity to give birth. We ? nd that the positive gradient in the propensity to give birth indeed disappears when such a factor is included into our model.

Background: Immigrants and their second-generation descendants make up more than a quarter of the current Swedish population. Their nuptiality patterns can be viewed as crucial indicators of their integration into Swedish society. Objective: This study provides data on levels of and patterns in marriage formation, divorce, and re-marriage of people in Sweden, by country of origin. Methods: The study is based on analyses of longitudinal register data that cover all residents born in 1951 and later who ever lived in Sweden during 1983−2007. Kaplan-Meier survivor functions demonstrate levels in nuptiality; multivariate event-history analyses demonstrate relative risks of marriage formation and divorce, by country group of origin. Results: We find evidence of variation among immigrant groups and between migrants and Swedish-born people in marriage and divorce patterns. A few groups of migrants have relatively high churning rates in family dynamics, with high levels of marriage formation, divorce, and re-marriage. Conclusions: Many factors relate to the nuptiality behavior of immigrants in Sweden. Differences in family systems seem to have some influence on behavior in the contemporary Swedish context. Other factors relate to the migration process itself and to the selectivity of migrants to Sweden.

BACKGROUND Economic uncertainty has become an increasingly important factor in explanations of declining fertility and postponed family formation across Europe. Yet the micro-level evidence on this topic is still limited. OBJECTIVE This special collection of Demographic Research focuses on the issue of how economic and employment uncertainties relate to fertility and family dynamics in Europe. METHODS The collection is comprised of studies that explore how various dimensions of employment uncertainty, such as temporary working contracts and individual and aggregate unemployment, are related to the fertility and family formation of women and men across Europe. The studies cover Germany, the UK, France, Russia, Estonia, Sweden, Italy, Spain, and Israel. RESULTS The various micro-level studies that are assembled in this special collection do not provide a simple answer to the question of whether and how economic uncertainty suppresses (or stimulates) fertility. However, some systematic variation by welfare state regime is discernable. CONCLUSIONS Given the recent economic volatility in Europe, we expect that labor market uncertainties will remain an important component of explanations of fertility developments in the 21st century.

BACKGROUND Labor market uncertainties and employment insecurity have emerged as increasingly important factors in research on family formation and fertility. OBJECTIVE In the present study, we provide evidence from Sweden on how non-employment, unemployment, and temporary employment relate to young people's first birth risks. METHODS We use a combination of Labor Force Survey data on employment characteristics and register data on demographic outcomes to investigate how the labor market status and stability of employment are associated with the first birth behavior of women and men, and of Swedish- and foreign-born people in Sweden. RESULTS Consistent with previous research, we find that people who are not in the labor force are less likely than those who are employed to enter parenthood. In most cases, we also find that young people who are in temporary employment are less likely than those who are permanently employed to start a family. CONCLUSIONS Our study demonstrates that foreign-born people living in Sweden tend to adapt to the behavior of native-born Swedes, and that patterns for women and men are largely similar. We relate these findings to the equalizing impact of the country's universal welfare regime.

This study examines fertility variation across different residential contexts in four Northern European countries: Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. We move beyond the conventional urban-rural focus of most previous studies of within-nation variations in fertility by distinguishing between urban centres and suburbs of cities and towns. We base our study on aggregate and individual-level register data and our analysis shows that fertility levels are significantly higher in suburbs than in urban centres; this pattern has persisted over the past quarter of a century for all four countries. A parity-specific analysis of Swedish register data reveals that total fertility varies between central cities and suburbs due to the relatively high first- and second-birth propensities in the suburbs. Further analysis shows that fertility variation between the central cities and suburbs persists after controlling for women's socioeconomic characteristics. We discuss the role of various factors in accounting for high suburban fertility including omitted individual characteristics, contextual factors and selective residential moves of couples planning to have a child.

Previous analyses of period fertility suggest that the trends of the Nordic countries are sufficiently similar to speak of a common "Nordic fertility regime". We investigate whether this assumption can be corroborated by comparing cohort fertility patterns in the Nordic countries. We study cumulated and completed fertility of Nordic birth cohorts based on the childbearing histories of women born in 1935 and later derived from the population registers of Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. We further explore childbearing behaviour by women's educational attainment. The results show remarkable similarities in postponement and recuperation between the countries and very small differences in completed fertility across educational groups. Median childbearing age is about 2-3 years higher in the 1960-64 cohort than in the 1950-54 cohort, but the younger cohort recuperates the fertility level of the older cohort at ages 30 and above. A similar pattern of recuperation can be observed for highly educated women as compared to women with less education. An interesting finding is that of a positive relationship between educational level and the final number of children when women who become mothers at similar ages are compared. Country differences in fertility outcome are generally rather low. Childlessness is highest in Finland and lowest in Norway, and the educational differentials are largest in Norway. Despite such differences, the cohort analyses in many ways support the notion of a common Nordic fertility regime.

This article investigates the reproductive behavior of young women and men in the post-Soviet Central Asian republic of Kyrgyzstan, focusing on the link between migration and fertility. We employ event-history techniques to retrospective data from the 'Marriage, Fertility, and Migration' survey conducted in Northern Kyrgyzstan in 2005 to study patterns in first-time parenthood. We demonstrate the extent to which internal migration is related to family formation and to the patterns of becoming a parent after resettlement. We gain deeper insights into demographic behavior by considering information on factors such as the geographical destination of migration and retrospectively stated motives for reported moves. In addition, our study reveals clear ethno-cultural differences in the timing of entry into parenthood in Kyrgyzstan.

This article studies childbearing dynamics by labor-market status of co-residing parents in Sweden. We apply event-history techniques to longitudinal register data on the life histories of foreign-born mothers from ten different countries and the partners to these women, as well as to a sample of Swedish-born mothers and their partners. The context is a universalistic welfare state geared towards gender and social equality where formal social rights are largely independent of a person's civil status, citizenship, and country of origin. We investigate the extent to which the associations of parents' labor-market status with childbearing in Sweden differ between women and men and by country of origin. We find that the patterns of association are fairly similar on both of these individual dimensions. As measured by the way the labor-market activity of parents is related to their subsequent childbearing, we find evidence of equality by gender and at least some evidence of integration of immigrants into the dynamics of Swedish society.

Extending recent research on parental gender preferences in the Nordic countries, this study uses unique register data from Finland and Sweden (1971-1999) that provide us with the opportunity to compare childbearing dynamics and possible underlying sex preferences among natives and national minorities, namely Finnish-born immigrants in Sweden and members of the Swedish-speaking minority in Finland. Moreover, our Swedish data allow us to investigate regional and educational differences in child-sex specific fertility behavior of two-child mothers in 1981-1999. For Finland, we observe a continuous boy preference among the national majority and the Swedish-speaking minority as reflected in higher third-birth rates of mothers of two girls than of mothers of two boys. Evidence of similar preferences is found for Finnish-born migrants in Sweden, where the native-born population appears to have developed a girl preference, though. In all cases, we also observe clear indications of a preference for having at least one child of each sex. Generally speaking, our findings support an interpretation of parental gender preferences as a longstanding cultural phenomenon, related to country of childhood socialization rather than language group. Our analysis of regional and educational differentials in Sweden reveals no evidence which supports diffusion theories of persistence and change in parents' sex preferences for children.

In this paper we extend the concept of educational attainment to cover the field of education taken in addition to the conventional level of education attained. Our empirical investigation uses register records containing childbearing and educational histories of an entire cohort of women born in Sweden (about a quarter-million individuals). This allows us to operate with a high number of educational field-and-level combinations (some sixty in all). It turns out that the field of education serves as an indicator of a woman's potential reproductive behavior better than the mere level attained. We discover that in each field permanent childlessness increases some with the educational level, but that the field itself is the more important. In general, we find that women educated for jobs in teaching and health care are in a class of their own, with much lower permanent childlessness at each educational level than in any other major grouping. Women educated in arts and humanities or for religious occupations have unusually high fractions permanently childless. Our results cast doubt on the assumption that higher education per se must result in higher childlessness. In our opinion, several factors intrinsic and extrinsic to an educational system (such as its flexibility, its gender structure, and the manner in which education is hooked up to the labor market) may influence the relationship between education and childlessness, and we would not expect a simple, unidirectional relationship.

This is the second of two companion papers addressing the association between educational attainment and fertility for some sixty educational groups of Swedish women, defined according to field of education as well as level of education. The first paper is about childlessness and education, the present one about the mean number of children ever born. We find that ultimate fertility decreases somewhat with an increasing educational level, but its dependence on the field of education is much more impressive. In general, educational groups with relatively little childlessness also have relatively high ultimate fertility, and educational groups with much childlessness have relatively low ultimate fertility. In particular, women educated for the teaching or health-care professions have less childlessness and a higher ultimate fertility than others. Conversely, women with an education for esthetic or (non-teacher) humanist occupations have unusually high fractions childless and low ultimate fertility. Women with religious educations stand out by having very high fractions childless but quite ordinary mean ultimate fertility nevertheless; such women have very little childbearing outside of marriage. Women with research degrees have remarkably ordinary childbearing behavior; they do not forego motherhood to the extent that some theories would predict.

In Sweden, parents receive a parental-leave allowance of a high percentage (currently 80%) of their pre-birth salary for about a year in connection with any birth. If they space their births sufficiently closely, they avoid a reduction in the allowance caused by any reduced income earned between the births. The gain is popularly called a "speed premium". In previous work we have shown that childbearing was sped up correspondingly. This is clear evidence of a causal effect of a policy change on childbearing behavior. In the present paper, we study how this change in behavior was adopted in various social strata of the Swedish population.