Lost in Transition: Puzzles of Reconciliation

This paper discusses reconciliation as a strategy to heal social wounds caused by dictatorial regimes or deep economic crises. The paper treats two such examples: The failed attempts of the Icelandic government to reach a deal with the UK and the Netherlands about the repayment of debts incurred by the bankrupt Landsbanki Íslands and the prosecution of Mr. Geir Haarde, formerly Prime Minister of Iceland. It is argued that although reconciliation strategies have in some cases been partially successful, it can be counterproductive to prefer moral aspirations or goals, such as rebuilding trust after serious political, social or economic disintegration, to strictly legal ways of dealing with individual cases. As the case with Mr. Haarde shows, the endeavor to achieve moral goals using legal means can backfire in unexpected ways

Rússneska byltingin fyrr og síðar: inngangur að þema

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Lessons from Icesave: how international pressure can produce a nationalist backlash

Iceland held two referendums in 2010 and 2011 on whether the country’s government should insure British and Dutch deposits in the Icelandic bank Landsbanki, which went bankrupt during the financial crisis. Oddný Helgadóttir and Jón Gunnar Ólafsson write that the saga demonstrated how external pressure can foster nationalist discourses and reduce the scope for compromise in international disputes

Hepatitis C: a clinical-histopathological study

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenOBJECTIVE: Hepatitis C is a common cause of chronic hepatitis and cirrhosis in Western countries. In recent years a large group of individuals have been diagnosed with the disease in Iceland. The aim of this study was to investigate histological parameters of patients with hepatitis C and to correlate histological findings with clinical findings. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this retrospective study, all patients diagnosed with hepatitis C in Iceland that had a liver biopsy in the years 1991-2001 were included. Data on age, route of infection, duration of infection and co-infection was obtained from medical records. Liver biopsy specimens were evaluated and inflammatory activity graded and the degree of fibrosis staged. RESULTS: In all 97 patients (58 males, 39 females) were included in the study. The mean age was 35.6 years (range 11-64). Risk factors were intravenous drug abuse in 70 (72.6%), blood transfusion in 12 (12.4%) and eight had no known risk factors. Estimated duration of infection was 8.85 years (range 1-31). Average inflammatory grade was 2.84 (range 0-8) and average fibrosis stage was 0.95 (range 0-6). The majority (72.6%) of patients had minimal or no inflammation and 85.5% had minimal or no fibrosis. Only four patients had cirrhosis. Significant correlation was observed between the age at infection and the degree of fibrosis. No correlation was detected between the duration of infection or route of infection and histopathological parameters. CONCLUSION: Patients with hepatitis C that underwent a liver biopsy in 1991-2000 had mild histopathological changes in the liver. This is most likely due to short duration of infection and young age of the patients in this study.Tilgangur: Lifrarbólga C er ein algengasta orsök langvinnrar lifrarbólgu og skorpulifrar á Vesturlöndum. Á undanförnum árum hefur stór hópur Íslendinga greinst með sjúkdóminn. Þessi rannsókn miðaði að því að kanna bólguvirkni og bandvefsmyndun í vefjasýnum sjúklinga með lifrarbólgu C og athuga tengsl við klíníska þætti. Efniviður og aðferðir: Rannsóknin var aftursæ og náði til allra sjúklinga með lifrarbólgu C sem fóru í lifrarsýnistöku á tímabilinu 1991-2000. Upplýsinga var aflað um aldur, smitleið, smittíma, lifrarpróf, samhliða sýkingar og fleira. Vefjasýni voru endurskoðuð og metin var bólga og bandvefsmyndun. Einnig var könnuð fylgni klínískra þátta við niðurstöður úr vefjasýnum. Niðurstöður: Alls 97 sjúklingar (58 karlar og 39 konur) uppfylltu skilmerki rannsóknarinnar og var meðalaldur 35,6 ár (bil 11-64). Sprautufíklar voru 77 (79,4%), blóðþegar 12 (12,4%) og hjá átta (8,2%) var smitleið óþekkt. Áætlaður smittími var 8,85 ár (bil 1-31). Meðaltal bólgudrepsstuðuls var 2,84 (bil 0-8) og bandvefsstuðuls 0,95 (bil 0-6). Alls voru 70 (72,6%) sjúklingar með enga/mjög væga bólgu og 83 (85,5%) með enga/mjög væga bandvefsmyndun. Einungis fjórir höfðu skorpulifur. Fylgni var á milli áætlaðs aldurs við smit og bandvefsmyndunar. Ekki var fylgni á milli smittíma eða smitleiðar og vefjameinafræðilegra þátta. Ályktun: Sjúklingar með lifrarbólgu C sem fóru í lifrarsýnistöku árin 1991-2000 höfðu væga bólgu og bandvefsmyndun í lifur. Líklegasta skýringin er tiltölulega stuttur smittími og lágur aldur

DYNAMICAL PROCESSES RELATED TO CYCLONE DEVELOPMENT NEAR GREENLAND

A cyclone that caused heavy snowfall and winds exceeding 30 m/s over E-Greenland and N-Iceland on 20-21 September 2003 is investigated. Numerical simulations are conducted to assess the role of Greenland\u27s orography for the development, as well as to evaluate the significance of other factors such as latent heating, SST and SST gradients. The simulations reveal that the cyclone evolution is strongly affected by the orography of Greenland. When orography is removed, a deep, well organized baroclinic low develops rapidly and moves eastward at 75°N. Conversely, in the control run the evolution of the primary baroclinic low is greatly suppressed by the orographic retardation of the warm air ahead of and the cold air behind the low. At the same time, a secondary low off Greenland’s east coast at 68°N intensifies due to a coupling between an approaching upper level PV-anomaly and a lower level PV-anomaly generated from lee effects. This secondary low then moves eastward and causes extreme weather conditions, as observed. Further sensitivity experiments show that latent heating contributes to deepen the low, while SST gradients and SST in general contribute relatively little

IMPACT OF THE SCANDINAVIAN MOUNTAINS ON A HIGH-IMPACT CYCLONE IN AUGUST 2003

In August 2003, Central Norway was hit by extreme precipitation. The cyclone that caused the precipitation has been simulated with a high-resolution model, and several sensitivity studies have been carried out. The simulations reveal that the release of latent heat had a major impact on the development of the cyclone. The cyclone occurred during a period of anomalously high sea surface temperatures (SST). Numerical tests show however that the development of the cyclone and the extreme precipitation are fairly insensitive to the SST. Removing the orography of Scandinavia leads to a deformation of the cyclone; when the orography is present a lee trough is formed over SE-Norway and the pressure gradient to the west of the low as it moves over SE-Norway is stronger than in the run with no mountains. The results will be helpful in analysing similar events in coarse-resolution climate simulations, where the mountains are poorly resolved

Multiple melt plumes observed at the Breiðamerkurjökull ice face in the upper waters of Jökulsárlón lagoon, Iceland

Breiðamerkurjökull flows from the Vatnajökull ice cap and calves into the Jökulsárlón proglacial lagoon. The lagoon is connected to the North Atlantic Ocean through a 6 m deep narrow channel. Four hydrographic surveys in spring 2012, and a 2011 four-month long temperature and salinity time series of lagoon inflow show that the lake has significantly changed since 1976. Warm saline ocean water enters each tidal cycle and descends below the maximum sampled depths. The lagoon has a surface layer of ice melt, freshwater and Atlantic derived water. Beneath 10 m depth an advective diffusive balance is responsible for determining the temperature and salinity of the lagoon waters down to ~90 m. To maintain the observed hydrographic structure, we calculate an upwelling of deep water of ~0.2 m per day. A survey within 30 m of Breiðamerkurjökull showed that the warmest and most saline waters sampled within the lagoon below 10 m depth were adjacent to the glacier face, along with multiple interleaved warm and cold layers. A heat and salt balance model shows that submarine melting along the ice face generates multiple meltwater plumes that are mixed and diluted within 200 m of the ice face

Hepatocellular carcinoma in Iceland

Neðst á síðunni er hægt að nálgast greinina í heild sinni með því að smella á hlekkinn View/OpenIntroduction: The incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) varies throughout the world, being relatively low in Northern Europe (less than five per 100,000 population) where the majority of the patients have cirrhosis. In Iceland the prevalence of viral hepatitis and cirrhosis, the main risk factors for HCC, is lower than reported in many other countries. The aim of our study was to investigate the incidence and etiology of HCC in Iceland. Material and methods: All patients diagnosed with HCC in Iceland in 1984-1998 were included in the study. Histologic diagnosis was required for inclusion. Patients were identified from the Icelandic Cancer Registry and by reviewing autopsy and histopathology reports. Further information was obtained from medical records. Results: A total of 71 cases of HCC were identified, 51 males and 20 females. The mean age for males was 69.3 years (18-95) and 73 years (52-89) for females. The age-standardized annual incidence rate of HCC was 1.08/100,000 (males 2.10, females 0.67). The incidence did not increase significantly during the study period. Alcohol abuse (15.5%) and hemochromatosis (11%) were the most common risk factors. Twenty-three (32%) had cirrhosis but 39 (55%) had no known risk factors. Of 55 cases where non-neoplastic tissue was available for examination, 27 had liver disease. Conclusions: 1) The incidence of HCC in Iceland is lower than reported in other countries. 2) Alcohol abuse and hemochromatosis are the most common risk factors. 3) The ratio of patients with cirrhosis is low

The Icelandic news media in times of crisis and change

The news media around the world has experienced drastic changes in recent decades, and the Icelandic media is no exception. These changes originate in political, economic and not least technological developments. In this article we map key developments in the Icelandic media system and illustrate the changes it has undergone in the first decades of the 21st century. Journalism and media studies are under-researched fields of study in Iceland, and the country is usually absent from comparative work in these fields. Often it is simply grouped together with the other four Nordic countries. We argue that the Icelandic media system differs from those countries in several ways. Whilst it has moved towards the liberal model there are also indications of increased partisanship in the media in the last decade. The smallness of the media system has made it more vulnerable to the increasing competition and commercialisation in the digital era, and Iceland was particularly badly hit by the financial crisis in 2008. News media companies in Iceland are struggling financially, several media outlets have come and gone, mergers have been frequent and trust in the media is low. The view that some sort of public support is required to secure an independent media and high-quality journalism is gaining ground in Iceland. This could lead to its media system becoming more similar to the democratic corporatist Nordic countries than is the case now.Peer Reviewe