A media visibility analysis of public leadership in Scandinavian responses to pandemics

This paper analyses public leadership in Scandinavia during thelatest two pandemics, the swine flu pandemic in 2009 and thecoronavirus pandemic in 2020, by compiling and contrastingnational proxies of media visibility among pandemic responseactors. Concretely, the paper taps into key media databases todevelop indicators of how often national leaders and leadinghealth experts are mentioned in Danish, Norwegian, and Swedishmedia reports about the 2009 and 2020 pandemics.The study reveals a high degree of continuity of public leadershipin Sweden during the two pandemics. In contrast, Norway and inparticular Denmark both moved from a predominately expertdriven media presence in 2009 to a much stronger top-downministerial leadership presence during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. In addition, Sweden also displays the most balancedmedia representation of health experts and cabinet ministers during both pandemics. The paper concludes by discussing the prosand cons of the outlined differences in public leadership and thepossible practical implications with regards public debateand trust.Expert Government Agencies' contribution to public deliberation: balancing the need for expertise with political equalit

Cost Affecting Factors Related to Fillet Joints

Fillet welds are by far the most frequent arc welding joint type in the fabrication industry with about 80% of all arc welded joints worldwide. Alt-hough the joint is well established, there are many aspects to consider when pro-ducing an ideal weld. This paper reveals and connects several problematic issues related to the joint type and the difficulties to fabricate a weld with correct strength, cost, and quality. Excessive welding of fillet welds is common, resulting in increased fabrication cost. There could be several causes for this; the designers do not customize the weld demand for the different stress levels and the production adds even more to handle the variation in the process. Previous studies shows that the combination of these factors can result in 100% extra weld metal, compared to what should be needed to fulfil the strength demands. Inspections are another contributor to excess welding. The capability of the weld size measurement method used by welders and inspectors is unsatisfactory. Measurement system analyses show that the scatter from the measurement system itself is in the same range as the scatter from the process. A critical summary of the current state-of-the-art is that fillet welds are hard to specify and fabricate with the right size, that the measuring method is incapable and the connection between size and strength is weak

The Right Evaluation Method - an Enabler for Process Improvement

This paper aims at describing the procedure where an alternative evaluation process was developed to support the improvement of both welding and weld quality evaluation. Welded structures are important when striving for reduced fuel consumption due to vehicle weight. Hence good control of the fabrication process is critical to keep welding performance on target, avoiding waste in terms of added weight and overproduction. The resulting distribution of weld weight has shown to be an important control parameter in the sense of keeping cost down. To identify the causes for deviations between actual and theoretical weld weight, information about the weld was needed. The currently used evaluation method showed not to be capable of giving the information needed. It was necessary to know the throat size as well as weld geometry. The current evaluation method introduced more variation due to the measurement than the actual fabrication process itself, leading to drift of process target and overproduction. To fulfil the need of information, that different functions within the company had, a PULL-approach was used. The information need, information presentation and sequence were outlined for each information receiver individually. An alternative measurement method was developed and named WIA – Weld Impression Analysis. The method consists of two parts; creating the replica and analysing the shape in an image analysis program. The method was tested to see if it was capable of delivering accurate and precise measurements, satisfying repeatability and reproducibility requirements for this particular situation. A thorough measurement system analysis was carried out. The measurement system assigned 98.98% of the total variation to part-to-part variation corresponding to long-term process variation. The variation that stems from taking the impressions and preparing them was as well investigated, also showing satisfying results. Finally it was investigated if the impressions reflect the true shape of the welds accurately. The results showed a tendency of slightly higher cross sectional areas in the range of 0-3 %. This however indicated that the accuracy of the measurement system was sufficient for its purpose. The PULL-approach generated a sufficient method which enabled the possibility to perform process improvement and gain large production cost savings

Samverkansbjälklag av trä och betong - Infästning mellan två bjälklagselement

Timber-concrete composite floors have been used for many years outside Sweden, although this kind of floor has not reached its full potential in Sweden. An advantage of using a timber-concrete composite floor is that the concrete is primarily subjected to compressive stress while the wood is primarily subjected to tensile stress, for the case of vertical load. The purpose of this work is to examine the static deflection and dynamic response in terms of eigenfrequency in the first mode. Measured values and values obtained from analytical models have been compared. Testing of deflection has been done, to verify that the floor fulfills the requirements regarding stiffness. Testing of the eigenfrequency in the first mode has been done to verify that the system of joists satisfies the recommendation from Eurocode. The deflections for different spacings of the connections between the two units were compared and parameters as price and ergonomics at assembly were taken into account. The test results show that the timber-concrete composite floors meet the requirements with a wide margin for of a length of the timber joists up to 8 meters, which indicates that lengths up to 12 meters are possible with respect to deflection, without increasing the thickness of the composite floor. Comparison of stiffness between tests and calculations verifies that the calculation method for beams with mechanical connections in Eurocode 5 presents acceptable values for bending stiffness. Test results also indicate that the floor is on the verge of fulfilling the recommendations regarding the natural frequency, therefore further investigations should be carried out

Increasing the efficiency of cam follower systems through energy recovery

A cam and follower system is a mechanical linkage designed to transform a rotating motion to that of a linear reciprocating motion. Cams are well known for valving in internal combustion engines but are commonly utilized in industrial processes including stamping, food processing, and textile manufacturing. Most systems use an input torque in order to produce a linear force during the rise portion and rely on a spring to produce the return motion on the fall. Experiments using multiple test apparatuses suggest that the commonly used 30 degree pressure angle limit can be exceeded in low speed applications. Results also show that energy can be recovered from the system during the fall portion when the follower subjects the cam to a high return force. An analytical analysis describes the characteristics of how this return force can be recovered to increase overall system efficiency

Gender Disparities in Top Earnings:Measurement and Facts for Denmark 1980-2013

Extending the work of Atkinson et al. (J. Econ. Inequal. 16, 225-256, 2018), we decompose top-earnings gender disparities into a glass-ceiling coefficient and a top-earnings gender gap. The decomposition uses that both male and female top earnings are Pareto distributed. If interpreting top-earnings gender disparities as caused by a female-specific earnings tax, the top-earnings gender gap and glass-ceiling coefficient measure the tax level and tax progressivity, respectively. Using Danish data on earnings, we show that the top-earnings gender gap and the glass-ceiling coefficient evolve differently across time, the life cycle, and educational groups. In particular, while the top-earnings gender gap has been decreasing in Denmark over the period 1980-2013, the glass-ceiling coefficient has been remarkably stable

The Influence of Correct Transfer of Weld Information

ABSTRACT This study aims at identifying the causes for deviations between actual and theoretical weld weight. Previous performed studies have shown examples of up to 40% extra weld consumables used in some cases. One consequence is of course higher production cost but it can also give increased weight leading to higher fuel consumption and decreased payload. An interesting aspect is that generous margins on specific production measures dilute important feedback of process variation information preventing and prolonging structural root cause analysis. The causes for the observed deviations can heritage from several areas, both technical and within the information handling. The investigation shows that single components of the information structure and system, such as unsuitable demands as well as incapable evaluation methods, significantly influences the reliability of the entire manufacturing process. The common factor concerning when problems occur, seems to be the ability of correct information transfer between different functions in the organisation preventing the mismatch to appear in the interface. Suggestions for improving this situation include cross functional agreements as well as new measuring methods

On Using Pareto Distributions for Measuring Top-Income Gender Disparities

Atkinson et al. (2018) propose a measure of the glass ceiling exploiting that top incomes are approximately Pareto distributed. We clarify how this glass-ceiling coefficient describes the increasing scarcity of women further up in the income distribution and show how it relates to the top-income gender gap. If interpreting top income gender differences as caused by a female-specific income tax, the gender gap and glass ceiling coefficient measure its level and progressivity, respectively. Using Danish data on earnings, we show that the top gender gap and the glass-ceiling coefficient evolves across time, the life cycle, and educational groups

The Disk Substructures at High Angular Resolution Project (DSHARP). II. Characteristics of Annular Substructures

The Disk Substructures at High Angular Resolution Project (DSHARP) used ALMA to map the 1.25 mm continuum of protoplanetary disks at a spatial resolution of ~5 au. We present a systematic analysis of annular substructures in the 18 single-disk systems targeted in this survey. No dominant architecture emerges from this sample; instead, remarkably diverse morphologies are observed. Annular substructures can occur at virtually any radius where millimeter continuum emission is detected and range in widths from a few astronomical units to tens of astronomical units. Intensity ratios between gaps and adjacent rings range from near-unity to just a few percent. In a minority of cases, annular substructures coexist with other types of substructures, including spiral arms (3/18) and crescent-like azimuthal asymmetries (2/18). No clear trend is observed between the positions of the substructures and stellar host properties. In particular, the absence of an obvious association with stellar host luminosity (and hence the disk thermal structure) suggests that substructures do not occur preferentially near major molecular snowlines. Annular substructures like those observed in DSHARP have long been hypothesized to be due to planet–disk interactions. A few disks exhibit characteristics particularly suggestive of this scenario, including substructures in possible mean-motion resonance and double gap features reminiscent of hydrodynamical simulations of multiple gaps opened by a planet in a low-viscosity disk

A Wireless Future: performance art, interaction and the brain-computer interfaces

Although the use of Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) in the arts originates in the 1960s, there is a limited number of known applications in the context of real-time audio-visual and mixed-media performances and accordingly the knowledge base of this area has not been developed sufficiently. Among the reasons are the difficulties and the unknown parameters involved in the design and implementation of the BCIs. However today, with the dissemination of the new wireless devices, the field is rapidly growing and changing. In this frame, we examine a selection of representative works and artists, in comparison to the current scientific evidence. We identify important performative and neuroscientific aspects, issues and challenges. A model of possible interactions between the performers and the audience is discussed and future trends regarding liveness and interconnectivity are suggested