1,699 research outputs found
Proof firm downsizing and diagnosis-specific disability pensioning in Norway
<br>Background: We wanted to investigate if firm downsizing is related to an increased rate of disability pensions among the former employed, especially for those with musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses, and for those having to leave the firm.</br>
<br>Methods: Statistics Norway provided a linked file with demographic information and all social security grants from the National Insurance Administration for 1992–2004 for all inhabitants in Norway. Our sample was aged 30–55 years in 1995, being alive, employed and not having a disability pension at the end of 2000. Downsizing was defined as percent change in number of employed per firm from 1995 to end 2000. Employment data were missing for 25.6% of the sample.</br>
<br>Results: Disability pension rates in the next four years were 25% higher for those experiencing a 30-59% downsizing than for those not experiencing a reduction of the workforce. 1-29% and 60-100% downsizing did not have this effect. Stayers following down-sizing had higher disability pension rates than leavers. What we have called complex musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses were relatively most common.</br>
<br>Conclusion: Moderate downsizing is followed by a significant increase in disability pension rates in the following four years, often with complex musculoskeletal and psychiatric diagnoses.</br>
Astrometric Positions and Proper Motions of 19 Radio Stars
We have used the Very Large Array, linked with the Pie Town Very Long
Baseline Array antenna, to determine astrometric positions of 19 radio stars in
the International Celestial Reference Frame (ICRF). The positions of these
stars were directly linked to the positions of distant quasars through phase
referencing observations. The positions of the ICRF quasars are known to 0.25
mas, thus providing an absolute reference at the angular resolution of our
radio observations. Average values for the errors in our derived positions for
all sources were 13 mas and 16 mas in R.A. and declination respectively, with
accuracies approaching 1-2 mas for some of the stars observed. Differences
between the ICRF positions of the 38 quasars, and those measured from our
observations showed no systematic offsets, with mean values of -0.3 mas in R.A.
and -1.0 mas in declination. Standard deviations of the quasar position
differences of 17 mas and 11 mas in R.A. and declination respectively, are
consistent with the mean position errors determined for the stars. Our measured
positions were combined with previous Very Large Array measurements taken from
1978-1995 to determine the proper motions of 15 of the stars in our list. With
mean errors of approximately 1.6 mas/yr, the accuracies of our proper motions
approach those derived from Hipparcos, and for a few of the stars in our
program, are better than the Hipparcos values. Comparing the positions of our
radio stars with the Hipparcos catalog, we find that at the epoch of our
observations, the two frames are aligned to within formal errors of
approximately 3 mas. This result confirms that the Hipparcos frame is inertial
at the expected level.Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures Accepted by the Astronomical Journal, 2003 March
1
Proper Motions of H2O Masers in the Water Fountain Source IRAS 19190+1102
We report on the results of two epochs of Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA)
observations of the 22 GHz water masers toward IRAS 19190+1102. The water maser
emission from this object shows two main arc-shaped formations perpendicular to
their NE-SW separation axis. The arcs are separated by ~280 mas in position,
and are expanding outwards at an angular rate of 2.35 mas/yr. We detect maser
emission at velocities between -53.3 km/s to +78.0 km/s and there is a distinct
velocity pattern where the NE masers are blueshifted and the SW masers are
redshifted. The outflow has a three-dimensional outflow velocity of 99.8 km/s
and a dynamical age of about 59 yr. A group of blueshifted masers not located
along the arcs shows a change in velocity of more than 35 km/s between epochs,
and may be indicative of the formation of a new lobe. These observations show
that IRAS 19190+1102 is a member of the class of "water fountain"'
pre-planetary nebulae displaying bipolar structureComment: Accepted for publication in ApJ, corrected typo
Contribution of oceanic and vegetation feedbacks to Holocene climate change in monsoonal Asia
The impact of vegetation-atmosphere and ocean-atmosphere interactions on the mid- to late Holocene climate change as well as their synergy is studied for different parts of the Asian monsoon region, giving consideration to the large climatic and topographical heterogeneity in that area. We concentrate on temperature and precipitation changes as the main parameters describing monsoonal influenced climates. For our purpose, we analyse a set of coupled numerical experiments, performed with the comprehensive Earth system model ECHAM5/JSBACH-MPIOM under present-day and mid-Holocene (6 k) orbital configurations (Otto et al., 2009b). The temperature change caused by the insolation forcing reveals an enhanced seasonal cycle, with a pronounced warming in summer (0.58 K) and autumn (1.29 K) and a cooling in the other seasons (spring: -1.32 K; winter: -0.97 K). Most of this change can be attributed to the direct response of the atmosphere, but the ocean, whose reaction has a lagged seasonal cycle (warming in autumn and winter, cooling in the other seasons), strongly modifies the signal. The simulated contribution of dynamic vegetation is small and most effective in winter, where it slightly warms the near-surface atmosphere (approx. 0.03 K). The temperature difference attributed to the synergy is on average positive, but also small. Concerning the precipitation, the most remarkable change is the postponement and enhancement of the Asian monsoon (0.46 mm/day in summer, 0.53 mm/day in autumn), mainly related to the direct atmospheric response. On regional average, the interactive ocean (ca. 0.18 mm/day) amplifies the direct effect, but tends to weaken the East Asian summer monsoon and strongly increases the Indian summer monsoon rainfall rate (0.68 mm/day). The influence of dynamic vegetation on precipitation is comparatively small (&lt;0.04 mm/day). The synergy effect has no influence, on average
Climate, land use, and conflict in Northern Africa: MPI-M/CliSAP Workshop on Climate, Land Use, and Conflict in Northern Africa,Lübeck, Germany, 22–25 September 2014
Polarization of Astronomical Maser Radiation. IV. Circular Polarization Profiles
Profile comparison of the Stokes parameters and is a powerful tool
for maser data analysis, providing the first direct methods for unambiguous
determination of (1) the maser saturation stage, (2) the amplification optical
depth and intrinsic Doppler width of unsaturated masers, and (3) the
comparative magnitudes of Zeeman splitting and Doppler linewidth. Circular
polarization recently detected in OH 1720 MHz emission from the Galactic center
appears to provide the first direct evidence for maser saturation.Comment: 14 pages, 1 Postscript figures (included), uses aaspp4.sty. To appear
in Astrophysical Journa
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