Jón Guđmundsson Lӕrđ's True Account and the Massacre of Basque Whalers in Iceland in 1615

On the night of September 20, 1615, the eve of the feast of St. Matthew, an expedition of Basque whalers lost their ships in a fjord near Trékyllisvik, Iceland, during a terrible storm. This led to a series of events that culminated in their October massacre at hands of the islanders. The Basque mariners' bodies, dismembered, would not be buried. However, not all Icelanders saw that massacre with good eyes. One of them, Jón Guđmundsson, better known as Jón lӕrđi (1574-1658) or "the wise man", wrote an essay on those events in defense of the victims titled "SöThis book reveals Jón Guđmundsson Lӕrđ's account of the massacre of the Basque whalers in Iceland in 1615.This book was published with generous financial support from the Basque Government

The "Clubs against Drugs" program in Stockholm, Sweden: two cross-sectional surveys examining drug use among staff at licensed premises

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The objective of this study is to examine self-reported drug use among staff at licensed premises, types of drugs used, attitudes towards drugs, and observed drug use among guests. Results are presented from two measurement points (in 2001 and 2007/08). This study was carried out within the framework of the "Clubs against Drugs" program, which is a community-based multi-component intervention targeting licensed premises in Stockholm, Sweden.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two cross-sectional surveys were conducted, the first in 2001 and the second in 2007/08. Staff at licensed premises attending server training were asked to participate in the anonymous survey. A survey was administered in a classroom setting and consisted of four sections: 1) demographics, 2) respondents' own drug use experience, 3) respondents' attitudes towards drug use, and 4) observed drug use among guests at licensed premises.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Data were collected from 446 staff in 2001 and 677 staff in 2007/08. The four most commonly used drugs among staff were cannabis, cocaine, amphetamine, and ecstasy. The highest rates of drug use were reported by staff in the two youngest age groups, i.e., those younger than 25 and those between the ages of 25 and 29. In 2007/08 staff reported significantly lower rates of drug use than staff in 2001. Last year drug use for the sample in 2007/08 was 19% compared to 27% for the 2001 sample. While drug-using staff compared to non drug-using staff reported more observations of drug use among guests, they were less inclined to intervene. Overall, staff reported restrictive attitudes towards drugs.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The prevalence of life-time and last year drug use among staff at licensed premises is high compared to the general population in Sweden. Lower rates of self-reported drug use among staff were reported in 2007/08. The results of this study highlight that staff at licensed premises represent an important target population in club drug prevention programs.</p

Measuring substance use in the club setting: a feasibility study using biochemical markers

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During the last few decades the use of club drugs (e.g., cocaine, amphetamines) has been of increased concern in nightlife settings. Traditionally, surveys have been used to estimate the use of club drugs, however, they mostly rely on self-reports which may not be accurate. Recent advances have allowed for readily accessible drug testing methods such as oral fluid drug testing. Nevertheless, research using oral fluid sampling to measure the frequency of drug use in the club environment is scarce. The objective of this study is to evaluate the feasibility of measuring the frequency of alcohol and drug use among Swedish clubbers using breath alcohol and oral fluid drug testing.</p> <p>Method</p> <p>The setting was a 40 hour electronic music dance event (EMDE) on a cruise ship on the Baltic Sea, departing from Sweden, with 875 passengers. Groups of participants at the EMDE were randomly invited to participate. Data were collected with face-to-face and self-administered questionnaires. Further, oral fluid samples were collected to determine illicit drug use, and blood alcohol concentration (BAC) levels were measured using a breath analyzer.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 422 passengers were asked to participate in the study whereof 21 declined (5.0% refusal rate). Of the 401 study participants (accounting for 45.8% of all attendees), 5 declined oral fluid drug testing. Results show that there was a discrepancy between self-reported and actual drug use as 10.1% of the participants were positive on illicit drug use (amphetamines, ecstasy/MDMA, cannabis, cocaine), while only 3.7% of the participants reported drug use during the last 48 hours. The average BAC level was 0.10% and 23.7% had BAC levels ≥ 0.15%, while 5.9% had levels below the detection limit. The mean BAC levels for the illicit drug users were significantly higher (<it>p </it>= 0.004) than for non-drug users (0.13% vs. 0.10%). Self-reported AUDIT-C scores (using a threshold of ≥ 5 for men and ≥ 4 for women) revealed that 76.0% of the men and 80.7% of the women had risky alcohol consumption patterns.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This study indicates that it is feasible to conduct breath alcohol and oral fluid drug testing in a Swedish club setting.</p

Cannabiskonsumtionens utbredning i Sverige och övriga Europa

Jämfört med andra länder är cannabiskonsumtionen i Sverige låg. Mindre än 10% av skoleleverna rapporterar att de har använt cannabis jämfört med över 40% i flera andra europeiska länder. Mindre än 5% av mönstrande män och elever i årskurs 9 rapporterar cannabisbruk de senaste 30 dagarna. Cannabiskonsumtionen ökade under 90-talet, men har under de senaste åren minskat något. Trots internationellt låg konsumtionsnivå finns flera tusen personer i Sverige med tungt cannabismissbruk, och därutöver finns många tunga missbrukare som använder cannnabis tillsammans med andra droger

Japanese Marketing. Fundamentally Different

Japan has always had a unique image in the eyes of many westerners and especially when it comes to its unique and whacky commercials. This study is motivated by the question; “Do the Japanese have a fundamentally different way of marketing compared to the western world?” It aims to advance our understanding of how and why Japanese marketing differs from typical western marketing by focusing on the history of Japan, conventional marketing practices of Japanese companies and the differences between Japanese and western cultures. Hofstede’s model of cultural dimensions is used for analysis of the cultural differences. The findings from the research indicate that culture significantly effects and explains the way marketing is conducted, which is why Japanese marketing differs considerably from western marketing. The results, implications for international businesses, and the significance of cultural difference for explaining consumer behaviour are discussed and reviewed

Anne Katrine Gjerløff and Anette Faye Jacobsen. Da skolen blev sat i system 1850– 1920. Dansk skolehistorie 3

Review: Anne Katrine Gjerløff, Anette Faye Jacobsen. Da skolen blev sat i system 1850–1920. Dansk skolehistorie 3: Hver-dag, vilkår og visioner gennem 500 år, ed. Charlotte Appel &amp; Ning de Coninck-Smith. Aarhus: Aarhus Universitetsforlag. 2014, 446 pp.</p

An ex-post analysis on traffic demand data : four Icelandic road tunnel projects

Recently there has been an increased international interest in evaluating accuracy of traffic demand forecasts by conducting an ex-post analysis on transportation projects. The role of traffic demand forecasting and accuracy of traffic forecasts made in support of these projects have been of particular interest. The financial viability of transportation projects is often heavily dependent on the traffic demand forecasts, and traffic forecasts often form the basis for socio-economic appraisals. This research follows the international research interest, and compares traffic demand forecasts of four selected Icelandic road tunnel projects with their actual traffic counts. The research method applied is a multiple-case design and the four selected case studies consist of three non-tolled projects and one toll-road project. The data collected contain traffic demand data from the time of decision making (primary data), and actual traffic counts (secondary data) from the Icelandic Road Administration (ICERA). The results of the three non-toll road projects are consistent with the results of comparable leading foreign studies, regarding accuracy in travel demand forecasting, thereby supporting those findings, which all give evidence of inaccuracy by underestimation. The toll-road project studied does, however, not reconcile with comparable foreign studies, as it shows a drastically underestimated traffic forecast. A possible explanation of the observed inaccuracy in travel demand forecasting could be: (1) Planners may have ignored the existence of, or underestimated, generated traffic. (2) Standard national traffic growth forecasts do not incorporate local variations based on population trends. The author’s concluding recommendation is that future Icelandic road tunnel projects should be appraised by a socio-economic analysis, and their traffic forecasts scrutinized and peer-reviewed before the final approval of projects.Í nýlegum erlendum rannsóknum fyrir umferðarmannvirki, hefur verið aukin áhugi á að meta nákvæmni á umferðarspám með samanburðargreiningu. Sérstök áhersla er lögð á nákvæmi þeirra, þar sem umferðarspár hafa verið notaðar við ákvörðunartöku slíkra verkefna. Fjárhagsleg hagkvæmni samgöngu verkefnisins er mjög háð umferðarspánni, jafnframt myndar umferðarspáin grunn að félagshagfræðilegri greiningu og kvarðar einnig umhverfisþætti slíks mats. Þessi rannsókn fylgir eftir þessum erlendu rannsóknum og ber saman umferðarspár fyrir fern íslensk jarðgöng með raun umferðartölum um jarðgöngin. Aðferðafræði rannsóknar er svokölluð „multiple-case design“ og verkefnin sem til skoðunar eru þrenn jarðgöng án vegtolla og ein með vegtollum. Gagnaöflum samanstöð af (1) upplýsum um umferð við ákvörðunartöku viðkomandi jarðgangna mannvirkis, (2) rauntölum umferðar eftir að jarðgöngin voru tekið í notkun. Rauntölum þessum er safnað saman af Vegagerðinni. Niðurstöður samanburðarrannsókna sýna að þrennu jarðgangnaverkefni sem eru án vegtolla eru samhljóma erlendu niðurstöðunum, þ.e leiða líkur að ónákvæmni og vanmati á umferðarspám. Jarðgangnaverkefnið með veggjöldunum sýnir sömu niðurstöðu og hin þrjú, en það er ekki í samræmi samanborið við erlendu niðurstöðurnar, þar sem verkefni með veggjöldum eru oftar en ekki ofmetin m.t.t umferðarspár. Hugsanlegar skýringar á þessu ósamræmi milli umferðarspánna og raunumferðar eru: (1) Við áætlunargerðina hefur vægi nýrrar- og viðbótarumferðar með tilkomu samgöngubótar (generated traffic) verið hunsað eða vanmetið. (2) Að almenn umferðarspá tekur ekki tillit til staðbundinna áhrifa sem byggja m.a. á byggðaþróun. Að lokum leggur höfundur til að fyrirhugaðar jarðgangna framkvæmdir á Íslandi verði metnar með félagshagfræðilegri greiningu og að umferðapár fyrir þau verkefni verði sérstaklega yfirfarin og ritrýnd af fagaðilum áður en viðkomandi jarðgangna verkefni er endanlega samþykkt