Velferdspiloten – samarbeidsløsninger mellom statlig regionalt nivå og kommuner i Østfold

Hovedmålsettingen med Velferdspiloten er å finne nye måter regionale sektormyndigheter kan samordne sin innsats for å løse kommunale velferdsutfordringer. Prosjekt er initiert og drevet av Fylkesmannen i Østfold, nå Fylkesmannen i Oslo og Viken med deltakere fra NAV Østfold, Bufetat Øst, IMDI Øst, Husbanken Øst, Politiet og Østfold Fylkeskommune. Kommuner som deltar er Fredrikstad, Halden, Indre Østfold og Sarpsborg. Velferdspiloten har definert fem mål de arbeider for å nå; å utvikle en ny modell for samordning, identifisere og endre uhensiktsmessig regler og arbeidsmetoder og løfte slike til nasjonalt nivå, mer effektiv ressursbruk i kommunene og hos statlige og regionale aktører, økt innovasjon i kommunene og å dele erfaringer. Rapporten konkluderer med at det første målet trolig vil nås på regionalt nivå. Arbeidsgruppen har hele tiden et fokus på regler som er uhensiktsmessige for kommuner, men det er for tidlig i prosessen til å si noe mer både om dette og om effektiv ressursbruk. Det er også for tidlig å si om Velferdspiloten bidrar til økt innovasjon, men det tilrettelegges for at det skal skje. Kommuner kan dele erfaringer, og dette skjer blant annet ved at arbeidet følgeforskes av Høgskolen i Østfold og at det er planlagt en erfaringskonferanse i desember 2019

Horisontal og vertikal samordning mellom regionale og kommunale aktører i arbeidet mot barnefattigdom – Kan Velferdspiloten vise vei?

Velferdspiloten er initiert og drevet av Fylkesmannen i Oslo og Viken med deltakere fra NAV, Bufetat Øst, Husbanken Øst og Viken Fylkeskommune. Kommunene som deltar er Fredrikstad, Indre Østfold, Sarpsborg og Halden. Velferdspiloten har definert fem mål de arbeider for å nå; å utvikle en ny modell for samordning, identifisere og endre uhensiktsmessige regler og arbeidsmetoder og løfte slike til nasjonalt nivå, mer effektiv ressursbruk i kommunene og hos statlige og regionale aktører, økt innovasjon i kommunene og å dele erfaringer. Utgangspunktet for denne andre rapporten om Velferdspiloten er tre forskningsspørsmål som ble formulert som en følge av erfaringene fra den første rapporten og beskriver både den horisontale og den vertikale samordningen mellom de regionale og kommunale aktørene i arbeidet mot barnefattigdom. Rapporten er basert på en kombinasjon av intervjuer, observasjon av møter, samt gjennomgang av møtereferater fra møter i arbeidsgruppen og fra møter med kommunene. Rapporten viser at Velferdspiloten har bidratt til at det er blitt avdekket retningslinjer og arbeidsmetoder som kan være uhensiktsmessige. I kommunene som Velferdspiloten har samarbeidet med ser vi at den også har bidratt til både innovasjon, og mer effektiv utnyttelse av ressursene. Særlig er dette synlig i det økte handlingsrommet som den vertikale samordningen mellom kommunene og Velferdspilotens har bidratt til å skape. Det har også vært en styrke for innovasjonsarbeidet at både det horisontale samarbeidet på regionalt nivå, og det vertikale samarbeidet mellom regionalt nivå og kommunene var åpent for mange mulige utviklingsveier. Dette gjør det, på begge nivåer og i relasjonen dem imellom, mulig å styrke og utvikle strategier som er basert på kunnskap og innsikt i de konkrete organisatoriske faktorene i kommunene og hvor det vertikale samarbeidet kan bidra med midler, kompetanse og verktøy

Temperature dependent surface relaxations of Ag(111)

The temperature dependent surface relaxation of Ag(111) is calculated by density-functional theory. At a given temperature, the equilibrium geometry is determined by minimizing the Helmholtz free energy within the quasiharmonic approximation. To this end, phonon dispersions all over the Brillouin zone are determined from density-functional perturbation theory. We find that the top-layer relaxation of Ag(111) changes from an inward contraction (-0.8 %) to an outward expansion (+6.3%) as the temperature increases from T=0 K to 1150 K, in agreement with experimental findings. Also the calculated surface phonon dispersion curves at room temperature are in good agreement with helium scattering measurements. The mechanism driving this surface expansion is analyzed.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. B (May 1998). Other related publications can be found at http://www.rz-berlin.mpg.de/th/paper.htm

Theory of commensurable magnetic structures in holmium

The tendency for the period of the helically ordered moments in holmium to lock into values which are commensurable with the lattice is studied theoretically as a function of temperature and magnetic field. The commensurable effects are derived in the mean-field approximation from numerical calculations of the free energy of various commensurable structures, and the results are compared with the extensive experimental evidence collected during the last ten years on the magnetic structures in holmium. In general the stability of the different commensurable structures is found to be in accord with the experiments, except for the tau=5/18 structure observed a few degrees below T_N in a b-axis field. The trigonal coupling recently detected in holmium is found to be the interaction required to explain the increased stability of the tau=1/5 structure around 42 K, and of the tau=1/4 structure around 96 K, when a field is applied along the c-axis.Comment: REVTEX, 31 pages, 7 postscript figure

Peptides containing the PCNA interacting motif APIM bind to the β-clamp and inhibit bacterial growth and mutagenesis

In the fight against antimicrobial resistance, the bacterial DNA sliding clamp, β-clamp, is a promising drug target for inhibition of DNA replication and translesion synthesis. The β-clamp and its eukaryotic homolog, PCNA, share a C-terminal hydrophobic pocket where all the DNA polymerases bind. Here we report that cell penetrating peptides containing the PCNA-interacting motif APIM (APIM-peptides) inhibit bacterial growth at low concentrations in vitro, and in vivo in a bacterial skin infection model in mice. Surface plasmon resonance analysis and computer modeling suggest that APIM bind to the hydrophobic pocket on the β-clamp, and accordingly, we find that APIM-peptides inhibit bacterial DNA replication. Interestingly, at sub-lethal concentrations, APIM-peptides have anti-mutagenic activities, and this activity is increased after SOS induction. Our results show that although the sequence homology between the β-clamp and PCNA are modest, the presence of similar polymerase binding pockets in the DNA clamps allows for binding of the eukaryotic binding motif APIM to the bacterial β-clamp. Importantly, because APIM-peptides display both anti-mutagenic and growth inhibitory properties, they may have clinical potential both in combination with other antibiotics and as single agents

Satellite holmium M-edge spectra from the magnetic phase via resonant x-ray scattering

Developing an expression of resonant x-ray scattering (RXS) amplitude which is convenient for investigating the contributions from the higher rank tensor on the basis of a localized electron picture, we analyze the RXS spectra from the magnetic phases of Ho near the $M_{4,5}$ absorption edges. At the $M_5$ edge in the uniform helical phase, the calculated spectra of the absorption coefficient, the RXS intensities at the first and second satellite spots capture the properties the experimental data possess, such as the spectral shapes and the peak positions. This demonstrates the plausibility of the adoption of the localized picture in this material and the effectiveness of the spectral shape analysis. The latter point is markedly valuable since the azimuthal angle dependence, which is one of the most useful informations RXS can provides, is lacking in the experimental conditions. Then, by focusing on the temperature dependence of the spectral shape at the second satellite spot, we expect that the spectrum is the contribution of the pure rank two profile in the uniform helical and the conical phases while that is dominated by the rank one profile in the intermediate temperature phase, so-called spin slip phase. The change of the spectral shape as a function of temperature indicates a direct evidence of the change of magnetic structures undergoing. Furthermore, we predict that the intensity, which is the same order observed at the second satellite spot, is expected at the fourth satellite spot from the conical phase in the electric dipolar transition.Comment: 24 pages, 5 figure

Is DRE essential for the follow up of prostate cancer patients? A prospective audit of 194 patients

BACKGROUND: Prostate cancer follow up forms a substantial part of the urology outpatient workload. Nurse led prostate cancer follow up clinics are becoming more common. Routine follow-up may involve performing DRE, which may require training. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this audit was to assess the factors that influenced the change in the management of prostate cancer patients during follow up. This would allow us to pave the way towards a protocol driven follow up clinic led by nurse specialists without formal training in DRE. RESULTS: 194 prostate cancer patients were seen over a period of two months and all the patients had DRE performed on at least one occasion. The management was changed in 47 patients. The most common factor influencing this change was PSA trend. A change in DRE findings influenced advancement of the clinic visit in 2 patients. CONCLUSIONS: PSA is the most common factor influencing change in the management of these patients. Nurse specialists can run prostate cancer follow-up clinics in parallel to existing consultant clinics and reserve DRE only for those patients who have a PSA change or have onset of new symptoms. However larger studies are required involving all the subgroups of patients to identify the subgroups of patients who will require DRE routinely

Nonperturbative renormalization group approach to frustrated magnets

This article is devoted to the study of the critical properties of classical XY and Heisenberg frustrated magnets in three dimensions. We first analyze the experimental and numerical situations. We show that the unusual behaviors encountered in these systems, typically nonuniversal scaling, are hardly compatible with the hypothesis of a second order phase transition. We then review the various perturbative and early nonperturbative approaches used to investigate these systems. We argue that none of them provides a completely satisfactory description of the three-dimensional critical behavior. We then recall the principles of the nonperturbative approach - the effective average action method - that we have used to investigate the physics of frustrated magnets. First, we recall the treatment of the unfrustrated - O(N) - case with this method. This allows to introduce its technical aspects. Then, we show how this method unables to clarify most of the problems encountered in the previous theoretical descriptions of frustrated magnets. Firstly, we get an explanation of the long-standing mismatch between different perturbative approaches which consists in a nonperturbative mechanism of annihilation of fixed points between two and three dimensions. Secondly, we get a coherent picture of the physics of frustrated magnets in qualitative and (semi-) quantitative agreement with the numerical and experimental results. The central feature that emerges from our approach is the existence of scaling behaviors without fixed or pseudo-fixed point and that relies on a slowing-down of the renormalization group flow in a whole region in the coupling constants space. This phenomenon allows to explain the occurence of generic weak first order behaviors and to understand the absence of universality in the critical behavior of frustrated magnets.Comment: 58 pages, 15 PS figure