Scandinavian long-term care financing

In this paper, we compare and analyse the systems for financing long-term care for older people in the Scandinavian countries – Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The three countries share common political traditions of local autonomy and universalism, and these common roots are very apparent when the financing of long-term care is concerned. Nevertheless, the Scandinavian systems for long- term care (LTC) exhibit some important deviations from the idealized “universal welfare state” to which these countries are normally ascribed. For example, user charges tend to be strongly dependent on earnings, which is incoherent with the general norm of flat-rate public services. Also, there is significant regional variation in the level of services provided, which is in direct contrast with the universalist ambitions. Overall, the Scandinavian countries distinguish themselves through their very high reliance on public spending in long-term care. It is unclear to what extent the Scandinavian model for financing of long term care will be sustainable as demographic change progresses in the next few decades.long term care; financing; welfare state; Scandinavia

Enhanced electron correlations in FeSb2_2

FeSb$_2$ has been recently identified as a new model system for studying many-body renormalizations in a $d$-electron based narrow gap semiconducting system, strongly resembling FeSi. The electron-electron correlations in FeSb$_2$ manifest themselves in a wide variety of physical properties including electrical and thermal transport, optical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, specific heat and so on. We review some of the properties that form a set of experimental evidences revealing the crucial role of correlation effects in FeSb$_2$. The metallic state derived from slight Te doping in FeSb$_2$, which has large quasiparticle mass, will also be introduced.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures; submitted to Annalen der Physi

Stress and its impact on animal welfare during commercial production of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.)

Doctoral thesis (PhD) – University of Nordland, 201

The effect of allostatic load on hypothalamic–pituitary–interrenal (HPI) axis before and after secondary vaccination in Atlantic salmon postsmolts (Salmo salar L.)

Author's accepted version (postprint).The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10695-013-9863-xThe experiment consisted of three experimental groups: (1) ‘‘vaccine and stress’’, (2) ‘‘stress and vaccine’’ and (3) control. All groups have previously been vaccinated 6 months prior to the start of the experiment. At the start of the experiment, the ‘‘vaccine and stress’’ group was vaccinated with Pentium Forte Plus for the second time (25.02.2008) and then given a daily stressor (confinement stressor 267 kg m-3 in 15 min) for a period of 4 weeks. The ‘‘stress and vaccine’’ group was given a similar daily stressor for 4 weeks and then vaccinated for the second time. The control group was neither stressed nor vaccinated a second time. The results indicates that fish in the ‘‘stress and vaccine’’ group may have entered an allostatic overload type 2 due to oversensitivity to ACTH, a reduced efficient negative feedback system with elevated baseline levels of plasma cortisol and reduced immune response with pronounced effects on the well-being of the animal. The ‘‘vaccine and stress’’ group may likewise have entered an allostatic overload type 1 response, with oversensitivity to ACTH and transient reduced efficient negative feedback system. This study shows that if plasma cortisol becomes elevated prior to vaccination, it could perhaps instigate an allostatic overload type 2 with dire consequences on animal welfare. To reduce the risk of compromising the animal welfare during commercial vaccination of salmon, one propose to grade the fish minimum a week prior to vaccination or grade simultaneously with vaccination. This could reduce the overall allostatic load during handling and vaccination and secure a healthy fish with intact immune response and improved animal welfare

Highly Dispersive Electron Relaxation and Colossal Thermoelectricity in the Correlated Semiconductor FeSb2_2

We show that the colossal thermoelectric power, $S(T)$, observed in the correlated semiconductor FeSb$_2$ below 30\,K is accompanied by a huge Nernst coefficient $\nu(T)$ and magnetoresistance MR$(T)$. Markedly, the latter two quantities are enhanced in a strikingly similar manner. While in the same temperature range, $S(T)$ of the reference compound FeAs$_2$, which has a seven-times larger energy gap, amounts to nearly half of that of FeSb$_2$, its $\nu(T)$ and MR$(T)$ are intrinsically different to FeSb$_2$: they are smaller by two orders of magnitude and have no common features. With the charge transport of FeAs$_2$ successfully captured by the density functional theory, we emphasize a significantly dispersive electron-relaxation time $\tau(\epsilon_k)$ due to electron-electron correlations to be at the heart of the peculiar thermoelectricity and magnetoresistance of FeSb$_2$.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figure

Danmark – landet med de store virksomheder

I takt med globaliseringen efter 1990 er den danske erhvervsstruktur gradvist blevet præget af en lille skare, meget store virksomheder. Denne udvikling står i skærende kontrast til den traditionelle opfattelse af Danmark som et land præget af små og mellemstore virksomheder i modsætning til nabolandene Sverige og Tyskland. Med fokus på Novo Nordisk konkluderes det, at selv enkelte virksomheder har kritisk betydning for landets økonomi, blandt andet i forhold til skattebetaling, formueafkast og afledt beskæftigelse. Hvor hidtidige magtudredninger har haft fokus på de mere strukturelle forhold, så bør koncentrationstendenserne i dansk erhvervsliv føre til et supplerende fokus på de enkelte storkoncerners betydning for den danske økonomi samt følgende magtposition i det danske samfund. Det er værd at bemærke, at de største danske virksomheder repræsenterer flere forskellige sektorer inden for blandt andet transport, service samt medicinal- og fødevarebrancherne

Proteomic and structural differences in lumpfish skin among the dorsal, caudal and ventral regions

publishedVersio