Regulation versus practice - The impact of accessibility on the use of specialist health care in Norway

In Norway specialized health services are provided both by public hospitals and by privately practicing specialists who have a contract with the public sector. Patients’ co-payment is the same irrespective of the type of provider they visit. The ambition of equity in the allocation of medical care is high among all political parties. The instruments for auditing whether these goals are fulfilled are not equally ambitious. The objective of the present study is to explore whether laws and regulations that govern the allocation of specialist health care resources in fact are fulfilled. Panel data from the Survey of Living Conditions are merged with data on capacity and spatial access to primary and specialist care. We find that accessibility and socio-economic variables play a considerable role in determining both the probability of at least one visit and the number of visits to a private specialist. A person with a higher university degree living in a municipality with the highest value of the geographical accessibility index has a 46%-points higher probability of at least one visit to a private specialist compared with a person with junior high living in a municipality with the lowest value of the accessibility index. With regard to visits to a hospital outpatient department these variables are not found to have significant effects. We conclude that public ambitions and regulations are fulfilled for specialist services provided by public hospitals. With regard to the provision of services provided by publicly financed private specialists we find a discrepancy between public goals and surveyed practice.specialist health services; utilization; equity; private/public provision; survey data

På hvilken måte kan sentrale kristne perspektiver på arbeid (KPA) påvirke arbeid i kommersielle organisasjoner? : et rammeverk

Denne utredningen er en del av masterstudiet i økonomi og administrasjon ved Norges Handelshøyskole, Institutt for strategi og ledelse. Utredningen ser nærmere på hvordan ulike religiøse orienteringer påvirker adferd i kommersielle organisasjoner. Dette er et område en har arbeidet relativt lite med i vitenskapelig sammenheng. Ved å kombinere ulike fagdisipliner søker studien å etablere proposisjoner som er av betydning for en kommersiell organisasjon. Ved hjelp av teologisk, religionspsykologisk, entreprenørskaps og aktuelle historiske kilder, får oppgaven et bredt grunnlag. Denne tilnærming gjør det også mulig å finne interessante koplinger. Jeg vil takke familie og venner for gode innspill og god støtte gjennom prosessen. Avslutningsvis vil jeg også takke min gode veileder, Magne Supphellen for engasjerte og givende samtaler og veiledning under hele arbeidet med utredningen

Development of Transgenic Lines to Support Plant Cell Biology Research

Viruses pose a threat to humans in a variety of ways — from direct infection to imposing devastating effects on the agriculture industry. Prevention of such infection requires knowledge of the mechanisms of viral infection, both in animal- and plant-infecting species. The goal of this project was to identify plant factors that interact with viral proteins in the course of infection leading to disease. Sonchus yellow net virus (SYNV) and Potato yellow dwarf virus (PYDV) were used to test the hypothesis that the viruses utilize different subsets of host factors in order to infect Nicotiana benthamiana, despite both being members of the genus Nucleorhabdovirus. Protein:protein interactions were validated with the use of bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC). In addition, these experiments required the use of transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana plants that express fluorescent markers targeted to histone 2B as an aid to establishing localization of the viral proteins within the host plant cell. Taken together, BiFC experiments conducted in “blue nuclei” transgenic plants that express CFP-H2B significantly improve image quality and information content of the experiments, providing simultaneous localization and interaction data. The utility of novel techniques and the transgenic plants developed in the Goodin lab provided the necessary tools required to fulfill the objectives of a major NSF-funded research project

Kitchen, Fully Updated

This flash nonfiction essay explores how trauma and pursuit of recovery are as everyday as making meals, washing dishes, or letting your gaze wander out a kitchen window

An Investigation into the impact of native English speakers on Korean English Teachers

For the past 20 years, Korean public schools have hired native English speakers to teach English alongside a Korean English co-teacher. The native speaking teacher is often not trained as a teacher, and is tasked with teaching Korean students. This paper briefly looks at the history of co-teaching in Korea and examines what kind of impact native English speaking teachers have on the English language skills of their Korean counterparts. The survey results are from 112 Korean English teachers who responded to a 25 questions which asked for their perceptions of their English abilities before and after working with a native English speaker. This is the first survey of Korean English teachers about their impressions of the impact that working with a native English speaker had on their English skills and language abilities

A Case Study of Interactions With Multicultural Literature in a College Freshman English Classroom

This paper considers the perceptions and interactions of a teacher and students in a college freshman English course. The researcher examined how multicultural literature was incorporated into that course and how students responded to the selections and classroom activities. The study followed an inductive methodology; that is, abstractions were based upon observations and experiences from the participants rather than deduced from prior theories. Classroom observations, in-depth interviews, and course written documents provided data for analysis. Based on this study’s data collection and analysis, three themes emerged: First, the teacher’s authenticity as a person and teacher contributed to a meaningful learning experience for the participants; second, active, student- centered learning experiences provided students opportunities to explore their own questions and ideas; and, third, the strong sense of connectedness in the class setting facilitated positive engagement for the participants within the learning community. Data suggested that text, teaching style, instructional method, class activities, and interactions among teacher, students, and outside voices all contributed to the development of students’ understanding of other cultures

Consumer Purchasing Decisions Based on a Company\u27s Sustainability Efforts and Marketing Initiatives

The purpose of this research is to look at what factors lead to consumers purchasing green or environmentally friendly products and services. Based on these factors, we are further researching how a business can improve their sustainability efforts, and then learn what marketing techniques will be effective in relaying these efforts to consumers. We will first examine the history of the green movement to understand what has led to today’s demand for businesses to increase their sustainability efforts. We will analyze current consumer demographics to find out who is responding to green marketing and showing interest in current environmental issues. Further questions to answer in our research include how individualism plays into green consumer purchases, consumer distrust in green marketing, the types of businesses implementing these efforts, and how transparency in the supply chain can be effective. We will wrap up our research by looking at the current climate of marketing techniques. There is a need to examine green marketing, consumers are incorporating green efforts into their daily lives and thus are looking to support businesses who align with these values. Our research concluded there is an untapped market opportunity for businesses to increase their sustainability efforts in the right way, and then market these efforts using modern marketing techniques that do not promote distrust from consumers

Da norske jøder ikke fantes

Det hadde bodd jøder i landet i noe mer enn en generasjon da annen verdenskrig brøt ut. Spilte det noen rolle at de aller fleste var norske statsborgere da deportasjonene var et faktum? Under krigen inngikk det i den nasjonalsosialistiske ideologi å ekskludere visse kategorier mennesker – blant disse jødene – for å oppnå «den ideelle stat». Men hva med «norskheten» under krigen – var jødene inkludert i den? Og hva skjedde etter krigen? Ble jødene betraktet som en del av det norske fellesskapet da

A study of the sea and the search for paradise regained in Typee , :Mardi , and Moby-Dick

In Typee, Mardi, and Moby-Dick by Herman Melville, the sea functions as a symbol which expresses Melville\u27s changing worldview. The most important characteristic of a symbol is that its referent is non-ostensive. That is, the symbol refers not only to an intangible concept but also one that can only be defined completely or comprehended fully. It may be that symbols are derived from man\u27s awareness of the absurdity of his existence. Man is not responsible for his birth, nor can he avoid his death. During his empirical existence he craves some kind of order, unity, reason, and meaning in this world. This desire leads to an attempt to define himself and to understand himself and his relationships with nature and with society. An irreducible something makes it impossible for him to know himself, another, or his situation fully. The symbol is also multi vocal in that it means different things to different people . Hence, man create symbols in an attempt to find his identity through an ordering of his experience. At this time the intangible and undefinable quality of the symbol reflects the impossibility of knowing and understanding it completely. (Man continues, through symbols, to find a somewhere to be and a reason to be there. For Melville the sea is the symbol for that human predicament.