A Long Journey towards Citizenship: District Areas and Social Services in Goteborg

The main purpose of the present research is to investigate the implemented decentralized model of administration in local areas of Goteborg City and its effects on local welfare, or what I associate with the concept of social citizenship. In 1990 in Goteborg City the social sector - together with some other sectors (i.e. school and leisure) – was split up in 21 administrative District Councils. At that time politicians said that the main purpose of the district reform was to enhance social services management and citizenship. Citizenship entails a combination of participation and rights. This study will investigate the ways the reform improved local welfare. More precisely, it may be said that this is a study focusing on social administration mainly concerning the development of collective action and improved administrative performances for the advancement of local welfare. In Italy, instead of dealing with the increase of the complexity in social field through public intervention, the social services reform enacted by the law 328/2000 paved the way to partly privatize the Italian welfare state. This meant a much more massive presence of private actors in the social field. On the contrary, as it will be seen the Swedish government kept private subjects away from the management of social services by giving them the possibility to perform in political and cultural activities. The methodological design for this study can be complicated, since the implementation process could be seen as a journey that in Sweden started since 1952 and it is still in progress. Thus, I had to limit my purpose mainly in three questions: (1) How did the new institutional frame of reference contribute to improve social citizenship? (2) How did the district reform affect social services with regard to the building process of the local welfare? (3) In which way is Goteborg’s model to strengthen social citizenship distinguished from the Italian one? Our data consists of ten semi-structured interviews conducted thanks to the availability of key persons working in the municipality as city or district managers and social workers. The result is a clearer understanding of the district reform and its mechanism of functioning. For instance, it was possible to register the improvement of citizenship rights fulfilment due to the new local welfare model characterized by the institutional proximity to citizens, integration of different public services and sectors, coordination through decision-making decentralisation

Suitability of borago officinalis for minimal processing as fresh-cut produce

Borage (Borago offcinalis L.) is a wild vegetable appreciated as a folk medicine and for culinary preparations. The introduction of borage as a specialized cultivation would allow for the diversification of vegetable crops and would widen the offerings of raw and minimally processed leafy vegetables. Thus, the aim of the research was to evaluate the quality and shelf-life of fresh-cut borage stored at different temperatures. Borage plants were grown during the autumn-winter season and immediately minimally processed after harvest. Fresh-cut borage leaves packed in sealed bags were stored at 2 or 6 °C for 21 d. Weight loss, total soluble solids (TSS), titratable acidity (TA), ascorbic acid, nitrates, leaf color characteristics and overall quality were determined through the storage period. Borage plants were deemed suitable for minimal processing. Storage temperature significantly influenced the rate of quality loss. Borage leaves had an initial nitrate content of 329.3 mg kg-1 FW that was not affected by temperature or storage. TSS and TA were higher in leaves stored at 6 °C. TSS, TA and ascorbic acid content increased during storage. Minimally processed borage leaves stored at 2 °C had lower weight loss and leaf color modifications during storage and a longer shelf life than those stored at 6 °C, so were still marketable after 21 d of storage

Migration of Mg and other interstitial metal dopants in GaN

The minimum energy paths for the migration of interstitial Mg in wurtzite GaN are studied through density functional calculations. The study also comprises Li, Na, and Be dopants to examine the dependence on size and charge of the dopant species. In all cases considered, the impurities diffuse like ions without any tendency of localizing charge. Li, Mg, and to some extent Na, diffuse almost isotropically in GaN, with average diffusion barriers of 1.1, 2.1, and 2.5 eV, respectively. Instead Be shows a marked anisotropy with energy barriers of 0.76 and 1.88 eV for diffusion paths perpendicular and parallel to the c-axis. The diffusion barrier generally increases with ionic charge and ionic radius, but their interplay is not trivial. The calculated migration barrier for Mg is consistent with the values estimated in a recent beta- emission channeling experiment

Spatial identification of the overionized plasma in W49B

Recent Suzaku X-ray observations of the ejecta-dominated supernova remnant W49B have shown that in the global spectrum there is a clear indication for the presence of overionized plasma whose physical origin is still under debate. In order to ascertain the physical origin of such a rapidly cooling plasma, we focus on the study of its spatial localization within the X-ray emitting ejecta. We confirm the presence of a saw-edged excess (interpreted as a strong radiative recombination continuum) in the global spectrum above 8 keV, emerging above the ionization-equilibrium model. We produce a hardness ratio map to determine where the plasma is overionized and we perform a spectral analysis of the regions with and without strong overionization. We find that the overionized plasma is localized in the center of the remnant and in its western jet, while it is not detected in the bright eastern jet, where the expansion of the ejecta is hampered by their interaction with a dense interstellar cloud. The location of overionized plasma suggests that the inner ejecta are rapidly cooling by expansion, unlike the outer ejecta, for which expansion is hampered by interstellar clouds seen in H2Comment: Accepted for publication as a Letter in Astronomy and Astrophysics

Liquid Water through Density-Functional Molecular Dynamics: Plane-Wave vs Atomic-Orbital Basis Sets

We determine and compare structural, dynamical, and electronic properties of liquid water at near ambient conditions through density-functional molecular dynamics simulations, when using either plane-wave or atomic-orbital basis sets. In both frameworks, the electronic structure and the atomic forces are self-consistently determined within the same theoretical scheme based on a nonlocal density functional accounting for van der Waals interactions. The overall properties of liquid water achieved within the two frameworks are in excellent agreement with each other. Thus, our study supports that implementations with plane-wave or atomic-orbital basis sets yield equivalent results and can be used indiscriminately in study of liquid water or aqueous solutions

Emerging patterns of genetic overlap across autoimmune disorders.

Most of the recently identified autoimmunity loci are shared among multiple autoimmune diseases. The pattern of genetic association with autoimmune phenotypes varies, suggesting that certain subgroups of autoimmune diseases are likely to share etiological similarities and underlying mechanisms of disease. In this review, we summarize the major findings from recent studies that have sought to refine genotype-phenotype associations in autoimmune disease by identifying both shared and distinct autoimmunity loci. More specifically, we focus on information from recent genome-wide association studies of rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. Additional work in this area is warranted given both the opportunity it provides to elucidate pathogenic mechanisms in autoimmunity and its potential to inform the development of improved diagnostic and therapeutic tools for this group on complex human disorders

Development and Maintenance of Self-Disclosure on Facebook: The Role of Personality Traits

This study explored the relationships between Facebook self-disclosure and personality traits in a sample of Italian users. The aim was to analyze the predictive role of Big Five personality traits on different parameters of breadth and depth of selfdisclosed behaviors online. Facebook users, aged between 18 and 64 years of age (Mage = 25.3 years, SD = 6.8; N = 958), of which 51% were female, voluntarily completed an online survey assessing personality traits and Facebook self-disclosure. Results at a series of hierarchical regression analyses significantly corroborated the hypotheses that high extroverted and openness people tend to disclose on Facebook a significant amount of personal information, whereas high consciousness and agreeableness users are less inclined to do it. Furthermore, more extroverts and agreeableness people develop less intimacy on Facebook, differently from those with high levels of openness. Results also corroborated the hypothesis of a full mediation of time usage in the relationship between personality factors such as extroversion and conscientiousness with breadth of Facebook self-disclosure. Overall, according to the findings of the current study, personality traits and Facebook self-disclosure become central both as predictive variables for depicting the different profiles of potential addicted and as variables to help educators, teachers, and clinicians to develop training or therapeutic programs aimed at preventing the risk of Internet addiction. Limitations of the study are discussed, and directions for future research are suggested