Incentive and spill-over effects of supplementary sickness compensation

In 1998 the Swedish national sickness insurance policy changed to allow additional compensation from e.g. collective agreements after the 90th day of absence without a reduction of the public sickness benefit. We estimate the effects of this policy change on the duration of sickness absence for employees in the municipal sector. After the change in policy, this group received 10 percentage points additional compensation during day 91 to 360 in a sick leave. The results indicate that durations of at least 91 days increased by 4.7 days on average. As a consequence, the cost for the national sickness insurance increased by 3.0 percent. For the supplementary insurance to cover its total cost, insurance premiums should be increased by 22 percent.Social insurance; sickness absence; collective agreements

Excess use of Temporary Parental Benefit

In this report we examine the excess use of Temporary Parental Benefit for parents who need to stay home from work when their children are sick. This study is based on a randomized experiment that took place during the spring 2006. The method used is rather new and more ambitious than those used in similar studies in the past. One advantage with this more elaborate technique is that a larger part of the veiled excessive use can be discovered. The result points to that as much as 22.5 percent of the costs for this social insurance are due to excess use. There are significant gender differences; women’s excess use amounts to 19 percent of their total use while the corresponding figure for men is 28 percent.Temporary Parental Benefit; randomized experiment

A packaging cost model for Ericsson AB

Problem Definition: Ericsson wants to increase their focus on reducing the total cost of packaging for the company in the whole world. They want to create a simple calculation model that can calculate the total packaging cost and compare different packaging solutions (country, freight, packaging, and product) in order to find the most cost effective packaging solution. This will facilitate the development of future packaging and also reduce the company's total costs relating to the supply chain. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to create a calculation model which makes it possible to compare a couple of packaging solutions, this will finally show the total cost of the packaging. The calculation model is supposed to be able to handle different transport modes, different destinations and different kinds of packaging solutions, and it should also be ?factory? independent. Methodology: There was a pre-existing problem that should be solved, as such, the approach of the thesis will be problem-solving. The authors will first collect empirical information. Once this research is done, theories will be presented based on the empirical information. Finally an analysis will be conducted. This approach is called inductive approach. Qualitative data is collected through structured and semi-structured interviews, written literature and observations made by the authors. Conclusion: The calculation model will be helping Ericsson with their cost reduction regarding existing and new packaging solutions. All the six cost parameters can be followed through the whole calculation model to see how the areas change depending on which parameters that are changed. It is easy to use the calculation model and the total cost will be presented in both figures and diagrams to make it even more clear for the user. The calculation model is meant to be used by Ericsson's packaging engineers, and the calculation model can be used globally. There are only a few parameters that need to be changed for the user in China compared to Sweden. Ericsson needs to involve more than one supplier for their packaging material, in order to reduce the purchasing price. Packaging engineers should use their competence more by constructing the packaging, and not letting the supplier do all the work

Incentive and spill-over effects of supplementary sickness compensation

In 1998 the Swedish national sickness insurance policy changed to allow additional compensation from e.g. collective agreements after the 90th day of absence without a reduction of the public sickness benefit. We estimate the effects of this policy change on the duration of sickness absence for employees in the municipal sector. After the change in policy, this group received 10 percentage points additional compensation during day 91 to 360 in a sick leave. The results indicate that durations of at least 91 days increased by 4.7 days on average. As a consequence, the cost for the national sickness insurance increased by 3.0 percent. For the supplementary insurance to cover its total cost, insurance premiums should be increased by 22 percent

The Journey of Recovery and Empowerment Embraced by Nature - Clients' Perspectives on Nature-Based Rehabilitation in Relation to the Role of the Natural Environment

This paper presents findings from real life situations, a longitudinal single case study on the role of natural environments in nature-based rehabilitation (NBR) for individuals with stress-related mental disorders, at the Alnarp Rehabilitation Garden in Sweden. A sample of 43 former clients voluntarily participated in semi-structured interview, and the data were analyzed according to interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Three main superordinate themes were identified as the three phases of NBR-Prelude, Recuperating and Empowerment-explaining and illuminating the role of the natural environments in each phase. An explanatory model of NBR in this context is presented including the three phases of NBR, IRP supportive occupations and a pyramid of supporting environments. A new component of supportive environments was identified and herby named, Social quietness, an important component facilitating personal and intimate engagement with the natural environments

Excess use of temporary parental benefit

In this report we examine the excess use of Temporary Parental Benefit for parents who need to stay home from work when their children are sick. This study is based on a randomized experiment that took place during the spring 2006. The method used is rather new and more ambitious than those used in similar studies in the past. One advantage with this more elaborate technique is that a larger part of the veiled excessive use can be discovered. The result points to that as much as 22.5 percent of the costs for this social insurance are due to excess use. There are significant gender differences; women’s excess use amounts to 19 percent of their total use while the corresponding figure for men is 28 percent

Klumprotsjuka i höstraps - utvärdering av resistenta sorter i fältförsök OS7-25

Plasmodiophora brassicae orsakar den allvarliga sjukdomen klumprotsjuka och kan angripa alla växter inom familjen Brassicaceae. Plasmodiophora brassicae är en jordburen patogen vilket gör den väldigt immobil. Den kan överleva i jorden i över 15 år och uppträder först fläckvis i fält och sprids sedan, till exempel vid jordbearbetning. Åtgärder för att minska spridningen är sanitära och någon kemisk bekämpning för att minska förekomsten i fält finns inte. Genom förädling av klumprotsresistenta rapssorter har lantbrukare fått en möjlighet att inte behöva avstå från odling av raps på fält med förekomst av P. brassicae. Syftet med detta arbete var att genom statistisk analys utvärdera klumprotsresistenta höstrapssorter från fältförsök utförda av Sveriges Frö- och Oljeväxtodlare (SFO), på fält med dokumenterad smitta som bestämts med DNA analys. Resultaten från fröskörden visade att de resistenta sorterna gav signifikant högre skörd än de mottagliga på de försöksplatser med förekomst av P. brassicae. På de försöksplatser utan känd förekomst av P. brassicae hade de resistenta sorterna generellt sett lägre medelskörd än de mottagliga sorterna. Försöksåret 2017/2018 visade att när vädret gynnar P. brassicae kan den orsaka angrepp på resistenta sorter upp till sjukdomsindex 30. En sort från Dekalb, Pliny, fick ett sjukdomsindex på 45 när den höga nederbörden gynnade P. brassicae. Dekalbs sort Platon fick under försöksåret 2019/2020 höga sjukdomsindex tillsammans med de mottagliga sorterna. Utöver Pliny och Platon, vars resistens får anses vara bruten på dessa platser, var sjukdomsindex för de andra resistenta sorterna inom skalan för vad som räknas som en klumprotsresistent sort. Resultaten visar att resistensen kan pressas under för patogenen gynnsamma förhållanden.Plasmodiophora brassicae causes the serious disease clubroot and can infect all plants in the family Brassicaceae. Plasmodiophora brassicae is soil borne which makes it a very immobile pathogen. It can survive in the soil for over 15 years and first appears in patches in the field and then spreads with for example tillage. The measures to reduce the spread are sanitary and there is no chemical control to reduce the soil infestation in the field. By breeding club-root-resistant varieties, farmers have been given the opportunity of not having to give up growing oilseed rape in fields infested with P. brassicae. The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate clubroot resistant winter oil seed rape varieties from field trials carried out by Swedish Seed and Oilseed Growers through statistical analyses, on fields with known occurrence of the pathogen. The results from the harvest data showed that the yields from the resistant cultivars were significantly higher than the yields from the susceptible cultivars on trial sites with a known presence of P. brassicae. On trial sites without a known presence of P. brassicae resistant, cultivars generally produced a lower average yield than the susceptible cultivars. The trial year 2017/2018 showed that under favourable weather conditions P. brassicae can cause disease on resistant varieties up to disease index 30. A variety from Dekalb called Pliny got a disease index of 45 under conditions with high rainfall favouring P. brassicae. During the trial year 2019/2020, Dekalb’s variety Platon reached the same high disease indices as the susceptible varieties. Apart from Pliny and Platon, whose resistance has been broken at these sites, the disease levels in the other resistant varieties were within the range of what is regarded as a clubroot resistant variety. The results show that the resistance is challenged under disease conductive environmental conditions

Vildsvinsskador inom jordbruket

Problems with wild boars are increasing in Sweden and some people argue that the wild boar population must decrease. This is mostly the opinion by farmers, while the hunters want more wild boars in Sweden. Today the population is the strongest in the south of Sweden and in the eastern parts of the country. However the population is growing stronger in other parts of Sweden as well. The population origins from these areas where they escaped from pens around 1970. There are no calculations on how many wild boars there are in Sweden today, but it is defiantly more than 100 000. The wild boars are mostly active during the night and seek their food during this period as well. Therefore it may be difficult to protect the crops from wild boar damage. The damage may occur during the whole year but are most common during the summer months. The damage can be extensive if a whole pack of wild boars enter the field and start eating and rooting. Basically all crops are subject to wild boar damage, but they do prefer for example wheat, corn and potatoes more than others. If none of these crops are grown than there is a risk that the wild boars damage other crops. In this study five farms are used for estimating of the value of the damages. The farms are located in different parts of Sweden. The farmers were interviewed and they described how big the damages are, what crops they grow and so on. The farms have different production and therefore different crops are grown. The milk producers might get problems if soil gets into the silage which is fed to the cows. That might cause the bacterial content to be too high, and therefore useless. The grain producers don´t have the same problem, instead their problem is that the most profitable crop are the same as the crops wild boars like the most. If wild boars damage a field with for example wheat, then the losses might become very high. The damage differs between none up till 20 percent of the total area farmed. The level of damage depends on what crop is grown on the farm and how the farmers protect themselves. On one farm electric fences are used with a good result, while one other said that it has no effect. Instead he argues that the only method that works is hunting, and that keeps the wild boars away from the field for a few weeks. All the farms do not own all of the land that they use and therefore they do not have the right to hunt. In order to calculate the value of the damages on the farms, calculations of the economic result net of labour cost and management plans were constructed in the management plan program Agriwise. A comparison between three different situations on the farm was made. The first situation is with the current crop distribution and with wild boar damage, the second is with the current crop distribution but without wild boar damage and the last situation is without any adaptation to wild boars. The calculation show a loss on the farms that varies from 40 000 SEK till 519 000 SEK as a comparison between situation one and two, this equals a loss of 180 SEK till 962 SEK/ha. A comparison between situation one and three reveals a loss from 30 000 SEK/ha till 989 000 SEK/ha which equals 609 SEK/ha till 1 832 SEK/ha

То що ж їсти?

Gingivitis and periodontitis are chronic inflammatory diseases that can lead to tooth loss. One of the causes of these diseases is the Gram-negative Porphyromonas gingivalis. This periodontal pathogen is dependent on two fimbriae, FimA and Mfa1, for binding to dental biofilm, salivary proteins, and host cells. These fimbriae are composed of five proteins each, but the fimbriae assembly mechanism and ligands are unknown. Here we reveal the crystal structure of the precursor form of Mfa4, one of the accessory proteins of the Mfa1 fimbria. Mfa4 consists of two β-sandwich domains and the first part of the structure forms two well-defined β-strands that run over both domains. This N-terminal region is cleaved by gingipains, a family of proteolytic enzymes that encompass arginine- and lysine-specific proteases. Cleavage of the N-terminal region generates the mature form of the protein. Our structural data allow us to propose that the new N-terminus of the mature protein may function as a donor strand in the polymerization of P. gingivalis fimbriae