Welfare Entitlements, Mitigating Tactics and Coping Strategies within the Mountaineering Industry in the Khumbu Region of Nepal

The Khumbu region of northeast Nepal has experienced dramatic socio-economic change along with the rise of tourism. The mountainous villages have developed and abandoned traditional lifestyles as tourists from all over the world come to experience the dramatic scenery of the Himalayas and ascent its peaks. The mountaineering industry thrives and does provide employment for the local inhabitants. However, it is not merely of positive matter as these occupations are of high risk, especially in regards to the locals. Numerous Nepali climbers have lost their lives to the mountaineering industry leaving their families with socio-economic difficulties or insecurities. Social provision and welfare institutions function differently, and therefore locals put their trust in NGO’s and private sponsors to help once accidents occur. This thesis is based on qualitative empirical material, collected via ethnography, and previous literature that relate to the topic of how families cope with the loss of the family breadwinner. The main idea behind the research conducted was to investigate socio-economic dilemmas experienced by families of deceased breadwinners’ and coping strategies adopted by families following the breadwinner’s death. The analysis included in this paper discusses how the NGO’s, as well as strong community structures, provide welfare in the Khumbu region these families. It also examines the aspects of why this happens to be the outcome, and possible alternatives to the existing approaches

Power over pensions? Who should decide and how?

The economic profession has widely examined the effects of the pension system on economic efficiency, intergenerational fairness and the sustainability of public finances, while less attention has been paid to the political decision making process. Yet, the essence of the problem is arguably a political bias in decision making in favour of the interests of the present generations. The young and unborn generations may receive little weight by politicians eager to please voters in the next election. The focus in this paper is on decisions on pension entitlements and commitments within the framework of a very simple 'overlapping generations model'. The analysis is first applied to democratic decision making, based on majority voting. In Finland, however, the parliament has devolved much of its power over (earnings-related) pensions to the corporatist system. The democratic and corporatist decision making processes are compared and their relative pros and cons evaluated. The paper also considers the case for refining current decision making structures

Advantages and Problems Regarding Content and Language Integrated Learning on the Example of Miina Härma Gymnasium

Supervisor: Natalja ZaguraIn recent years Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has attracted much attention in Europe and other parts of the world as a way of acquiring any foreign language in the natural environments. Therefore, the research project presented in this thesis was carried out to learn more about the usefulness of CLIL. Thus, the thesis deals with the advantages and problems of CLIL. The purpose of the thesis is to provide an overview of the most relevant literature regarding CLIL. The goal of the action research is to investigate what the CLIL teachers and the CLIL students of Miina Härma Gymnasium, Tartu see as the advantages and problems of CLIL, in reality being a part of it themselves. Consequently, the present thesis has a potential to make a valuable contribution to the field of CLIL application research. Chapter one is based on secondary sources and gives an overview of the different methods most often used within CLIL, thereafter the main advantages of CLIL are described, which are followed by the most common problems regarding CLIL. Furthermore, there is a section about its educational service. The next section provides information on CLIL in Estonia, followed by the description of the qualities of good CLIL teachers and strategies for teachers towards quality CLIL. Last, ten tips for CLIL teachers of maths and science are presented and discussed. Chapter two introduces the methods and the results of an action research conducted in the scope of the present thesis. The purpose of the thesis was to carry out research on the advantages and problems regarding CLIL on the example of Miina Härma Gymnasium and also to get feedback on how the CLIL students have comprehended the terminology of chemistry and can apply the knowledge to more practical tasks. Five CLIL teachers and also five CLIL students of Miina Härma Gymnasium were interviewed. In addition to that, a chemistry test on the properties of metals was carried out. Nine CLIL students and nine control group students completed the test. The results of the study were analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively

Mystik und gegenstandslose Malerei

to be adde

Influence of site on dominant height : a comparison between Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta)

En framtida befarad virkessvacka under 2000-talet gjorde att skogsbruket i Sverige började experimentera med främmande trädslag på 1960-talet. Målet var att öka produktionen med det snabbväxande trädslaget contortatall. Idag finns mer än 650 000 ha contortaskog på varierande marker i Norrland. Contortan och tallen är jämförbara trädslag men påverkas olika beroende på vilken miljö de lever i. I denna studie undersöks huruvida contorta och tall påverkas olika beroende på markfuktighet, översilning och jordtextur. Utifrån resultatet diskuteras det om contortan skulle vara mer lämpad på vissa typer av marker än den svenska tallen. Hypotesen var att trädslagens övre höjd påverkas olika beroende på grad av översilning, markfukt och typ av jordtextur. Mätdata från nio olika försökslokaler där contorta och tall planterats i liknande förhållanden användes till undersökningen. En variansanalys (ANOVA) gjordes för att jämföra ståndortsegenskaperna mot trädslagens övre höjd. Enligt modellen som skapades är det statistiskt bevisat att trädslag påverkar övre höjd och även att lokalen har ett samband med övre höjd. Modellen påvisar att översilning, markfuktighet och jordtextur inte påverkar övre höjd och inte heller att de påverkar de två trädslagen olika mycket. Om det finns en effekt från ståndortsegenskaperna är den effekten för liten för att upptäckas. Varje ståndortsegenskap är kopplad till den specifika lokalen träden växer på, vilket leder till att det är svårt att avgöra vilken variabel som påverkar resultatet.The fear of a future shortage of wood supply in the 21th century caused the Swedish forestry to start experimenting with exotic tree species during the 1960s. The goal was to increase the forest production with the new species lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta). Today there are over 650 000 hectares of lodgepole pine forests on different types of land in Norrland. Lodgepole pine and scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) are comparable tree species but will react differently to various habitats. This study examines whether the species react differently to ground moisture, lateral water and soil texture. Depending on the result, a discussion is made on how preferable the lodgepole pine is on different types of grounds compared to scots pine. The hypothesis was that lodgepole pines and scots pines upper height will have different reactions on the various ground properties. Data from nine different trials, where both tree species had been planted in similar habitats, were used for the analysis. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed in order to compare the habitat's ground properties against the upper height of the two tree species. The result shows it is statistically significant that tree height depends on tree species and trial compartment. However, the model cannot prove that upper height is dependent on the three ground properties neither does the ground properties affect the tree species differently. If there is an effect from the ground properties it is probably too small to be found. Trial sites and ground properties are linked which makes a differentiation between them problematic

Model development and transient analysis of the wcll bb bop demo configuration using the apros system code

Extensive modelling and analytical work has been carried out considering the water-cooled lithium–lead breeding blanket (WCLL BB) balance of plant (BOP) configuration of the demonstration power plant (DEMO) using the Apros system code, developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. and Fortum. Contributing to the BOP work package of the EUROfusion Consortium, the integral plant model for dynamic analyses of the WCLL BB configuration has been updated with special attention to primary system components. Following trends of relevant neutronics modelling, a new BB model has been implemented in 2020 with the aim to obtain higher resolution output data and a more realistic thermalhydraulic feedback from the primary system. Once-through steam generator user components have been built based on CAD models conceived by BOP partners. Transient analyses have been performed providing a better picture regarding the behaviour of main components, e.g., the BB and the OTSGs, whilst highlighting possible ways to optimise the control scheme of the plant

Cost-effectiveness analysis of ferric carboxymaltose in iron-deficient patients with chronic heart failure in Sweden.

OBJECTIVE: Iron deficiency is a common but treatable comorbidity in chronic heart failure (CHF) that is associated with impaired health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL). This study evaluates the cost-effectiveness of the intravenous iron preparation ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) for the treatment of iron deficiency in CHF from a Swedish healthcare perspective. METHODS: A cost-effectiveness analysis with a time horizon of 24 weeks was performed to compare FCM treatment with placebo. Data on health outcomes and medical resource use were mainly taken from the FAIR-HF trial and combined with Swedish cost data. An incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER) was calculated as well as the change in per-patient costs for primary care and hospital care. RESULTS: In the FCM group compared with placebo, quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) are higher (difference = 0.037 QALYs), but so are per-patient costs [(difference = SEK 2789 (€303)]. Primary care and hospital care equally share the additional costs, but within hospitals there is a major shift of costs from inpatient care to outpatient care. The ICER is SEK 75,389 (€8194) per QALY. The robustness of the result is supported by sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSIONS: Treatment of iron deficiency in CHF with FCM compared with placebo is estimated to be cost-effective. The ICER in the base case scenario is twice as high as previously thought, but noticeably below SEK 500,000 (€54,300) per QALY, an informal average reference value used by the Swedish Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency. Increased HRQoL and fewer hospitalizations are the key drivers of this result

Model development and transient analysis of the hcpb bb bop demo configuration using the apros system code

Extensive modeling and analytical work has been carried out considering the Helium-Cooled Pebble Bed Breeding Blanket (HCPB BB) Balance Of Plant (BOP) configuration of the Demonstration Power Plant (DEMO) using the Apros system code, developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd. and Fortum. The integral plant model of the HCPB BB plant has been improved with respect to the blanket and steam generator models. Based on HCPB-BL2017 v1 data, reported in 2019, the blanket has been remodeled by separate Apros process components, dedicated to average inboard and outboard segments, where the power deposition scheme of the breeding units took into account the output of high-fidelity neutronic analyses. A new helical coil steam generator model has been developed for primary–secondary system coupling using CAD data provided by EUROfusion partner University of Palermo. Transient analyses have been performed with Apros on the plant configuration that utilizes a molten salt technology-based small Energy Storage System (ESS)

User friendly bicycle helmet for commuters

The number of adult bicycle helmet users in Sweden has stayed over the years relatively stable around 20 % [1]. In Europe the number of helmet users varies between 1 and 40 % depending on country. Research has shown that the use of helmet considerably diminishes head injuries in the case of traffic accidents [2]. In spite of that it is not fully clear what are the main factors why only a small number of bicyclists use a helmet. In order to raise awareness of helmet use and improve traffic safety COST Action supported a European initiative “Towards safer bicycling through optimization of bicycle helmets and usage”. Why helmet use is not popular? Several reasons could be pointed out: design, destroys the hair style, attitudes against helmet use, nowhere to put, too warm etc. Often the initial complaints are related to heat [3]. In cold additional insulation from the helmet may be a positive factor while compatibility issues may rise. As the professional bicyclists and most training/competing amateurs do wear the helmets then the aim for traffic safety should be increasing helmet use among commuters and bicyclists who do it just for fun. Therefore a project was initiated where main issue was to reduce initial thermal disturbance from a bicycle helmet while keeping in mind visibility, protection aspects, look, issues related to wearing comfort etc. Some relevant factors to be considered are: • The motion speeds of commuters would stay on average around 15 km/h (4.2 m/s) with average high speed not much above 20 km/h. • Aerodynamics and placement of the vents and air channels. • The effect of hair should not be underestimated – these may fill air channels with very effective insulation material