How Will Sweden's New Pension System Work?

In 1998, the Swedish Parliament passed pension legislation that transformed Sweden's Social Security system to a Notional Defined Contribution (NDC) plan 3/4 that is, a defined contribution plan financed on a pay-as-you-go basis. In addition, the legislature established a second tier of funded benefits. This issue in brief describes the evolution of the new Swedish pension system and discusses its implications for other countries considering pension reform.

Perceptions of Academic Success and Quality of Life Issues Among Undergraduate University Students

The purpose of this qualitative study was to gain an understanding about the experiences of undergraduate students regarding quality of life and academic success at a midsized Midwestern university. Two research questions drove the study: How do university students perceive quality of life issues as they relate to academic success, and what life experiences are identified as influencing college student’s perception of a positive or negative quality of life? Purposeful sampling was used and 11 students volunteered for the study. All were undergraduates in a college of health professions. The data collection instruments were semistructured interviews, secondary semi structured interviews and voluntary journals. The typological analysis approach was used to analyze the data collected from interviews and journals. The key findings were that participants identified four major themes that guided their understanding of quality of life and academic success: (a) purpose and meaning in life relates to overall academic success and quality of life, (b) stress, coping and academics were perceived as important to quality of life and success, (c) relationships with faculty are desired by participants and important to quality of life and academic success, and (d) technology and social media are perceived positively and negatively; they help and hinder academic success and quality of life. The ability to manage and cope with issues related to the above themes seemed to be related to development of the student, and experience at the university

The Future of Retirement in Sweden

In 1998, Sweden transformed its Social Security system into a Notional Defined Contribution (NDC) plan financed on a pay-as-you-go basis paired with a second tier of funded individual accounts. The goal was to move toward a fiscally sustainable system tied to economic growth, with a clear link between contributions and benefits. This chapter discusses the evolution of the Swedish retirement system and the challenges confronted during the implementation of the reform. The analysis also offers an outlook for the future and discusses lessons for the US retirement system

Family finances in the U.S.: recent evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances

Using data that have just become available from the 1995 Survey of Consumer Finances along with data from the 1989 and 1992 versions of the survey, this article provides a detailed picture of recent changes in the income, net worth, assets, and liabilities of U.S. families. It also presents information on families' saving, unrealized capital gains, debt payments, and institutional providers of credit. Of the developments the article reports, a few are particularly noteworthy. First, between the 1992 and 1995 surveys, both median family income and median family net worth rose in constant dollars. The former, however, remained below the level measured in 1989, whereas the latter returned to the 1989 level. Second, the percentage of families who owned publicly traded stock and the amount of their holdings expanded greatly over the six-year period. Finally, there was little evidence of a serious rise in debt payment problems between 1992 and 1995, even though both the share of families with debt and the median amount of their debt rose.Consumer behavior ; Saving and investment

On the Asymptotic Behaviour of Superexponential L\ue9vy Processes

We study tail probabilities of superexponential infinite divisible distributions as well as tail probabilities of suprema of L\ue9vy processes with superexponential marginal distributions over compact intervals

On analysis of chemical reactions coupled gas flows in SOFCs

This paper was presented at the 2nd Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2009), which was held at Brunel University, West London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, IPEM, the Italian Union of Thermofluid dynamics, the Process Intensification Network, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group and the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications.Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is among others one of the most promising technologies for electricity energy generation. A recent new trends is to reduce its operating temperature from 1000oC to 800oC by employing a thick porous layer as the supporting structure. Various transport processes occurred are strongly affected by catalytic chemical/electrochemical reactions appearing in nano- or/and microstructured and multi-functional porous electrodes. It is particularly true if methane is used as the fuel, and internal reforming reactions within the microstructured porous anodes enable the conversion of the methane into H2 and CO. To deeply understand the chemical reaction coupled gas flow and heat transfer in the microstructured porous anode, a fully three-dimensional numerical calculation procedure (CFD) is developed and applied. The species mass/heat generation and consumption related to the internal reforming reactions and the electrochemical reaction have been identified and employed in the study. The variable thermalphysical properties and transport parameters of the fuel gas mixture have also been taken into account. Furthermore, the heat transfer due to the fuel gas flow is implemented into the energy balance based on multi-component diffusion models. Finally, various issues connecting to the micro models of the surface reactions are discussed and reviewed.Thi study is supported by the Swedish Research Council (VR) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC-50706004)

Natural convection heat transfer from a thermal heat source located in a vertical plate fin

A steady state conjugate conduction-convection investigation is performed on vertical plate fin in which a small heat source is located. Heat from the fin surface is transferred to the surroundings by laminar natural convection. The governing equations for the problem are the heat conduction equation for the fin and the boundary layer equations, which are continuity, momentum and energy equations, for the fluid. A computer program is written by using the finite difference method in order to solve the governing equations which are nonlinear and coupled. The best location of the heat source in the fin for maximum heat transfer rate depends on two parameters which are the conduction-convection parameter and the Prandtl number. The obtained results have shown that for the fin with large conduction-convection parameter, a heat source location for maximum heat transfer rate exists

Effect of surfactant on flow boiling heat transfer of ethylene glycol/water mixtures in a mini-tube

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.In this study, the effect of adding a surfactant (sodium dodeobcylbenzene sulfonate, SDBS) to ethylene glycol/water mixtures boiling in a vertical mini-tube was studied. Experiments were done using solutions containing 300 ppm by weight of surfactant and the results were compared with those for pure mixture. Local heat transfer coefficient was measured and found to be dependent on the mass quality. Addition of surfactant significantly enhanced the evaporation of saturated liquid, so that the difference between outlet fluid temperature and outlet bubble point temperature of SDBS solutions was much higher than that of ethylene glycol/water mixture. Though the surfactant intensifies the vaporization process, it does not necessarily enhance the heat transfer coefficient. The heat transfer coefficients at two different mass fluxes were compared, and the result could be explained based on the local flow pattern and heat transfer mechanism. After a critical quality, higher quality will deteriorate the heat transfer due to intermittent dryout, therefore adding surfactant to generate more vapor may have a negative effect on the heat transfer of flow boiling in a mini-tube, which is contrast to the experience of enhancing nucleate pool boiling heat transfer with trace surfactant