Vulnerable Users’ Perceptions of Transport Technologies

As the global population continues to grow, age and urbanize, it is vital to provide accessible transport so that neither ageing nor disability constitute barriers to social inclusion. While technology can enhance urban access, there is a need to study the ways by which transport technologies - real-time information, pedestrian navigation, surveillance, and road pricing - could be more effectively adopted by users. The reason for this is that some people, and particularly vulnerable populations, are still likely to reluctantly use (or even avoid using) technologies perceived as 'unknown' and 'complicated'. Based on evidence from British and Swedish case studies on older people's perceptions of the aforementioned transport technologies, as well as on a Swedish case study of visually impaired people's perceptions, this article makes the case that technology is only one tool in a complex socio-technical system, and one which brings challenges. The authors also suggest that although vulnerable populations are not homogeneous when expressing attitudes towards transport technologies, their assessment criteria tend to be 'pro-social' as they usually consider that the societal benefits outweigh the personal benefits. Emphasising aspects linked to the technologies' pro-social potential or relevance to the individual user could increase acceptance

Female labour force participation, fertility and public policy in Sweden

This paper analyzes the role of public policy for Sweden's combination of high female labour force participation and high levels of fertility in the late 1980s and early 1990s. We present the central elements in the tax and family policies and use a disaggregated approach to assess their impact on Swedish fertility and female labour force participation. We show that these policies stimulate both fertility and women's paid work by reducing the costs of having children while requiring parents to be employed to collect full benefits. Cet article analyse le rôle des politiques sur le lien entre une forte participation féminine au marché du travail et de hauts niveaux de fécondité en Suède, à la fin des années 1980 et au début des années 1990. Nous présentons d'abord les principaux éléments des politiques fiscales et parentales. Puis nous utilisons une approche désaggrégée pour mettre en évidence leur impact sur la fécondité suédoise et la participation féminine au marché du travail. Nous montrons que ces politiques stimulent à la fois la fécondité et le travail féminin rémunéré en réduisant les coûts en vue d'élever les enfants tout en demandant aux parents d'être actifs pour en recueillir les pleins bénéfices.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/42731/1/10680_2005_Article_BF01797210.pd

Does a short-term intervention promote mental and general health among young adults? – An evaluation of counselling

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Since 1988, self-reported mental health problems in Sweden have increased more among young people than in any other age group. Young adults aged 18 – 29 with minor mental health problems were welcomed to four (at most) counselling sessions led by psychotherapists. The present study aimed to evaluate the method's appropriateness and usefulness.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The study population was recruited consecutively during six months (N = 74) and consisted of 59 women and 15 men. Fifty-one, 46 women and five men, met the criterion for a <it>personal semi-structured interview </it>three months post intervention. Self-assessed health data were collected on three occasions using the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), Pearlin's Personal Mastery Scale and two items from the Swedish Living Conditions Surveys. Thirteen women and six men were not statistically assessed due to incomplete data, but were <it>interviewed by telephone</it>. Four men refused to be interviewed and became <it>dropouts</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The largest group of the study population had long been troubled by their problem(s): 43 percent for over three years and 28 percent for over one year. Among those <it>personally interviewed</it>, 76 percent reported psychological distress (> 3 GHQ points) before the counselling. After the counselling, GHQ-12 distress decreased by 50 percent while mastery and perceived health status increased significantly. A majority experienced an improved life situation, found out something new about themselves and could make use of the sessions afterwards. Personal participant session contentment was about 70 percent and all counsellees would recommend the intervention to a friend. Those <it>interviewed by telephone </it>were not statistically assessed due to incomplete health data. Their personal contentment was just under 50 percent, though all except one would recommend the counselling to a friend. Their expectations of the intervention were more result-orientated compared to the more process-directed personally-interviewed group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>This evaluation shows a clear improvement in self-rated mental and general health, mastery and control in the group completing the study agreement. The intervention seems to be effective for young adults with minor mental health problems, but due to the skewed gender-distribution it is unclear if the method is appropriate for men. After the proposed internal quality improvements, this short-term counselling could enhance mental and general health among young people.</p

The Galactic Chemical Evolution of phosphorus observed with IGRINS

Phosphorus (P) is considered to be one of the key elements for life, making it an important element to look for in the abundance analysis of spectra of stellar systems. Yet, there exists only a handful of spectroscopic studies to estimate the P abundances and investigate its trend across a range of metallicities. We have observed full HK band spectra at a spectral resolving power of R=45,000 with IGRINS instrument. Abundances are determined using SME in combination with 1D MARCS stellar atmosphere models. The investigated sample of stars have reliable stellar parameters estimated using optical FIES spectra (GILD; J\"onsson et al. in prep.). In order to determine the P abundances from the 16482.92 Angstrom P line, we take special care of the CO($\nu=7-4$) blend. We determine the C, N, O abundances from atomic carbon and a range of non-blended molecular lines (CO, CN, OH) which are aplenty in the H band region of K giant stars, assuring an appropriate modelling of the blending CO($\nu=7-4$) line. We present [P/Fe] vs [Fe/H] trend for 38 K giant stars in the metallicity range of -1.2 dex $<$ [Fe/H] $<$ 0.4 dex. We find that our trend matches well with the compiled literature sample of prominently dwarf stars and limited number of giant stars. Our trend is found to be higher by $\sim$ 0.05 - 0.1 dex compared to the theoretical chemical evolution trend in Cescutti et al. 2012 resulting from core collapse supernova (type II) of massive stars with the P yields from Kobayashi et al. (2006) arbitrarily increased by a factor of 2.75. Thus the enhancement factor might need to be $\sim$ 0.05 - 0.1 dex higher to match our trend. We also find an empirically determined primary behaviour for phosphorus. Furthermore, the phosphorus abundance is found to be elevated by $\sim$ 0.6 - 0.9 dex in two metal poor s-enriched stars compared to the theoretical chemical evolution trend.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic