The elemental composition of the Sun II. The iron group elements Sc to Ni

We redetermine the abundances of all iron group nuclei in the Sun, based on neutral and singly-ionised lines of Sc, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni in the solar spectrum. We employ a realistic 3D hydrodynamic model solar atmosphere, corrections for departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE), stringent line selection procedures and high quality observational data. We have scoured the literature for the best quality oscillator strengths, hyperfine constants and isotopic separations available for our chosen lines. We find $\log \epsilon_\mathrm{Sc}=3.16\pm0.04$, $\log \epsilon_\mathrm{Ti}=4.93\pm0.04$, $\log \epsilon_\mathrm{V}=3.89\pm0.08$, $\log \epsilon_\mathrm{Cr}=5.62\pm0.04$, $\log \epsilon_\mathrm{Mn}=5.42\pm0.04$, $\log \epsilon_\mathrm{Fe}=7.47\pm0.04$, $\log \epsilon_\mathrm{Co}=4.93\pm0.05$ and $\log \epsilon_\mathrm{Ni}=6.20\pm0.04$. Our uncertainties factor in both statistical and systematic errors (the latter estimated for possible errors in the model atmospheres and NLTE line formation). The new abundances are generally in good agreement with the CI meteoritic abundances but with some notable exceptions. This analysis constitutes both a full exposition and a slight update of the preliminary results we presented in Asplund, Grevesse, Sauval & Scott (arXiv:0909.0948), including full line lists and details of all input data we employed.Comment: 10 figures, 24 pages + 10 online-only pages of tables. v2. Matches version accepted by A&

The elemental composition of the Sun III. The heavy elements Cu to Th

We re-evaluate the abundances of the elements in the Sun from copper ($Z=29$) to thorium ($Z=90$). Our results are mostly based on neutral and singly-ionised lines in the solar spectrum. We use the latest 3D hydrodynamic solar model atmosphere, and in a few cases also correct for departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) using non-LTE (NLTE) calculations performed in 1D. In order to minimise statistical and systematic uncertainties, we make stringent line selections, employ the highest-quality observational data and carefully assess oscillator strengths, hyperfine constants and isotopic separations available in the literature, for every line included in our analysis. Our results are typically in good agreement with the abundances in the most pristine meteorites, but there are some interesting exceptions. This analysis constitutes both a full exposition and a slight update of the relevant parts of the preliminary results we presented in Asplund, Grevesse, Sauval & Scott (arXiv:0909.0948), including full line lists and details of all input data that we have employed.Comment: 5 figures, 18 pages + 6 online-only pages of tables. v2. Matches version accepted by A&

We do business, we are not charity : horse companies’ relation to bureaucracy and the future of the industry

I denna uppsats i landsbygdsutveckling undersöker jag hästföretagares relation till byråkratin samt hur de tror och hoppas att näringen kommer att utvecklas framöver. Ett halvt dussin hästföretagare på uppländska landsbygden med olika inriktningar har intervjuats. Analysen har främst baserats på Habermas teorier kring rationalisering, kommunikativt- och instrumentellt förnuft. Resultatet i studien visar på att de olika förnuften genom systemets rationaliseringsprocess påverkar hästföretagaren på olika sätt, antingen genom att gynna eller hämma den egna företagarens rationalisering. Studien visar också att hästnäringen kan utvecklas åt fler olika håll framöver. Framförallt kan hästen komma att användas i fler sammanhang så som folkhälsoarbetet mot psykisk ohälsa. En effektiviseringsprocess kan komma att äga rum både i själva inhysningssystemet kring hästen men även hur hästföretagare väljer att specialisera och organisera sig i framtiden.This essay in rural development examines horse companies’ relation to bureaucracy and how they believe and hope that the industry will develop in the future. Half a dozen horse entrepreneurs in the rural areas with different approaches have been interviewed. This material is the basis for further discussion. The analysis has been based primarily on Habermas’ theories of rationalization, communicative and instrumental reason. The result of the study shows that the different rationalities through the system's rationalization process affect the horse business in different ways, either by favouring or inhibiting the rationalization of their own entrepreneurs. The study also shows that the horse industry can develop into more different directions in the future. In particular, the horse can be used in more contexts in public health work against mental health. Even a rationalisation process can take place both in the actual housing system around the horse, but also how horse companies choose to specialize and organize themselves

“I am passionate about the village” : lhe role of the rural shop keepers in the countryside and their view of the most common types of support

I denna uppsats undersöks lanthandlares uppfattningar och förutsättningar för att kunna bedriva en lanthandel i gles- eller landsbygd. Genom kvalitativa intervjuer och observationer med sex stycken butiksföreståndare eller butiksbiträden, från Dalarna, Kronoberg samt Hallands län, har information inhämtats för att kunna svara på upp-satsens frågeställningar. Dessa frågeställningar berör lanthandels sociala roll, vad lanthandlarna bedriver för olika typer av verksamheter i sin regi samt hur de ser på subventionerade bidragen från staten. Idag finns olika typer av stödpengar för lant-handlare att söka så länge de upprätthåller fastställda riktlinjer med sin service så som öppettider och antal artiklar. Empirin behandlas i tematisk ordning där lanthandlarnas berättelser har analyserats utifrån en diskursanalys. I slutdiskussionen sätts de olika temaområdena i förhållande till de valda begreppen – governance och government. Med avstamp i Deans redogö-relse utifrån Foucault, visar begreppen på hur en verksamhet kan styras på olika sätt. Teorin nyanserar och framställer materialet utifrån hur staten kan styra lanthandlarna i en bestämd riktning genom erkännande och ekonomiska medel. Studien visar att dagens lanthandlare ofta har en eller flera kompletterande verksam-heter till själva livsmedelsbutiken och tenderar ibland att överta verksamheter som annars riskerar att försvinna från bygden. Genom att vara en relevant aktör lokalt skapas ofta naturliga mötesplats i och kring affären. Detta bidrar till en social funkt-ion som bäddar för delaktighet och gemenskap. I många fall känner butiksförestån-darna sina kunder väldigt väl och längre samtal utspelar sig i butikerna. När det gäller de statliga stöden som finns att söka uttrycker lanthandlarna sin tack-samhet över dessa. Driftsbidraget är ett bra stöd på det sättet att det inte är öronmärkt och ger varje lanthandlare rätten att styra vad pengarna ska gå till. Investeringsbidra-get anser lanthandlarna också är ett bra hjälpmedel för att kunna satsa och utveckla butikerna, dock betalas stödet oftast ut i efterhand och ställer omfattande krav på redovisning vilket gör det mer omständligt då man som handlare måste ligga ute med stora pengar. Slutligen visar denna studie på att dagens lanthandlare har potential att utvecklas åt flera håll framöver. Genom att bredda sin verksamhet kan lanthandeln gynnas ekonomiskt medan byn gynnas med upprätthållen service.This paper examines the perceptions and preconditions of rural store keepers to be able to conduct a rural trade in sparsely populated or rural areas. Through qualitative interviews and observations with six store managers or shop assistants, from Dalarna, Kronoberg and Halland County, information has been obtained in order to answer the essay's questions. These issues concern the societal role of the rural store, what dif-ferent types of business the store keepers conduct and how they view different types of subsidies and support from the state. Today, there are different types of support money for store keepers to apply for as long as they maintain established guidelines with their service such as opening hours and number of items. The empirics is dealt with in a thematic order in which the stories of the farmers have been analysed based on a discourse analysis. In the final discussion, the different forms of support are compared to the chosen concepts - governance and government. With a start in Dean's account based on Foucault, the concepts show how a business can be managed in different ways. The theory helps to understand the empirical data, based on how the state can steer the countryside store keepers in a specific direction through recognition and financial means. The study shows that today's countryside store keepers often have one or more sup-plementary activities for the grocery store itself, and sometimes tend to take over businesses that otherwise risk disappearing from the countryside. By being a relevant player locally, natural meeting places in and around the business are often created. This contributes to a social function that fosters participation and community. In many cases, the store managers know their customers very well and longer calls take place in the stores. When it comes to the state aid that is available to apply for, the local store keepers express their gratitude for these. The operating grant is a good support in that it is not earmarked and gives every store keeper the right to control what the money should go to. The investment grant is considered by the store keeper to be a good tool for investing and developing the stores, however, the support is usually paid out in ret-rospect and makes extensive demands on accounting, which makes it more cumber-some when you as a store keeper have to spend big money. Finally, this study shows that today's countryside stores have the potential to develop in several directions in the future. By broadening its operations, the rural trade can benefit financially while the village benefits with maintained service

Long-Term Stable Adhesion for Conducting Polymers in Biomedical Applications: IrOx and Nanostructured Platinum Solve the Chronic Challenge

Conducting polymers (CPs) have frequently been described as outstanding coating materials for neural microelectrodes, providing significantly reduced impedance or higher charge injection compared to pure metals. Usability has until now, however, been limited by poor adhesion of polymers like poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) to metallic substrates, ultimately precluding long-term applications. The aim of this study was to overcome this weakness of CPs by introducing two novel adhesion improvement strategies that can easily be integrated with standard microelectrode fabrication processes. Iridium Oxide (IrOx) demonstrated exceptional stability for PEDOT coatings, resulting in polymer survival over 10 000 redox cycles and 110 days under accelerated aging conditions at 60 °C. Nanostructured Pt was furthermore introduced as a purely mechanical adhesion promoter providing 10-fold adhesion improvement compared to smooth Pt substrates by simply altering the morphology of Pt. This layer can be realized in a very simple process that is compatible with any electrode design, turning nanostructured Pt into a universal adhesion layer for CP coatings. By the introduction of these adhesion-promoting strategies, the weakness of CP-based neural probes can ultimately be eliminated and true long-term stable use of PEDOT on neural probes will be possible in future electrode generations

Leder en tillämpning av de tre demokratiidealen politisk jämlikhet, jämställd representation och möjlighet att påverka den politiska agendan till ökad jämställdhet i beslutsfattande församlingar och gynnar detta i så fall demokratin?

Vi kommer i denna uppsats försöka svara på om jämställdhet ökar demokratin i besluts-fattande församlingar. I denna uppsats har vi valt att jämföra Sveriges regering med EU- kommissionen. Arbetet med att skapa en jämn könsfördelning på politiskt beslutsfattande nivå, tog på allvar fart i Sverige 1993 på socialdemokraternas partikongress. Då röstades förslaget igenom att varannan valbar kandidat till riksdag, regering och kommunfullmäktige skulle vara kvinna. Detta åtgärdsprogram fick lämpligt nog heta Varannan damernas. Sedan regeringsskiftet 1994 då socialdemokraterna återtog makten har den svenska regeringen inte bestått av färre än 40% eller mer än 60% män och kvinnor. (Socialdemokraterna via Ivarsson) Sedan bildandet av den Europeiska Unionen 1957 har kommissionen aldrig haft en jämn könsfördelning.(socialdemokraterna 2003:10) Kommissionen har inte heller ut-tryckt att detta skulle vara ett problem utan lägger över ansvaret för könsfördelningen på respektive medlemsstat, då de nominerar sina ledamöter. (EU-kommissionen genom Pro-di 2004

The elemental composition of the Sun II. The iron group elements Sc to Ni

We redetermine the abundances of all iron group nuclei in the Sun, based on neutral and singly-ionised lines of Sc, Ti, V, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni in the solar spectrum. We employ a realistic 3D hydrodynamic model solar atmosphere, corrections for departures from local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE), stringent line selection procedures and high quality observational data. We have scoured the literature for the best quality oscillator strengths, hyperfine constants and isotopic separations available for our chosen lines. We find log ϵSc = 3.16 ± 0.04, log ϵTi = 4.93 ± 0.04, log ϵV = 3.89 ± 0.08, log ϵCr = 5.62 ± 0.04, log ϵMn = 5.42 ± 0.04, log ϵFe = 7.47 ± 0.04, log ϵCo = 4.93 ± 0.05 and log ϵNi = 6.20 ± 0.04. Our uncertainties factor in both statistical and systematic errors (the latter estimated for possible errors in the model atmospheres and NLTE line formation). The new abundances are generally in good agreement with the CI meteoritic abundances but with some notable exceptions. This analysis constitutes both a full exposition and a slight update of the preliminary results we presented in Asplund et al. (2009, ARA&A, 47, 481), including full line lists and details of all input data we employed

A microfluidic perspective on conventional in vitro transcranial direct current stimulation methods

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a promising non-invasive brain stimulation method to treat neurological and psychiatric diseases. However, its underlying neural mechanisms warrant further investigation. Indeed, dose–response interrelations are poorly understood. Placing explanted brain tissue, mostly from mice or rats, into a uniform direct current electric field (dcEF) is a well-established in vitro system to elucidate the neural mechanism of tDCS. Nevertheless, we will show that generating a defined, uniform, and constant dcEF throughout a brain slice is challenging. This article critically reviews the methods used to generate and calibrate a uniform dcEF. We use finite element analysis (FEA) to evaluate the widely used parallel electrode configuration and show that it may not reliably generate uniform dcEF within a brain slice inside an open interface or submerged chamber. Moreover, equivalent circuit analysis and measurements inside a testing chamber suggest that calibrating the dcEF intensity with two recording electrodes can inaccurately capture the true EF magnitude in the targeted tissue when specific criteria are not met. Finally, we outline why microfluidic chambers are an effective and calibration-free approach of generating spatiotemporally uniform dcEF for DCS in vitro studies, facilitating accurate and fine-scale dcEF adjustments. We are convinced that improving the precision and addressing the limitations of current experimental platforms will substantially improve the reproducibility of in vitro experimental results. A better mechanistic understanding of dose–response relations will ultimately facilitate more effective non-invasive stimulation therapies in patients

NLTE effects on Fe I/II in the atmospheres of FGK stars and application to abundance analysis of their spectra

We describe the first results from our project aimed at large-scale calculations of NLTE abundance corrections for important astrophysical atoms and ions. In this paper, the focus is on Fe which is a proxy of stellar metallicity and is commonly used to derive effective temperature and gravity. We present a small grid of NLTE abundance corrections for Fe I lines and discuss how NLTE effects influence determination of effective temperature, surface gravity, and metallicity for late-type stars.Comment: 6 pages, to be published in IOP The Journal of Physics: Conference Series, proceedings of the Workshop: 'Stellar Atmospheres in the Gaia Era: Quantitative Spectroscopy and Comparative Spectrum Modelling', Brussels, June 201

Ionization balance of Ti in the photospheres of the Sun and four late-type stars

In this paper we investigate statistical equilibrium of Ti in the atmospheres of late-type stars. The Ti I/Ti II level populations are computed with available experimental atomic data, except for photoionization and collision induced transition rates, for which we have to rely on theoretical approximations. For the Sun, the NLTE line formation with adjusted H I inelastic collision rates and MAFAGS-OS model atmosphere solve the long-standing discrepancy between Ti I and Ti II lines. The NLTE abundances determined from both ionization stages agree within $0.01$ dex with each other and with the Ti abundance in C I meteorites. The Ti NLTE model does not perform similarly well for the metal-poor stars, overestimating NLTE effects in the atmospheres of dwarfs, but underestimating overionization for giants. Investigating different sources of errors, we find that only [Ti/Fe] ratios based on Ti II and Fe II lines can be safely used in studies of Galactic chemical evolution. To avoid spurious abundance trends with metallicity and dwarf/giant discrepancies, it is strongly recommended to disregard Ti I lines in abundance analyses, as well as in determination of surface gravities.Comment: 16 pages, accepted for publication in MNRA