Location of the labour force in an interregional general equilibrium model ? an applied case

The consequence of low level of infrastructure between the metropolitan area of Copenhagen and the Western and Southern areas ? the counties of Vestsjælland and Storstrøm ? is analysed. The metropolitan area of Copenhagen has experienced economic growth in the past decade and the demand for labour is rising. The analysis considers economic effects of the level of infrastructure, via the interaction with the labour market. An interregional general equilibrium model of the two regions has been constructed and a case with better infrastructure is analysed. The heterogeneous labour force differs with respect to taste of leisure and taste of residential location. In the model better infrastructure results in more willingness to search for a job in both regions, but infrastructure investment has to be financed, commuting generates emissions, and regional price effects influence the equilibrium. Costs and benefits are included in the modelling.

Regional wage differentials - does distance matter?

This paper uses econometric methods to analyse causes of regional wage differentials in Denmark for the period1996-1999 and quantifies the importance of spatial proximity. Grouped data sets are used. Two concepts of distance are investigated. The first assumes that there is a positive production externality present in a centre that declines as the distance to the centre increases. Different definitions of a centre are tested. The second distance concept is commuting distance. Both distance measures have the expected sign and are significant, but the effects are small. JEL classification: J31 Key words: Wage differentials, distance, grouped data.

Mendicant Brethren and Master Builders: The Building’s History of the Mendicant Orders in Medieval Denmark

This article looks into the building’s history of the mendicant friaries of medieval Denmark with the aim of investigating distinct phases of development or decline. It is the article’s suggestion that the overall characterization of the building’s history can be divided into three main periods distinguished by the level of building intensity. The reasons behind the fluctuating tendencies are discussed, and despite the primary causes should be viewed in an overall religious, economical, and political perspective, the importance of contextually significant factors within each convent are emphasized

Modelling field robot software using AADL

This report contains a technical description and example on how robotic systems based on a distributed communication middleware can be modelled in AADL, incorporating hardware aspects. Furthermore analyses on the extra-functional properties such as bus-bandwidth and end-to-end latency are performed

Aptitude in the Classroom: an empirical study of the pedagogical functionality of the LLAMA test battery in an upper secondary school

This thesis explores the suitability of using aptitude testing and the LLAMA aptitude tests in a Norwegian upper secondary school class, and the potential pedagogical advantages such testing can have. Aptitude testing entails measuring language learners’ specific talent for learning foreign languages and this is an individual difference that exhibits considerable variation between learners (Dörnyei & Skehan, 2003). An empirical study was conducted on 22 participants of an upper secondary school class to see how the LLAMA, an aptitude test battery developed by Paul Meara (2005) would function. The testing was followed by a student questionnaire and two separate teacher interviews, created to investigate the experience and attitudes the teacher and the pupils showed towards aptitude testing and the LLAMA, as well as the potential pedagogical advantages this testing might have. The results showed that both the teacher and the pupils viewed the LLAMA as a suitable aptitude battery and that the age group was appropriate. The teacher was also positive towards the notion of aptitude testing. Several pedagogical advantages were found and could, with some effort from the teacher, help inform and individually adapt the teaching to each pupil, based on their aptitude profiles. From the findings of this project, I conclude that aptitude testing and using the LLAMA could help Norwegian teachers individually adapt their teaching and that this is something we should strive to use. I also suggest that there are several pedagogical advantages if the results from the testing are used accordingly and if a functional framework for how to use these results are developed.Keywords: LLAMA, Aptitude, Second Language Learning, Testing, Pedagog

Metagenomic analysis of therapeutic PYO phage cocktails from 1997 to 2014

Phage therapy has regained interest in recent years due to the alarming spread of antibiotic resistance. Whilst phage cocktails are commonly sold in pharmacies in countries such as Georgia and Russia, this is not the case in western countries due to western regulatory agencies requiring a thorough characterization of the drug. Here, DNA sequencing of constituent biological entities constitutes a first step. The pyophage (PYO) cocktail is one of the main commercial products of the Georgian Eliava Institute of Bacteriophage, Microbiology and Virology and is used to cure skin infections. Since its first production in the 1930s, the composition of the cocktail has been periodically modified to add phages effective against emerging pathogenic strains. In this paper, we compared the composition of three PYO cocktails from 1997 (PYO97), 2000 (PYO2000) and 2014 (PYO2014). Based on next generation sequencing, de novo assembly and binning of contigs into draft genomes based on tetranucleotide distance, thirty and twenty-nine phage draft genomes were predicted in PYO97 and PYO2014, respectively. Of these, thirteen and fifteen shared high similarity to known phages. Eleven draft genomes were found to be common in the two cocktails. One of these showed no similarity to publicly available phage genomes. Representatives of phages targeting E. faecalis, E. faecium, E. coli, Proteus, P. aeruginosa and S. aureus were found in both cocktails. Finally, we estimated larger overlap of the PYO2000 cocktail to PYO97 compared to PYO2014. Using next generation sequencing and metagenomics analysis, we were able to characterize and compare the content of PYO cocktails separated by 17 years in time. Even though the cocktail composition is upgraded every six months, we found it to remain relatively stable over the years.Fil: Villarroel, Julia. Technical University of Denmark; DinamarcaFil: Larsen, Mette Voldby. GoSeqIt ApS; DinamarcaFil: Kilstrup, Mogens. Technical University of Denmark; DinamarcaFil: Nielsen, Morten. Technical University of Denmark; Dinamarca. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas. Universidad Nacional de San Martín. Instituto de Investigaciones Biotecnológicas; Argentin

Modelling Transport in an Interregional General Equilibrium Model with Externalities

In this working paper the regional impacts of road pricing on cars are analysed taking into account externality effects from transportation on wages and productivity. In the paper the direct impacts from changes in transport costs on level of wages and productivity (=direct externality effects) have been estimated. The direct and derived impacts of road pricing have been analysed with AKF’s local economic model LINE and include the impacts on regional production, income and employment. LINE is an interregional general equilibrium model, which uses an interregional social accounting matrix (SAM-K) and a regional transport satellite account as the basis for modelling. Additionally, data from a GIS-system (Technical University of Copenhagen) on transport costs have been included to estimate the demand for transport commodities and increase in transport demand and costs due to road pricing. The direct effects on level of wages and productivity have been included into the model together with all the direct effects on commodity prices from road pricing. In the working paper the total impacts of road pricing have been subdivided into 2 components: 1) The wage effects of reducing income net of commuting of increasing transport cost by introduction of road pricing, 2) the labour contraction effect from increasing wages through increase in commuting cost and 3) the negative productivity effects of introducing road pricing. In total the impacts of road pricing are substantial. Regions with high level of average commuting cost (suburban areas in Greater Copenhagen) suffers most, whereas the centre of Copenhagen suffers least because of short commuting distances. In rural areas impacts are on or just below average because low level of road pricing.