913 research outputs found
Private financing of elder care in Sweden. Arguments for and against
The idea that there is a need to increase the share of private financing of the costs of elder care is expressed by several actors attempting to influence the direction of social policy Sweden these days. This idea fundamentally challenges established ways of financing and organising delivery of elder care services in Sweden. Underlying proposals for increasing private financing is the claim that the future scope of public elder care provision must contract, both vertically and horizontally. Underlying this claim is the assumption that both the quantity and quality of services demanded will increase, while the supply of public funds cannot. Vertical contraction aims to draw new funds from users willing to pay more to get higher quality services. Horizontal contraction aims to reduce the scope of public sectorâs responsibility in service provision. This paper outlines recent developments in private provision of elder care services and examines arguments and actors for increasing private financing. Although the proposals have been put forward by influential actors, opposition to increasing private financing has been expressed, and support for solidaristic funding of elder care remains strong. Accordingly, we also consider these dissenting arguments and actors. Our purpose is to set out and evaluate the arguments, evidence and interests behind the proposals, and the likely outcomes of their implementation.Elder care; Private financing; Social policy; Sweden;
Trajectory optimization using regularized variables
Regularized equations for a particular optimal trajectory are compared with unregularized equations with respect to computational characteristics, using perturbation type numerical optimization. In the case of the three dimensional, low thrust, Earth-Jupiter rendezvous, the regularized equations yield a significant reduction in computer time
An optimal gains matrix for time-delay feedback control
In this paper we propose an optimal time-delayed feedback control (TDFC) for tracking unstable periodic orbits (UPOs). It is shown that TDFC will drive a trajectory onto a periodic orbit while minimising an integral of a cost function of the error in periodicity and the control eŸort. This optimal TDFC relies on the linearisation about the delayed trajectory not the UPO itself and therefore can be implemented without a priori knowledge of a reference orbit. This optimal TDFC is applied to the problem of tracking an unstable periodic orbit in the nonlinear equations describing the circular restricted three-body problem. The results of this investigation demonstrate that TDFC could e±ciently drive a spacecraft onto a periodic orbit in the vicinity of a (UPO) halo orbit
Capture of dark matter by the Solar System. Simple estimates
We consider the capture of galactic dark matter by the Solar System, due to
the gravitational three-body interaction of the Sun, a planet, and a dark
matter particle. Simple estimates are presented for the capture cross-section,
as well as for density and velocity distribution of captured dark matter
particles close to the Earth.Comment: 5 page
Omsorgsvardag under skiftande organisatoriska villkor â en jĂ€mf Ăžrande studie av den nordiska hemtjĂ€nsten
SÄvÀl nordiska som internationella forskare tar ofta f Þr givet att de nordiska lÀnderna Àr sinsemellan mycket lika nÀr det gÀller hur omsorgen om Àldre Àr utformad. Samtidigt fi nns det mycket fÄ komparativa studier som har intresserat sig f Þr vÀlfÀrdsstaten som arbetsgivare pÄ ÀldreomsorgsomrÄdet. PÄ basis av en omfattande litteratur Þversikt och en kvalitativ studie av hemtjÀnsten i tre nordiska huvudstÀder diskuteras i denna artikel hemtjÀnstens organisationsf ÞrÀndringar och hur personalens omsorgsvardag prÀglas av de nya styrprinciperna-men ocksÄ hur personalen aktivt och i hemlighet kringgÄr sina organisatoriska villkor.
Sweden Tops Canada in Care for the Aged
Because of their resources and the way their work is organized, Swedish care workers can provide better care than their Canadian counterparts. They are better placed to improve living conditions for their residents and themselves.York's Knowledge Mobilization Unit provides services and funding for faculty, graduate students, and community organizations seeking to maximize the impact of academic research and expertise on public policy, social programming, and professional practice. It is supported by SSHRC and CIHR grants, and by the Office of the Vice-President Research & Innovation.
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Foundations of multiple black hole evolutions
We present techniques for long-term, stable, and accurate evolutions of
multiple-black-hole spacetimes using the `moving puncture' approach with
fourth- and eighth-order finite difference stencils. We use these techniques to
explore configurations of three black holes in a hierarchical system consisting
of a third black hole approaching a quasi-circular black-hole binary, and find
that, depending on the size of the binary, the resulting encounter may lead to
a prompt merger of all three black holes, production of a highly elliptical
binary (with the third black hole remaining unbound), or disruption of the
binary (leading to three free black holes). We also analyze the classical
Burrau three-body problem using full numerical evolutions. In both cases, we
find behaviors distinctly different from Newtonian predictions, which has
important implications for N-body black-hole simulations. For our simulations
we use analytic approximate data. We find that the eighth-order stencils
significantly reduce the numerical errors for our choice of grid sizes, and
that the approximate initial data produces the expected waveforms (after a
rescaling of the puncture masses) for black-hole binaries with modest initial
separations.Comment: Revtex 4, 13 pages, 15 figure
Extrasolar Planet Interactions
The dynamical interactions of planetary systems may be a clue to their
formation histories. Therefore, the distribution of these interactions provides
important constraints on models of planet formation. We focus on each system's
apsidal motion and proximity to dynamical instability. Although only ~25
multiple planet systems have been discovered to date, our analyses in these
terms have revealed several important features of planetary interactions. 1)
Many systems interact such that they are near the boundary between stability
and instability. 2) Planets tend to form such that at least one planet's
eccentricity periodically drops to near zero. 3) Mean-motion resonant pairs
would be unstable if not for the resonance. 4) Scattering of approximately
equal mass planets is unlikely to produce the observed distribution of apsidal
behavior. 5) Resonant interactions may be identified through calculating a
system's proximity to instability, regardless of knowledge of angles such as
mean longitude and longitude of periastron (e.g. GJ 317 b and c are probably in
a 4:1 resonance). These properties of planetary systems have been identified
through calculation of two parameters that describe the interaction. The
apsidal interaction can be quantified by determining how close a planet is to
an apsidal separatrix (a boundary between qualitatively different types of
apsidal oscillations, e.g. libration or circulation of the major axes). The
proximity to instability can be measured by comparing the observed orbital
elements to an analytic boundary that describes a type of stability known as
Hill stability. We have set up a website dedicated to presenting the most
up-to-date information on dynamical interactions:
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rory/research/xsp/dynamicsComment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 1 table. To appear in the proceedings of IAU
Symposium 249: Exoplanets: Detection, Formation and Dynamics, held in Suzhou,
China, Oct 22-26 2007. A version with full resolution figures is available at
http://www.lpl.arizona.edu/~rory/publications/bg08a.pd
Marketization in Long-Term Care: A Cross-Country Comparison of Large For-Profit Nursing Home Chains.
This article presents cross-country comparisons of trends in for-profit nursing home chains in Canada, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, and the United States. Using public and private industry reports, the study describes ownership, corporate strategies, costs, and quality of the 5 largest for-profit chains in each country. The findings show that large for-profit nursing home chains are increasingly owned by private equity investors, have had many ownership changes over time, and have complex organizational structures. Large for-profit nursing home chains increasingly dominate the market and their strategies include the separation of property from operations, diversification, the expansion to many locations, and the use of tax havens. Generally, the chains have large revenues with high profit margins with some documented quality problems. The lack of adequate public information about the ownership, costs, and quality of services provided by nursing home chains is problematic in all the countries. The marketization of nursing home care poses new challenges to governments in collecting and reporting information to control costs as well as to ensure quality and public accountability
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