Policies aimed to spur quality competition among health care providers are ubiquitous, but their impact on quality is ex ante ambiguous. This study contributes to the sparse empirical literature on primary care quality by examining the heterogeneous impact of recent competition enhancing reforms in Sweden. The reforms led to substantially more entry of new providers in more exposed markets, but th

Between 1789 and 1803 the National Debt Office issued unbacked interest bearing notes whereas the Bank of Sweden issued silver backed notes. The massive note issuance by the National Debt Office led to different exchange rates and two units of account. The situation gave rise to an early paper standard theory formulated by Anders Wappengren, a well-read merchant who was strongly influenced by Adam

Background and purpose - Little is know about patterns of sick leave in connection with total hip and knee joint replacement (THR and TKR) in patients with osteoarthritis (OA). Patients and methods - Using registers from southern Sweden, we identified hip and knee OA patients aged 40-59 years who had a THR or TKR in the period 2004-2012. Patients who died or started on disability pension were excl

AIMS: This article reviews current practice relating to arts and culture on prescription in Sweden, Norway, Denmark and in the United Kingdom. It considers future possibilities and also each of the Scandinavian countries from a culture and health policy and research perspective. The United Kingdom perhaps leads the field of Arts on Prescription practice, and subsequent research is described in ord

We present results on the implementation of switches for a reconfigurable antenna at 60 GHz. The switches are realized by diodes, which are characterized by measurements on a coplanar waveguide test bed. From the measurements, we extract different circuit models. The models are used as lumped elements in a full wave simulation of a reconfigurable antenna, where it is shown that the different model

This paper concerns the dynamic and static analysis of the effect of shunt capacitor control strategies on the long-term voltage instability. For this purpose a simplified test system called N3area, reflecting the key voltage instability characteristics of NORDIC32 is considered. Two different control strategies for shunt capacitors including the local and neighboring schemes are applied to improv

Objectives: To assess whether partial meniscectomy is associated with increased risk of radiographic osteoarthritis (ROA) and worsening cartilage damage in the following year. Methods: We studied 355 knees from the Osteoarthritis Initiative that developed ROA (Kellgren-Lawrence grade ≥ 2), which were matched with control knees. The MR images were assessed using the semi-quantitative MOAKS system.

Purpose: To explore the knowledge necessary for adoption and implementation of the Assessment of Learning Powered mobility use (ALP) tool in different practice settings for both adults and children. To consult with a diverse population of professionals working with adults and children, in different countries and various settings; who were learning about or using the ALP tool, as part of exploring

Objectives: Pentraxin 3 (PTX3) is a locally produced multifunctional protein involved in inflammation, matrix deposition, and immunity. As patients with seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have a more severe disease course and higher risk of joint destruction than seronegative patients, the aim of the present study was to examine differences in PTX3 in synovial fluid (SF) (and serum) in seropos

In this study, we combined two wheat proteins, gliadin (Gli)/glutenin (GT), and modified potato starch (MPS) into composites using extrusion. In the Gli/GT-MPS composites, we studied the structural dynamics of proteins and starch, protein-starch interactions, protein properties, and composite morphology in relation to mechanical and barrier properties. Materials with different ratios of Gli/GT and

Mass-flowering crops (MFCs) are increasingly cultivated and might influence pollinator communities in MFC fields and nearby semi-natural habitats (SNHs). Across six European regions and 2 years, we assessed how landscape-scale cover of MFCs affected pollinator densities in 408 MFC fields and adjacent SNHs. In MFC fields, densities of bumblebees, solitary bees, managed honeybees and hoverflies were

Many populations are small and isolated with limited genetic variation and high risk of mating with close relatives. Inbreeding depression is suspected to contribute to extinction of wild populations, but the historical and demographic factors that contribute to reduced population viability are often difficult to tease apart. Replicated introduction events in non-native species can offer insights

With the concern about global warming, air pollution and energy security, the prospect of using polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) in future sustainable and renewable energy conversion systems has achieved substantial momentum. Dimensionless numbers can be determined before construction of a model is started, to make simple estimations on the transport processes, for example, within the porous

Background: Vocal cord palsy occurs in 3-5 per cent of patients after thyroidectomy. To reduce this complication, intraoperative nerve monitoring (IONM) has been introduced, although its use remains controversial. This study investigated the risk of postoperative vocal cord palsy with and without the use of intermittent IONM. Methods: Patients registered in the Scandinavian Quality Register for Th

For well over a century, migration researchers have recognized the lack of adequate distance measures to be a key obstacle for advancing understanding of internal migration. The problem arises from the convention of spatially defining migration as the crossing of administrative borders. Since administrative regions vary in size, shape, and settlement patterns, it is difficult to tell how far moverFor well over a century, migration researchers have recognized the lack of adequate distance measures to be a key obstacle for advancing understanding of internal migration. The problem arises from the convention of spatially defining migration as the crossing of administrative borders. Because administrative regions vary in size, shape, and settlement patterns, it is difficult to tell how far mov

Various improvements were made to a state-of-the-art aerosol–cloud model and comparison of the model results with observations from field campaigns was performed. The strength of this aerosol–cloud model is in its ability to explicitly resolve all the known modes of heterogeneous cloud droplet activation and ice crystal nucleation. The model links cloud particle activation with the aerosol loading

Surveys and socio-professional studies carried out at national and international levels contribute to a better understanding of the lighting retrofit process. Within the framework of the International Energy Agency Task 50 - Advanced lighting solutions for retrofitting buildings- and its subtask C1 focusing on the analysis of workflows and needs, an online survey on lighting retrofit was initiated