Lack of continuity between Cronobacter biotypes and species as determined using multilocus sequence typing

The accuracy of the Cronobacter biotyping scheme was compared with the 7-loci multilocus sequence typing scheme. Biotyping did not reliably assign species level identification, as only half (17/31) of the biotype variants were unique to any of the seven Cronobacter species and the remaining biotypes were shared across the genus

Recovering Individual Data In The Presence Of Group And Individual Effects

The ecological fallacy of relating variables on the group level, when the individual-level relationship is desired, can only be avoided by using individual-level data. This paper gives some conditions for occasions when individual-level data can successfully be recovered from grouped data. Such a recovery is illustrated using data on urban or rural residence and participation or not in the labor force as an example. The conditions are given in terms of the distinction between individual-and group-level effects of one variable on another. Recovering individual data, on the one hand, and the study of individual and group-level effects, on the other hand, epresent two separate areas of thought that have received considerable attention. Here a link is made between the two lines of development to facilitate the recovery of individual-level data. Some consequences of the models for research design and recovery of historical data are explored

A study of income-motivated behavior among general practitioners in the Norwegian list patient system

In the Norwegian capitation system each general practitioner (GP) has a personal list of patients. The payment system is a mix of a capitation fee and fee-for-service. From a model of a GP’s decisions we derive the optimal practice profile contingent on whether a GP experiences a shortage of patients or not. We also find the conditions for whether a GP, who experiences a shortage of patients, is likely to increase the number of services he provides to his patients. Data give us the opportunity to reveal patient shortage, i.e. a positive difference between a GP’s preferred and actual list size, at the individual practice level. From the analysis of 2587 Norwegian GPs (out of a total 3650) the main result is that patient shortage has a positive effect on a GP’s intensity of service provision and hence, on the income per listed person. We also find that a GP’s income per listed person is influenced by the composition of the list according to indicators of need for services, and of accessibility according to the GP density in the municipality. These results are also valid when possible selection bias is accounted for, although the magnitude of the effects is then smaller.economic motives; capitation; general practice; patient shortage; service provision

An exploratory study of associations between social capital and selfassessed health in Norway

The objective of this study is to estimate associations between social capital and health when other factors are controlled for. Data from the survey of level-of-living conditions by Statistics Norway are merged with data from several other sources. The merged files combine data at the individual level with data that describe indicators of community-level social capital related to each person’s county of residence. Both cross-sectional and panel data are used. We find that one indicator of community-level social capital — voting participation in local elections — was positively associated with self-assessed health in the cross-sectional study and in the panel data study. While we find that religious activity at the community-level has a positive effect in the cross-sectional survey and a non-significant effect in the panel survey, we find that sports organizations have a negative effect on health in the cross-sectional survey and a non-significant effect in the panel study. This result indicates that sports organizations represent bonding social capital.social capital; health; Norway

Introduction : photography between art history and philosophy

The essays collected in this special issue of Critical Inquiry are devoted to reflection on the shifts in photographically based art practice, exhibition, and reception in recent years and to the changes brought about by these shifts in our understanding of photographic art. Although initiated in the 1960s, photography as a mainstream artistic practice has accelerated over the last two decades. No longer confined to specialist galleries, books, journals, and other distribution networks, contemporary art photographers are now regularly the subject of major retrospectives in mainstream fine-art museums on the same terms as any other artist. One could cite, for example, Thomas Struth at the Metropolitan Museum in New York (2003), Thomas Demand at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) (2005), or Jeff Wall at Tate Modern and MoMA (2006–7). Indeed, Wall’s most recent museum show, at the time of writing, The Crooked Path at Bozar, Brussels (2011), situated his photography in relation to the work of a range of contemporary photographers, painters, sculptors, performance artists, and filmmakers with whose work Wall considers his own to be in dialogue, irrespective of differences of media. All this goes to show that photographic art is no longer regarded as a subgenre apart. The situation in the United Kingdom is perhaps emblematic of both photography’s increasing prominence and its increased centrality in the contemporary art world over recent years. Tate hosted its first ever photography survey, Cruel and Tender, as recently as 2003, and since then photography surveys have become a regular biannual staple of its exhibition programming, culminating in the appointment of Tate’s first dedicated curator of photography in 2010. A major shift in the perception of photography as art is clearly well under way

Correlation of turbulent trailing vortex decay data

A correlation function, derived on the basis of self similar variable eddy viscosity decay, is introduced and utilized to correlate aircraft trailing vortex velocity data from ground and flight experiments. The correlation function collapses maximum tangential velocity data from scale model and flight tests to a single curve. The resulting curve clearly shows both the inviscid plateau and the downstream decay regions. A comparison between experimental data and numerical solution shows closer agreement with the variable eddy viscosity solution than the constant viscosity analytical solution

Network mechanisms and social ties in markets for low- and unskilled jobs: (theory and) evidence from North-India

Abstract: Workplace referrals may resolve incentive problems that arise due to incomplete contracts. We use an in-depth primary data set covering low- and unskilled migrants from Western Uttar Pradesh (India), to examine this and alternative explanations for referral-based recruitment. We find little evidence of referral screening for unobservable worker traits, but some support for a hypothesis of referral as a mechanism to enforce workforce discipline. Two observations back this conjecture: the high prevalence of strong kinship ties between referees and new recruits and that those who recruit are in more ‘prestigious’ jobs and therefore have higher stakes vis-à-vis their employer. These main findings are exposed to robustness checks to rule out rival explanations: that entry through a workplace insider merely reflects privileged access to job vacancy information; that workplace clustering results from preferences for working together or that the higher prevalence of referral for very young migrants that we observe may reflect that referral has an insurance dimension.Work Migration; Social Networks; Screening; Moral Hazard

Impact of the public/private mix of health insurance on genetic testing

Privacy of information is a central concern in the debate about genetic testing. Two types of social inefficiencies may occur when information about prevention and test status is private; genetic testing may not be done when it is socially efficient and genetic testing may be done although it is socially inefficient. The first type of inefficiency is shown to be likely for consumers with public insurance only, while the second type of inefficiency is likely for those with a mix of public/private insurance. This second type of inefficiency is shown to be more important the less effective prevention is.Health insurance; genetic testing

The interaction between patient shortage and patients waiting time

We study the interaction between patient shortage and patients' waiting time to get an appointment. From a theoretical model we predict that physicians experiencing a shortage of patients offer their patients a shorter waiting time than their unconstrained colleagues. This happens because a shorter waiting time is expected to lower the threshold for seeking care, and hence, to increase the number of patient-initiated contacts. But it also happens because a shorter waiting time can be a mean to attract new patients. The hypotheses are supported by some preliminary results from a sample of Norwegian general practitioners participating in a capitation trial.General practitioner; patient shortage; waiting time

Genetic Testing When There is a Mix of Compulsory and Voluntary Health Insurance

Genetic insurance can deal with the negative effects of genetic testing on insurance coverage and income distribution when the insurer has access to information about test status. Hence, efficient testing is promoted. When information about prevention and test status is private, two types of social inefficiencies may occur; genetic testing may not be done when it is socially efficient and genetic testing may be done although it is socially inefficient. The first type of inefficiency is shown to be likely for consumers with compulsory insurance only, while the second type of inefficiency is more likely for those who have supplemented the compulsory insurance with substantial voluntary insurance. This second type of inefficiency is more important the less effective prevention is. It is therefore a puzzle that many countries have imposed strict regulation on the genetic information insurers have access to. A reason may be that genetic insurance is not yet a political issue, and the advantage of shared genetic information is therefore not transparent.Genetic testing insurance, private information, compulsory/voluntary mix