The Swedish Model: Revival after the Turbulent 1990s?

The main objective of this paper is to analyse the major transformations of the Swedish model, its welfare regime, employment and production systems. Until the end of the 1980s Sweden was remarkably successful in combining low unemployment with high and growing employment rates and also with a high degree of income equality and small gender disparities. However, most economists and many policymakers were aware that the unprecedented activity level and the extreme labour market tightness during the second half of the 1980s were not sustainable in the long run. For many years inflation had been alarmingly high and in 1990 it reached 11 per cent, presaging a crisis that became dramatic. In just three years, from 1990 to 1993, the rate of employment fell by 10.5 percentage points and the rate of open unemployment quintupled from less than two to more than 8 per cent of the labour force.1 Furthermore, the annual government deficit reached 14 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), in spite of repeated ‘reform packages aimed at reducing public expenditure and increasing government revenues. The cutbacks in public spending, which principally took the form of lowering income replacement rates in various social insurance systems and reducing public sector employment, were considered by many citizens as a painful’ rolling-back of the welfare state .

Carrier transport properties in the vicinity of single self-assembled quantum dots determined by low-voltage cathodoluminescence imaging

: We propose a method to investigate the carrier transport properties in the ultrathin wetting layer of a self-assembled quantum dot (QD) structure using low-voltage cathodoluminescence (CL) imaging. Measurements are performed on diluted InAs/InP QDs in order to spatially resolve them on CL images at temperature ranging from 5 to 300 K. The mean ambipolar diffusion length extracted from CL intensity profiles across different isolated bright spots is about 300 nm at 300 K. This gives an ambipolar carrier mobility of about 110 cm2/(V s)110 cm2/(V s). Temperature investigation reveals a maximum diffusion length near 120 K

2E1 Ar17+ decay and conventional radioactive sources to determine efficiency of semiconductor detectors

Although reliable models may predict the detection efficiency ofsemiconductor detectors, measurements are needed to check the parameterssupplied by the manufacturers namely the thicknesses of dead layer, berylliumwindow and crystal active area. The efficiency of three silicon detectors hasbeen precisely investigated in their entire photon energy range of detection.In the 0 to a few keV range, we have developed a new method based on thedetection of the 2E1 decay of the metastable Ar17+ 2s -> 1s transition. Verygood theoretical knowledge of the energetic distribution of the 2E1 decay modeenables precise characterization of the absorbing layers in front of thedetectors. In the high-energy range (> 10 keV), the detector crystal thicknessplays a major role in the detection efficiency and has been determined using a241Am source.

Experimentation with GRACE, the Generic Model of Emotions For Computational Applications

INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS AND AUTOMATION: 2nd Mediterranean Conference on Intelligent Systems and Automation (CISA'09), Zarzis, Tunisia, March 23-25, 2009.International audienceIn this paper, we present a model of emotions that we proposed in EmotiRob project. First of all, we make a comparison of recent models of emotions and show that our model is generic in basing on the theories of emotions of Ortony et al., of Lazarus, of Scherer and then the personality theory of Meyers-Brigg and Meyers. Then, we present our experimentation with the first instance of the model and its result to validate our work

Determination of the electrostatic lever arm of carbon nanotube field effect transistors using Kelvin Force Microscopy

We use Kelvin Force Microscopy (KFM) to study the electrostatic properties ofsingle-walled Carbon Nanotube Field Effect Transistor devices (CNTFETs) withbackgate geometry at room temperature. We show that KFM maps recorded as afunction of the device backgate polarization enable a complete phenomenologicaldetermination of the averaging effects associated with the KFM probe sidecapacitances, and thus, to obtain KFM measurements with quantitative character.The value of the electrostatic lever arm of the CNTFET is determined from KFMmeasurements, and found in agreement with transport measurements based onCoulomb blockade.

Self-assembled Mn5Ge3 nanomagnets close to the surface and deep inside a Ge1−xMnx epilayer

Under defined growth conditions ferromagnetic hexagonal Mn5Ge3 precipitates are formed in cubic Ge1-xMnx epilayers. To study the topotaxial relationship of these nanomagnets we perform x-ray diffraction experiments in coplanar as well as in grazing incidence geometries at synchrotron sources. Additionally, to the well defined topotaxial relation derived for buried nanomagnets deep within the Ge layer, we found an additional class of Mn5Ge3 precipitates very close to the surface, with larger inclusion diameter and several different crystallographic orientations with respect to the buried ones

X-ray computerized tomography scan of crumpled aluminum sheet

Comparison of the magnetic properties of GeMn thin films through Mn L-edge x-ray absorption

X-ray absorption spectroscopy of epitaxial GeMn thin films reveals an experimentally indistinguishable electronic configuration of Mn atoms incorporated in Ge(1-x)Mn(x) nanoclusters and in precipitates of the intermetallic compound Mn(5)Ge(3), respectively. However, the average magnetic response of thin films containing Ge(1-x)Mn(x) nanoclusters is lower than the response of films containing Mn(5)Ge(3) precipitates. This reduced magnetic response of Ge(1-x)Mn(x) nanoclusters is explained in terms of a fraction of Mn atoms being magnetically inactive due to antiferromagnetic coupling or the presence of structural disorder. A determination of the role of magnetically inactive Mn atoms in the self-assembly of the thermodynamically metastable Ge(1-x)Mn(x) nanoclusters seems to be an essential ingredient for an enhanced control of this promising high Curie temperature magnetic semiconductor

Organization of silicon nanocrystals by localized electrochemical etching

: An approach to form a monolayer of organized silicon nanocrystals on a monocrystalline Si wafer is reported. Ordered arrays of nanoholes in a silicon nitride layer were obtained by combining electron beam lithography and plasma etching. Then, a short electrochemical etching current pulse led to formation of a single Si nanocrystal per each nanohole. As a result, high quality silicon nanocrystal arrays were formed with well controlled and reproducible morphologies. In future, this approach can be used to fabricate single electron devices

Change over from compound nuclear fission to quasi-fission

Fission fragment mass distribution has been measured from the decay of 246Bk nucleus populating via two entrance channels with slight difference in mass asymmetries but belonging on either side of the Businaro Gallone mass asymmetry parameter. Both the target nuclei were deformed. Near the Coulomb barrier, at similar excitation energies the width of the fission fragment mass distribution was found to be drastically different for the 14N+232Th reaction compared to the 11B+235U reaction. The entrance channel mass asymmetry was found to affect the fusion process sharply.