Jørgen Elm Larsen

Unemployed citizen or ‘at risk’ client? Classification systems and employment services in Denmark and Australia:

The paper explores recent developments in Australian and Danish unemployment policies with a special focus on the technologies used to classify and categorize unemployed people on government benefits. Using governmentality as our theoretical framework, we consider the implications of reducing complex social problems to statistical scores and differentiated categories — forms of knowledge that diminish the capacity to think about unemployment as a collective problem requiring collective solutions. What we argue is that classification systems, which are part and parcel of welfare state administration, are becoming more technocratic in the way in which they divide the population into different categories of risk.

The influence of growth phase and culture conditions of Tetrahymena on effects of cadmium

The batch culture system is used in the majority of toxicity studies employing protozoa and other cell cultures, although it is known that metal toxicity may vary depending on the age and therefore on the physiological state of the culture. The ciliate Tetrahymena was exposed to cadmium during short-term incubations at different stages of the growth cycle. In cultures with cells proliferating at a high rate (log phase cells) the toxicity of cadmium was found to increase with increasing initial cell density. However, in the subsequent stationary growth phase with decreased rate of cell proliferation, the sensitivity against cadmium again decreases. Thus the effect of a given concentration of cadmium depends on the initial cell density of the culture. This effect of cadmium may be explained either by changes in the chemical composition of the culture medium during the growth cycle or by a changed cellular metabolism. Furthermore, it is shown that the cadmium concentration of the medium decreases during prolonged exposure when the cells are grown in batch cultures. Some of the problems associated with the toxicity bioassay performed in a static system may be overcome by using a continuous flow system. In such a system, Tetrahymena can be kept under optimal growth conditions with a generation time of less than 3 h, and any cell density may be maintained for extended periods of time. Furthermore, the cadmium concentration of the medium remained constant during prolonged exposure when maintaining a cell density of about 50 x 10(3) cells/ml. This illustrates the great advantage of using a continuous flow system in such investigations, where for example, long-term adaptations of the organism to a metal may be studied under constant conditions.

A Randomized Trial of Iohexol versus Amidotrizoate in Endoscopic Retrograde Pancreatography

To evaluate whether a low-osmolar contrast medium could decrease hyperamylasemia after endoscopic retrograde pancreatography, a prospective randomized double-blind trial of 54 consecutive patients with suspected pancreatic disease referred for endoscopic retrograde pancreatography was performed. The low-osmolar contrast medium iohexol and high-osmolar amidotrizoate were used. No statistically significant differences with regard to rise in pancreatic-type amylase, pain reaction, or diagnostic information were found. No case of acute pancreatitis was observed.

The exclusion and marginalisation of immigrants in the Danish welfare society

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss and theorise the links and possible dilemmas posed by the politics of redistribution and the politics of recognition taking the case of Denmark as the point of departure.Design/methodology/approach – The empirical observations in this paper consist of the political and discursive climate around legislation on ethnic minority matters, information from the Danish Statistical Bureau, the “Danish Level of Living Survey”, and the experiences from Danish urban districts which have a high concentration of immigrants.Findings – Since the 1990s, the political discourse has changed with the emergence of right‐wing, anti‐immigration populism seriously affecting immigrants’ and refugees’ legal rights and their possibilities for socio‐cultural and socio‐economic inclusion. On the one hand, these changes have been driven by a strong “work first” discourse which has led to a reduction of the duration and level of social benefits, and increased poverty. On the other hand,...

Social exclusion or poverty individualisation? An empirical test of two recent and competing poverty theories

In recent years, two new theoretical perspectives on poverty in modern welfare societies have emerged: the perspective of ‘cumulative disadvantage’ and poverty individualisation. Both perspectives challenge traditional class-based poverty definitions. This article notes certain limitations that pertain to the relatively few empirical tests that have been performed to support these theories. The purpose of the article is to demonstrate that the results obtained depend largely on the type of poverty definition applied (income or deprivation), the actual data used (national or comparative) and the extent to which these data represent an observation period that is long enough to provide a reliable basis for testing the theories in question. The article concludes that because only few Danes experience long-term poverty and social exclusion, the combination of class and individual biography is important. In other words, structural conditions and, to a lesser degree, group risks drive individuals to the social margin.

Labile species of Pb, Zn and Cd determined by anodic stripping staircase voltammetry and their toxicity to tetrahymena

The amounts of free ions and labile complexes of Pb, Zn and Cd have been determined in a complex organic growth medium by use of anodic stripping staircase voltammetry, ASSV. It was possible to determine the labile fractions of metals and to obtain good correlation with data on the toxicity of the metals to Tetrahymena when using a specific reduction potential (E(s)) for each element, - 600, - 800 and - 1200 mV vs. SCE for Pb, Zn and Cd, respectively. The labile fractions in the organic growth medium were less than 1% for Pb (Pb precipitated), 15% for Zn (as labile complexes) and 30-40% for Cd (as free ions) for total heavy metal concentrations of 0.5mM-2mM. The toxicity to Tetrahymena decreased in the order Cd Zn Pb. The effect of Pb was greater than predicted by ASSV, probably because Tetrahymena additionally ingests the lead-containing precipitate and therefore is exposed to concentrations of Pb exceeding those of the soluble species found in the medium. The results stress the importance of using different specific reduction potentials when different elements are compared, instead of one potential common to all elements. The use of a fixed potential may lead to erroneous conclusions regarding the concentrations of labile species in solution.

A new principle of cell cultivation: No air-liquid interface but gas exchange across a synthetic membrane

SummaryA completely liquid-filled growth chamber for axenic cultures ofTetrahymena pyriformis is described; gas exchange is ensured across a synthetic membrane. The chamber may be incorporated into a continuous flow system with inoculation and removal of cell samples under sterile conditions. Initially, the generation time of the cells was slightly prolonged, about 10%, but after some cell doublings decreased to 5%. The capacity of the cells to form food vacuoles (endocytosis) was unaltered during growth in the chamber. The synthetic membrane was highly permeable to O2 and CO2; however, cells grown in the chamber contained small refractive granules. The culture chamber permits the culture volume to be varied and it may be used for other protozoa, bacteria, and even tissue culture cells.

A new principle of continuous flow cell cultivation

SummaryA completely liquid-filled culture chamber with gas exchange across a synthetic membrane (Larsen andNilsson 1985) was incorporated into an automatic continuous flow system. The absence of an airliquid interface in the system permits removal of cell samples, and addition of fresh medium, under strictly sterile conditions. In this system,Tetrahymena pyriformis can be kept under optimal growth conditions in a rich nutrient medium and any defined cell density may be maintained for extended periods of time by varying the dilution rate of the culture. Furthermore, it has been possible to demonstrate, in the slope of the growth curve, even small changes which are difficult to detect in batch cultures since the duration of these changes is short. In the continuous flow system, the relative cell volume distribution and the food vacuole forming capacity of the cells were unaltered; however, all cells contained small refractive granules. The system permits the culture volume to be varied, but a standard volume of 20 ml was maintained in most experiments. Since the culture volume is small, the system requires less than one liter of fresh medium per week to maintain the cells in the exponentially multiplying growth phase.

The Politics of Marginal Space

Denmark is internationally known for its mature welfare state covering almost all people in need of cash benefits or social services. Relatively speaking, Denmark has a high degree of socio-economic equality among its citizens, although recent developments in Danish politics towards immigrants and refugees challenge this rosy picture. In the late 1990s and at the beginning of the new millennium, Denmark and a few other countries like Ireland and the Netherlands were known as the ‘European miracles’, with low unemployment rates and low inflation. Paradoxically, however, despite the low unemployment rate in Denmark, there seems to be a rather large group of marginal people who are almost impossible to employ in the regular labour market. At the same time, the active role of Danish citizens is stressed more than ever and most forcefully demonstrated through the activation policy that demands of everybody that they have to participate on the labour market (Larsen, 2002a). The discrepancy between the totalising activation line and a large group of hard-to-employ has marked a second front-line in social policy. There is a growing recognition of the difficulties that social and labour market policies face in relation to bringing the hard-to-employ into the regular labour market. Instead of a hardcore activation policy, different types of ‘social activation’ have been implemented aiming at some kind social and spatial integration of marginal people.

Cash Benefit Recipients—Vulnerable or Villains?

This chapter investigates the current Danish unemployment policy regime from the perspective of the cash benefit recipient. The main goal of the policy is to move unemployed clients closer toward labor market participation. We question whether policy instruments, such as curtailing benefits and using economic sanctions in order to promote motivation and thereby enhance job opportunities, also present a risk to the livelihood of the most vulnerable unemployed.