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Abstract
There has been a wide-ranging discourse among scholars as to whether a hierarchical budget process contributes to increased fiscal discipline. During the 1990s such reforms were introduced in Sweden and Norway. These countries are characterized as being quite equal. However, they faced contrary economic challenges, with an accelerating debt in Sweden contrasting with huge resource revenues in Norway. Nonetheless, they shared equal political challenges by being characterized by minority as well as coalition governments, and even a large proportion of minority, coalition governments. This study confirms that there has been significantly increased fiscal discipline during the parliament's budget approval process. The outcome has been supported by reforms to the preparation of the budget approval, which have been centralized to the parliaments' standing committees on finance. The study supports the framework for evaluation of budget processes in von Hagen and Harden (1995). However, there are two significant modifications which stands out as supplements to the framework. First, strong limitations on amendments may be less important under a regime of top-down budgeting than anticipated in their framework. Second, the importance of centralizing the budget preparation in one specific committee, normally the standing committee on finance, may be stronger than anticipated by von Hagen and Harden.

This study presents an analysis of population trends in rural Norway, with a specific focus on the potential implications for rural populations in a long-term perspective. We highlight the significant outward migration of young people from rural areas, which has led to a demographic shift happening at a faster pace and on a larger scale in rural areas compared to central areas. Using North-Varanger, the most north-eastern part of the country, as an example, the article shows that the region has experienced net outward migration for the past 50 years, and if current trends persist, the population in the region could decrease by up to 80 percent by 2100. North-Varanger is an area of strategic importance to Norway. It is also an area of vital importance for the Sami people. This study shows that there is a risk that the population in one of the most strategically important regions will see a dramatic reduction. The only way to reverse this trend is to change the migration patterns and encourage more young families to settle in North-Varanger. This stresses the urgent need for policymakers to re-evaluate current public measures aimed at attracting migrants to rural areas in order to make the measures more effective and to ensure sustainable settlement in the region.

Campylobacter has been the most commonly reported cause of bacterial diarrheal disease in humans in the European Union since 2005. Most broiler batches at slaughter are colonized with Campylobacter, and the major source of infection is contaminated poultry meat. The aim of this study was to characterize a selection of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolates from broilers through whole-genome sequencing (WGS). A total of 16 isolates (C. jejuni = 12 and C. coli = 4) from five broiler farms from Catalonia (northeastern Spain) were analyzed. A phylogenetic analysis based on 8420 single-nucleotide polymorphisms showed two main cluster grouping strains by species. Phenotypic resistances to quinolones (100%), tetracycline (81%), streptomycin (75%), erythromycin (56%), and gentamicin (13%) were found. All the isolates carried the C257T point mutation in the subunit A of the DNA gyrase gene (Thr86Ile) conferring resistance to quinolones, while all the isolates showing resistance to tetracycline carried the tet(O) gene. The genes aph(3′)-III and aadE conferring resistance to aminoglycosides were identified in the two isolates (one C. jejuni and one C. coli) resistant to streptomycin and gentamicin. The point mutation A2075G on the 23S rDNA conferring high resistance to macrolides was detected in three C. coli isolates. The CmeABC multidrug efflux pump was also detected, both in C. jejuni and C. coli isolates. All C. jejuni and C. coli isolates were positive for most of the 34 virulence-associated genes studied related to motility, chemotaxis, adhesion, and invasion. Interestingly, the wlaN gene involved in the Guillain–Barré syndrome was found in two isolates. The results underline the power of WGS for investigation of virulence, clonality, and antimicrobial resistance in Campylobacter. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersion

From 1995 to 2000, a total of 673 Enterococcus faecium and 1,088 Enterococcus faecalis isolates from pigs together with 856 E. faecium isolates from broilers were isolated and tested for susceptibility to four classes of antimicrobial agents used for growth promotion as part of the Danish program of monitoring for antimicrobial resistance. The four antimicrobials were avilamycin, erythromycin, vancomycin, and virginiamycin. Major changes in the use of antimicrobial agents for growth promotion have occurred during the last 6 years in Denmark. The government banned the use of avoparcin in 1995 and of virginiamycin in 1998. Furthermore, the producers have voluntarily stopped all use beginning in 1999. The avoparcin ban in 1995 was followed by a decrease in the occurrence of glycopeptide-resistant E. faecium (GRE) in broilers, from 72.7% in 1995 to 5.8% in 2000. The occurrence of glycopeptide resistance among isolates from pigs remained constant at around 20% from 1995 to 1997. It was shown that, in GRE from pigs, the genes encoding macrolide and glycopeptide resistance were genetically linked and that, following the decrease in the use of tylosin during 1998 and 1999, the occurrence of GRE in pigs decreased to 6.0% in 2000. From 1995 to 1997 the occurrence of erythromycin resistance among E. faecium and E. faecalis isolates from pigs was almost 90%. Use of tylosin decreased considerably during 1998 and 1999, and this decrease was followed by decreases in the occurrence of resistance to 46.7 and 28.1% among E. faecium and E. faecalis isolates from pigs, respectively. Erythromycin resistance among E. faecium isolates from broilers reached a maximum of 76.3% in 1997 but decreased to 12.7% in 2000 concomitantly with more limited use of virginiamycin. Use of virginiamycin increased from 1995 to 1997 and was followed by an increased occurrence of virginiamycin resistance among E. faecium isolates in broilers, from 27.3% in 1995 to 66.2% in 1997. In January 1998 the use of virginiamycin was banned in Denmark, and the ...

The marine bacterium Photobacterium damselae subsp. damselae is a pathogen for a variety of marine animals, as well as for humans, and is nowadays considered an emerging pathogen for fish of importance in marine aquaculture. Recent studies have suggested that outbreaks in fish farms are caused by multiclonal populations of this subspecies that exist in the environment. Here, we report the study of a collection of 31 strains isolated during the course of disease outbreaks in marine rainbow trout farms in Denmark in 1994, 1995, and 2006, respectively. A phylogenetic analysis based on the toxR gene sequence, and the screening of virulence-related genes uncovered a high genetic heterogeneity, even among strains isolated from the same fish farm at the same time. Moreover, comparative analysis of the whole genome sequences of four selected strains revealed a large number of differentially occurring genes, which included virulence genes, pPHDD1 plasmid, polysaccharide synthesis gene clusters, CRISPR-Cas systems and putative new mobile genetic elements. This study provides sound evidence that P. damselae subsp. damselae outbreaks in Danish rainbow trout farms were caused by multiclonal populations and that horizontal gene transfer constitutes a strong driving force in the generation of intraspecific diversity in this pathogen ; This work has been supported by grant AGL2016-79738-R (AEI/FEDER, EU) from the State Agency for Research (AEI) of Spain, and co-funded by the FEDER Programme from the European Union. The support of Xunta de Galicia (Spain) with grant GRC-2014/007 is also acknowledged. MT thanks the Brazilian Ministry of Education and CAPES (Coordenaçao de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for a predoctoral fellowship. XM thanks Xunta de Galicia for a predoctoral fellowship ; SI