Credit, wages, and bankruptcy laws

We analyze how bankruptcy laws affect the general equilibrium interactions between credit and wages. Soft laws reduce the frequency of liquidations and thus ex post inefficiencies, but they worsen credit rationing ex ante. This hinders firm creation and thus depresses labor demand. Rich agents who need few outside funds can invest even if creditor rights are weak. Hence, they favor soft laws that exclude poorer agents from the credit market and reduce the competition for labor. Such laws can generate greater utilitarian welfare than under perfect contract enforcement: By barring access to credit to some agents, soft laws lower wages, which increases the pledgeable income of richer agents and decreases the liquidation rates they must commit to. When they induce strong credit rationing, however, soft laws are Pareto-dominated by tougher laws combined with subsidies to entrepreneurs

Colloidal Gels: Equilibrium and Non-Equilibrium Routes

We attempt a classification of different colloidal gels based on colloid-colloid interactions. We discriminate primarily between non-equilibrium and equilibrium routes to gelation, the former case being slaved to thermodynamic phase separation while the latter is individuated in the framework of competing interactions and of patchy colloids. Emphasis is put on recent numerical simulations of colloidal gelation and their connection to experiments. Finally we underline typical signatures of different gel types, to be looked in more details in experiments.Comment: topical review, accepted in J. Phys. Condens. Matte

Corpo próprio como experiência vivencial da enfermeira no cuidar do outro no processo de morrer

It refers to the study of the researcher's perception when analyzing her own existence, aiming to learn the sense and meaning of her own body as a living experience while assisting the other in the process of dying. The Merleau-Ponty phenomenology and the new hermeneutic approaches were chosen. A point of contact was established between the living experience of the approximation of the object, unveiled by the own body inserted in the world, the object and the subject of the study. The themes that emerged were about the magical-religious knowledge influences of the perceived world, the real knowledge and the teaching-learning process. The phenomenon elaborated, result of the study, allowed the learning of the thesis of the existence of a sense and meaning for the own body of health professionals when assisting others in the dying process.Este estudio realiza un análisis de la existencia bajo la percepción de la investigadora, con el objetivo de entender el sentido y significado del propio cuerpo como experiencia al cuidar del otro en el proceso de muerte. Se optó por la metodología fenomenológica merleaupontyana y de la nueva hermenéutica. Estableciéndose un punto de contacto entre la experiencia de aproximación, mostrado por el propio cuerpo como parte del mundo, el objeto de estudio y el sujeto. Surgieron temas relacionados con la percepción del mundo con influencia del saber mágico-religioso, del saber real y de la enseñanza aprendizaje. El fenómeno, producto del estudio, permitió comprender la tesis de la existencia en su sentido y significado para el propio cuerpo del profesional de la salud, al cuidar del otro que está muriendo.Trata-se de estudo da percepção da pesquisadora, ao realizar análise de sua existência, objetivando apreender o sentido e significado do corpo próprio como experiência vivencial ao cuidar do outro no processo de morrer. Optou-se pelo percurso metodológico da fenomenologia merleaupontyana e da nova hermenêutica. Estabeleceu-se um ponto de contato entre a experiência vivencial de aproximação do objeto, desvelado pelo corpo próprio inserido no mundo, o objeto de estudo e o sujeito. Emergiram as temáticas sobre o mundo percebido das influências dos saberes mágico-religiosos, dos saberes reais e do ensino-aprendizagem. O fenômeno elaborado, resultado do estudo, permitiu apreender a tese da existência de um sentido e significado para o corpo próprio do profissional de saúde ao cuidar do outro que está morrendo

obesity weight loss and heart failure

Background The current scientific data controversially indicate obesity both as a risk factor for developing congestive heart failure (CHF) and a positive prognostic factor. Aims The present study evaluated the impact of weight loss on clinical and instrumental parameters in a selected group of obese patients with CHF. Methods An overall population of 560 HF patients was sub-grouped on the basis of the Body Mass Index (BMI): 8.2% were underweight (BMI 31). Of the 46 overweight and obese patients, 28 (55.2% men, age 51–80 years) accepted a tailored low-caloric dietary program for at least 4 months. The 28 patients belonged to both obese and overweight groups (BMI>27.8) and were in NYHA classes II–III. Mean follow-up was 5 months. Results The mean loss of body weight was 4 kg in 81.4% of patients, versus 3 kg mean increase in whole (560 patients) population (72.5–75.5 kg). In the 28 patients we recorded a significant ( p <0.05) improvement of NYHA class, better control of arterial blood pressure and statistically significant ( p <0.05) lowering of total cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Conclusions Tailored dietetic program may improve clinical and instrumental parameters in patients with CHF

The time in science: An interdisciplinary laboratorial approach

In order to promote problem-based and active learning in the physics laboratory, we designed a flipped classroom focused on the Franck-Hertz experiment. The flipped classroom approach moves course content from the classroom to homework and uses class time for engaging activities and problem solving. This constructivist approach to teaching is an effective means of student-centred collaboration and it can promote active learning, enhance critical thinking and obtain the maximum use of student-faculty time together. We report preliminary results of the flipped classroom approach to a laboratory and how it worked in the context of a small group of students in a physics course. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd

Contribution of Benthic Processes to the Growth of Ooids on a Low-Energy Shore in Cat Island, The Bahamas

Ooids are typically found in frequently reworked coastal sediments, and are thought to accrete by inorganic chemical precipitation around moving grains. The high organic content and the presence of biosignatures, however, suggest that ooids interact with benthic microbial communities. Here, we investigate the role of benthic processes on ooid growth on a leeward shore of Cat Island, The Bahamas. Polished ooids are present in the surf zone, whereas dull ooids and grapestones are present in microbially colonized sediments seaward of the surf zone. Wave hydrodynamics and sediment transport modeling suggest that microbially colonized sediments are mobilized at monthly time scales. We propose a new conceptual model for both ooids and grapestone. Ooids rest and accrete in the area covered by microbial mats, but are periodically transported to the surf zone where wave abrasion polishes them within days. Ooids are then transported back to microbially colonized areas where the accretion cycle resumes. Ooids too large to be transported become trapped outside the surf zone, exit the “conveyor belt” and become grapestones. The benthic growth mechanism predicts petrographic characteristics that match observations: successive ooid laminae do not thin outward, laminae exhibit irregularities, and some ooids include multiple nuclei

Prospects of detecting gamma-ray emission from galaxy clusters: cosmic rays and dark matter annihilations

We study the possibility for detecting gamma-ray emission from galaxy clusters. We consider 1) leptophilic models of dark matter (DM) annihilation that include a Sommerfeld enhancement (SFE), 2) different representative benchmark models of supersymmetric DM, and 3) cosmic ray (CR) induced pion decay. Among all clusters/groups of a flux-limited X-ray sample, we predict Virgo, Fornax and M49 to be the brightest DM sources and find a particularly low CR-induced background for Fornax. For a minimum substructure mass given by the DM free-streaming scale, cluster halos maximize the substructure boost for which we find a factor above 1000. Since regions around the virial radius dominate the annihilation flux of substructures, the resulting surface brightness profiles are almost flat. This makes it very challenging to detect this flux with imaging atmospheric Cherenkov telescopes. Assuming cold dark matter with a substructure mass distribution down to an Earth mass and using extended Fermi upper limits, we rule out the leptophilic models in their present form in 28 clusters, and limit the boost from SFE in M49 and Fornax to be < 5. This corresponds to a limit on SFE in the Milky Way of < 3, which is too small to account for the increasing positron fraction with energy as seen by PAMELA and challenges the DM interpretation. Alternatively, if SFE is realized in Nature, this would imply a limiting substructure mass of M_lim > 10^4 M_sol - a problem for structure formation. Using individual cluster observations, it will be challenging for Fermi to constrain our selection of DM benchmark models without SFE. The Fermi upper limits are, however, closing in on our predictions for the CR flux using an analytic model based on cosmological hydrodynamical cluster simulations. We limit the CR-to-thermal pressure in nearby bright galaxy clusters of the Fermi sample to < 10% and in Norma and Coma to < 3%.Comment: 43 pages, 23 figures, 10 tables. Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. D: streamlined paper, added a paragraph about detectability to introduction, few references added, and few typos correcte

Contribution of Benthic Processes to the Growth of Ooids on a Low-Energy Shore in Cat Island, The Bahamas

Ooids are typically found in frequently reworked coastal sediments, and are thought to accrete by inorganic chemical precipitation around moving grains. The high organic content and the presence of biosignatures, however, suggest that ooids interact with benthic microbial communities. Here, we investigate the role of benthic processes on ooid growth on a leeward shore of Cat Island, The Bahamas. Polished ooids are present in the surf zone, whereas dull ooids and grapestones are present in microbially colonized sediments seaward of the surf zone. Wave hydrodynamics and sediment transport modeling suggest that microbially colonized sediments are mobilized at monthly time scales. We propose a new conceptual model for both ooids and grapestone. Ooids rest and accrete in the area covered by microbial mats, but are periodically transported to the surf zone where wave abrasion polishes them within days. Ooids are then transported back to microbially colonized areas where the accretion cycle resumes. Ooids too large to be transported become trapped outside the surf zone, exit the “conveyor belt” and become grapestones. The benthic growth mechanism predicts petrographic characteristics that match observations: successive ooid laminae do not thin outward, laminae exhibit irregularities, and some ooids include multiple nuclei