Heterogeneity of the effects of health insurance on household savings: Evidence from rural China

URL des Documents de travail : http://centredeconomiesorbonne.univ-paris1.fr/bandeau-haut/documents-de-travail/Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 2013.56 - ISSN : 1955-611XThis paper estimates the impact of the New Cooperative Medical Scheme (NCMS) on household saving across income quartiles in rural China. We use data from the China Health and Nutrition Survey for the 2006 wave and we run an ordinary least squares regression. We control for the endogeneity of NCMS participation by using an instrumental variable strategy. We find evidence that NCMS has a negative impact on savings of lower-middle-income participants, while it does not affect the poorest households. The negative effect of NCMS on savings of middle-income participants holds when we use propensity score matching estimations as a robustness check.Ce document de travail évalue l'impact de la Nouvelle Coopérative Médicale Rurale (NCMR) sur l'épargne des ménages par quartile de revenu en Chine rurale. Nous utilisons les données du China Health and Nutrition Survey pour l'année 2006 et estimons les différents effets de la NCMR par quartile de revenu en suivant la méthode des moindres carrés ordinaires et celle des doubles moindres carrés ordinaires. Ces deux méthodes confirment l'existence d'une hétérogénéité de l'impact de la NCMR dans la mesure où seuls les ménages participants au revenu moyen semblent réduire leur épargne. Les ménages les plus riches et les plus pauvres, quant à eux, ne modifient pas leur comportement d'épargne. Ces résultats sont vérifiés lorsque nous employons une méthode d'appariement par score de propension

Laser Hair Removal: Comparative Study of Light Wavelength and its Effect on Laser Hair Removal

For some people, hirsuteness (having excess body hair) can be an embarrassing problem. Many attempts have been made to find a solution to these problems, including electrolysis, tweezing, shaving, and waxing. However, most of these solutions are painful, are not useful in treating large areas of skin, or are not permanent. Laser hair removal stands out amongst these other methods as a permanent method of reducing hirsuteness that can cover large areas of the body, such as the chest or the legs. While laser hair removal is a widely used technology, few studies have explored the physical aspects of why it works so well. More specifically, there is a significant lack of computer models that show how temperature profiles look inside the hair and surrounding skin. Using the physical properties and dimensions of hair, we constructed a model of the hair that approximates how actual hair resides in the skin. Using COMSOL Multiphysics, we tested this model with five different lasers of varying wavelengths in order to determine the relationship between laser wavelength and temperature in the hair. Using a laser pulse duration of 0.01 seconds (10 milliseconds), we found a positive correlation between wavelength and temperature, with all wavelengths except the lowest (595 nm) achieving a temperature above the threshold temperature required for hair destruction. In addition, while all lasers caused a temperature rise in the surrounding skin, the extent of thermal damage was minimal. However, since we could not find physical properties of the hair follicle itself, we were forced to approximate those properties using the hair shaft properties, ultimately leading us to treat the follicle and shaft as one entity. This is a slight limitation with our design. Regardless, we have provided a greater understanding of the physiological temperatures involved in hair removal, and have reinforced the fact that laser hair removal can be a safe method and effective method for treating hirsuteness by showing that hair follicles can be heated to a temperature that kill them by using lasers, and that this heating does not severely or irreparably damage surrounding skin

Effectiveness of the Bridge/Adapt Program on Functional Skill Generalization After Acquired Brain Injury

This study explored the effectiveness of the Bridge/Adapt program for generalizing increased cognition to functional skills. Three participants, identified as having significant cognitive impairments as measured by the Cognistat assessment, participated in the Bridge/Adapt program, an eight-week program that includes both remedial and compensatory components. The remedial component used was a computer-based cognitive rehabilitation program called Parrot Software. Past studies have proven computer-based cognitive rehabilitation to be effective in increasing overall cognition. The Bridge/Adapt module is the compensatory component that utilized a variety of strategies and everyday tasks to facilitate the generalization of improved cognition to functional performance. A homework component was also implemented for participants to incorporate the strategies learned in the Bridge/Adapt program to their own meaningful occupations. This study utilized a pretest posttest design using the medication box assessment to measure functional performance. Results of the medication box assessment indicated that one of the three participants demonstrated generalization of skills from improved cognition to functional performance. Future research should include re-evaluating the Bridge/Adapt modules and the medication box assessment. Recommendations to improve future implementation are provided to increase likelihood of generalization

Bridge/Adapt: Transfer from Computer Remediation to Functional Skill

This study explored the effectiveness of the Bridge/Adapt program for generalizing increased cognition to functional skills. Three participants, identified as having significant cognitive impairments as measured by the Cognistat assessment, participated in the Bridge/Adapt program, an eight-week program that includes both remedial and compensatory components. The remedial component used was a computer-based cognitive rehabilitation program called Parrot Software. Past studies have proven computer-based cognitive rehabilitation to be effective in increasing overall cognition. The Bridge/Adapt module is the compensatory component that utilized a variety of strategies and everyday tasks to facilitate the generalization of improved cognition to functional performance. A homework component was also implemented for participants to incorporate the strategies learned in the Bridge/Adapt program to their own meaningful occupations. This study utilized a pretest posttest design using the medication box assessment to measure functional performance. Results of the medication box assessment indicated that one of the three participants demonstrated generalization of skills from improved cognition to functional performance. Future research should include re-evaluating the Bridge/Adapt modules and the medication box assessment. Recommendations to improve future implementation are provided to increase likelihood of generalization

Bridge/Adapt: Transfer from Computer Remediation to Functional Skill

This study explored the effectiveness of the Bridge/Adapt program for generalizing increased cognition to functional skills. Three participants, identified as having significant cognitive impairments as measured by the Cognistat assessment, participated in the Bridge/Adapt program, an eight-week program that includes both remedial and compensatory components. The remedial component used was a computer-based cognitive rehabilitation program called Parrot Software. Past studies have proven computer-based cognitive rehabilitation to be effective in increasing overall cognition. The Bridge/Adapt module is the compensatory component that utilized a variety of strategies and everyday tasks to facilitate the generalization of improved cognition to functional performance. A homework component was also implemented for participants to incorporate the strategies learned in the Bridge/Adapt program to their own meaningful occupations. This study utilized a pretest posttest design using the medication box assessment to measure functional performance. Results of the medication box assessment indicated that one of the three participants demonstrated generalization of skills from improved cognition to functional performance. Future research should include re-evaluating the Bridge/Adapt modules and the medication box assessment. Recommendations to improve future implementation are provided to increase likelihood of generalization.https://scholar.dominican.edu/ug-student-posters/1015/thumbnail.jp

The consistency condition for the three-point function in dissipative single-clock inflation

We generalize the consistency condition for the three-point function in single field inflation to the case of dissipative, multi-field, single-clock models. We use the recently introduced extension of the effective field theory of inflation that accounts for dissipative effects, to provide an explicit proof to leading (non-trivial) order in the generalized slow roll parameters and mixing with gravity scales. Our results illustrate the conditions necessary for the validity of the consistency relation in situations with many degrees of freedom relevant during inflation, namely that there is a preferred clock. Departures from this condition in forthcoming experiments would rule out not only single field but also a large class of multi-field models.Comment: 26+11 page

Polarimetry and the High-Energy Emission Mechanisms in Quasar Jets. The Case of PKS 1136-135

Since the discovery of kiloparsec-scale X-ray emission from quasar jets, the physical processes responsible for their high-energy emission have been poorly defined. A number of mechanisms are under active debate, including synchrotron radiation, inverse-Comptonized CMB (IC/CMB) emission, and other Comptonization processes. In a number of cases, the optical and X-ray emission of jet regions are inked by a single spectral component, and in those, high- resolution multi-band imaging and polarimetry can be combined to yield a powerful diagnostic of jet emission processes. Here we report on deep imaging photometry of the jet of PKS 1136$-$135 obtained with the {\it Hubble Space Telescope.} We find that several knots are highly polarized in the optical, with fractional polarization $\Pi>30$. When combined with the broadband spectral shape observed in these regions, this is very difficult to explain via IC/CMB models, unless the scattering particles are at the lowest-energy tip of the electron energy distribution, with Lorentz factor $\gamma \sim 1$, and the jet is also very highly beamed ($\delta \geq 20$) and viewed within a few degrees of the line of sight. We discuss both the IC/CMB and synchrotron interpretation of the X-ray emission in the light of this new evidence, presenting new models of the spectral energy distribution and also the matter content of this jet. The high polarizations do not completely rule out the possibility of IC/CMB optical-to-X-ray emission in this jet, but they do strongly disfavor the model. We discuss the implications of this finding, and also the prospects for future work.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figures, ApJ in pres

X-ray Properties of Young Radio Quasars at z > 4.5

We present a comprehensive analysis of Chandra X-ray observations of 15 young radio quasars at redshifts $4.5 < z < 5.0$. All sources are detected in the $0.5-7.0$ keV energy band. Emission spectra are extracted, and the average photon index for the sample is measured to be $1.5\pm0.1$. Unabsorbed rest-frame $2-10$ keV luminosities are found to range between $(0.5-23.2) \times 10^{45}$ erg s$^{-1}$. The optical-X-ray power-law spectral index $\alpha_{ox}$ is calculated for each source using optical/UV data available in the literature. The $\alpha_{ox}$-UV relationship is compared with other quasar surveys, and an anticorrelation is observed that agrees with independent estimates. Rest-frame radio and X-ray luminosities are established for the sample, and a correlation between the luminosities is detected. These multiwavelength results reinforce a lack of spectral evolution for quasars over a broad redshift range. We additionally identify three quasars from our multiwavelength analysis that are statistically significant outliers, with one source being a Compton-thick candidate in the early universe, and discuss each in detail.Comment: Accepted to ApJ, 13 pages, 5 figures, 4 table

Two Candidate High-Redshift X-ray Jets Without Coincident Radio Jets

We report the detection of extended X-ray emission from two high-redshift radio quasars. These quasars, J1405+0415 at $z$=3.208 and J1610+1811 at $z$=3.118, were observed in a Chandra snapshot survey selected from a complete sample of the radio-brightest quasars in the overlap area of the VLA-FIRST radio survey and the Sloan Digital Sky Survey. The extended X-ray emission is located along the line connecting the core to a radio knot or hotspot, favoring the interpretation of X-ray jets. The inferred rest frame jet X-ray luminosities from 2--30 keV would be of order 10$^{45}$ erg~s$^{-1}$ if emitted isotropically and without relativistic beaming. In the scenario of inverse Compton scattering of the cosmic microwave background (CMB), X-ray jets without a coincident radio counterpart may be common, and should be readily detectable to redshifts even beyond 3.2 due to the (1+$z$)$^4$ increase of the CMB energy density compensating for the (1+$z$)$^{-4}$ cosmological diminution of surface brightness. If these can be X-ray confirmed, they would be the second and third examples of quasar X-ray jets without detection of underlying continuous radio jets.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figures. Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa