THE EFFECTS OF DEMOGRAPHIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL FACTORS ON ADULT HEALTH IN BRAZIL

Very little is known about the effects on adult health of environmental conditions in developing countries. Most studies have focused on child health and few have included environmental factors. The shortcomings are associated with difficulties in measuring health status for adults and the limited availability of data on environmental conditions in developing countries. Schultz and Tansel conclude their study stating "the next step in this field of research is to distinguish what variations in public policies or natural variations in environmental conditions combine to explain existing variation in adult morbidity among wage earners." According to UNICEF, over half the population of Brazil live in an unsanitary environment. Worldwide, nearly three billion people do not have access to even a minimally sanitary toilet. This study assesses the effects of demographic factors and key environmental conditions on adult health in Brazil. The research focuses on morbidity among wage earners and the impact of specific environmental conditions. The analysis is based on a household model developed by Schultz and Tansel and treats work absence due to health problems as a measure of adult health status. The data used are from the 1989 Brazilian National Health and Nutrition Survey and 1989 National Basic Sanitation Condition Survey. The first is a household survey that measured individual health and nutrition. The second survey provides data on basic environmental and sanitary conditions at the municipality level.Health Economics and Policy,

On the skeleton method and an application to a quantum scissor

In the spectral analysis of few one dimensional quantum particles interacting through delta potentials it is well known that one can recast the problem into the spectral analysis of an integral operator (the skeleton) living on the submanifold which supports the delta interactions. We shall present several tools which allow direct insight into the spectral structure of this skeleton. We shall illustrate the method on a model of a two dimensional quantum particle interacting with two infinitely long straight wires which cross one another at a certain angle : the quantum scissor.Comment: Submitte

On critical stability of three quantum charges interacting through delta potentials

We consider three one dimensional quantum, charged and spinless particles interacting through delta potentials. We derive sufficient conditions which guarantee the existence of at least one bound state

A Search for Technosignatures Around 31 Sun-like Stars with the Green Bank Telescope at 1.15-1.73 GHz

We conducted a search for technosignatures in April of 2018 and 2019 with the L-band receiver (1.15-1.73 GHz) of the 100 m diameter Green Bank Telescope. These observations focused on regions surrounding 31 Sun-like stars near the plane of the Galaxy. We present the results of our search for narrowband signals in this data set as well as improvements to our data processing pipeline. Specifically, we applied an improved candidate signal detection procedure that relies on the topographic prominence of the signal power, which nearly doubles the signal detection count of some previously analyzed data sets. We also improved the direction-of-origin filters that remove most radio frequency interference (RFI) to ensure that they uniquely link signals observed in separate scans. We performed a preliminary signal injection and recovery analysis to test the performance of our pipeline. We found that our pipeline recovers 93% of the injected signals over the usable frequency range of the receiver and 98% if we exclude regions with dense RFI. In this analysis, 99.73% of the recovered signals were correctly classified as technosignature candidates. Our improved data processing pipeline classified over 99.84% of the ~26 million signals detected in our data as RFI. Of the remaining candidates, 4539 were detected outside of known RFI frequency regions. The remaining candidates were visually inspected and verified to be of anthropogenic nature. Our search compares favorably to other recent searches in terms of end-to-end sensitivity, frequency drift rate coverage, and signal detection count per unit bandwidth per unit integration time.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figures, in press at the Astronomical Journal (submitted on Sept. 9, 2020; reviews received Nov. 6; re-submitted Nov. 6; accepted Nov. 17

Vaccinations in patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases

Patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMID) such as RA, IBD or psoriasis, are at increased risk of infection, partially because of the disease itself, but mostly because of treatment with immunomodulatory or immunosuppressive drugs. In spite of their elevated risk for vaccine-preventable disease, vaccination coverage in IMID patients is surprisingly low. This review summarizes current literature data on vaccine safety and efficacy in IMID patients treated with immunosuppressive or immunomodulatory drugs and formulates best-practice recommendations on vaccination in this population. Especially in the current era of biological therapies, including TNF-blocking agents, special consideration should be given to vaccination strategies in IMID patients. Clinical evidence indicates that immunization of IMID patients does not increase clinical or laboratory parameters of disease activity. Live vaccines are contraindicated in immunocompromized individuals, but non-live vaccines can safely be given. Although the reduced quality of the immune response in patients under immunotherapy may have a negative impact on vaccination efficacy in this population, adequate humoral response to vaccination in IMID patients has been demonstrated for hepatitis B, influenza and pneumococcal vaccination. Vaccination status is best checked and updated before the start of immunomodulatory therapy: live vaccines are not contraindicated at that time and inactivated vaccines elicit an optimal immune response in immunocompetent individuals

Poverty and Well-being in Post-Apartheid South Africa: An Overview of Data, Outcomes and Policy

WP 2006-03 January 2006This is an overview of poverty and well-being in the first decade of post-apartheid South Africa. It is an introduction to a volume that brings together some of the most prominent academic research done on this topic for the 10-year review process in South Africa. This overview highlights three key aspects of the picture that the detailed research paints. First, data quality and comparability has been a constant issue in arriving at a consensus among analysts on the outcomes for households and individuals in postapartheid South Africa. Second, while the outcomes on unemployment, poverty and inequality are indeed bad, the outcomes on social indicators and access to public services are much more encouraging. Third, the prospects for rapid and sustained economic growth, without which poverty and well-being cannot be addressed in the long run, are themselves negatively affected by increasing inequality, poverty and unemployment

Knowledge synthesis of benefits and adverse effects of measles vaccination: the Lasbela balance sheet

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In preparation for a cluster-randomized controlled trial of a community intervention to increase the demand for measles vaccination in Lasbela district of Pakistan, a balance sheet summarized published evidence on benefits and possible adverse effects of measles vaccination.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The balance sheet listed: 1) major health conditions associated with measles; 2) the risk among the unvaccinated who contract measles; 3) the risk among the vaccinated; 4) the risk difference between vaccinated and unvaccinated; and 5) the likely net gain from vaccination for each condition.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Two models revealed very different projections of net gain from measles vaccine. A Lasbela-specific combination of low period prevalence of measles among the unvaccinated, medium vaccination coverage and low vaccine efficacy rate, as revealed by the baseline survey, resulted in less-than-expected gains attributable to vaccination. Modelled on estimates where the vaccine had greater efficacy, the gains from vaccination would be more substantial.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Specific local conditions probably explain the low rates among the unvaccinated while the high vaccine failure rate is likely due to weaknesses in the vaccination delivery system. Community perception of these realities may have had some role in household decisions about whether to vaccinate, although the major discouraging factor was inadequate access. The balance sheet may be useful as a communication tool in other circumstances, applied to up-to-date local evidence.</p

INDIFFERENCIE : DROIT DE L'HOMME ET UNION EUROPEENNE

Conférences de l’IREDIES / IREDIES Conference Paper n° 2 /2019La présente étude est le fruit d’un travail collectif réalisé par les étudiants de la promotion 2018-2019 du Master 2 « Droits de l’homme et Union européenne » de l’Ecole de droit de la Sorbonne (Paris 1). Ce diplôme – qui a l’intérêt de disposer d’un séminaire entièrement consacré à l’étude de la Charte des droits fondamentaux de l’Union européenne – a été le lieu de réflexion de cette recherche menée avec enthousiasme et professionnalisme par tous les étudiants. Les travaux doctrinaux sur ce texte novateur sont en général centrés sur la manière dont la Cour de justice de l’Union l’interprète et l’applique. Or, il ne s’agit là que de la face visible de l’iceberg contentieux. Dans ce contexte, il est apparu essentiel de s’interroger sur la manière dont les juridictions internes avaient apprivoisé ce texte moderne (au regard de la variété des droits qu’il consacre) et complexe (au regard de son champ d’application).Les étudiants se sont répartis en trois groupes afin d’étudier la manière dont les juridictions internes (Conseil constitutionnel, Conseil d’Etat et Cour de cassation), mais également le législateur, se sont emparés de ce texte.Les résultats de cette étude, où l’outil statistique a constitué un support cardinal, démontrent que si la Charte des droits fondamentaux est connue du pouvoir législatif et des « acteurs » judiciaires, il n’est pas encore devenu une référence incontournable du processus législatif et de l’argumentaire des juges. L’antériorité de la Convention de sauvegarde des droits et libertés fondamentales comme les spécificités du champ d’application de la Charte sont deux éléments explicatifs d’un tel état de fait.Ce travail, mené avec sérieux et rigueur, méritait d’être rendu public au sein de la collection des Working papers de l’IREDIES