Self-employment in Denmark and Spain: institution, economic conditions and gender differences

Among the OECD countries, Spain faces one of the highest rates of self-employment and Denmark one of the lowest, being the difference specially relevant among women. These two countries present important differences in their institutional environment and labour market conditions: the level of labour market flexibility and the importance of parttime employment, the generosity of the unemployment benefit systems, and the role of the child care policies, among others. In this paper we compare the Danish and Spanish labour markets and analyze to what extent the different evolution of female and male self-employment rates are influenced by country-specific employment conditions. This study is carried out for men and women separately using a strictly comparable panel data set for the two countries. The results indicate that in Spain self-employment seems to offer individuals who normally are considered as marginalized in the labour market a beneficial alternative to wage employment, while this pattern is not so clear in Denmark. Our analysis suggests that an important factor in explaining the difference in Danish and Spanish self-employment rates is the different employment environment that both countries face

Cure of chronic viral infection and virus-induced type 1 diabetes by neutralizing antibodies

The use of neutralizing antibodies is one of the most successful methods to interfere with receptor–ligand interactions in vivo. In particular blockade of soluble inflammatory mediators or their corresponding cellular receptors was proven an effective way to regulate inflammation and/or prevent its negative consequences. However, one problem that comes along with an effective neutralization of inflammatory mediators is the general systemic immunomodulatory effect. It is, therefore, important to design a treatment regimen in a way to strike at the right place and at the right time in order to achieve maximal effects with minimal duration of immunosuppression or hyperactivation. In this review, we reflect on two examples of how short time administration of such neutralizing antibodies can block two distinct inflammatory consequences of viral infection. First, we review recent findings that blockade of IL-10/IL-10R interaction can resolve chronic viral infection and second, we reflect on how neutralization of the chemokine CXCL10 can abrogate virus-induced type 1 diabetes

Entrepreneurial Moral Hazard in Income Insurance

We study risk behavior of Danish self-employed entrepreneurs, whose income risk may be driven by both exogenous factors and effort choice (moral hazard). Partial insurance is available through voluntary unemployment insurance (UI). Additional incentives to sign insurance contracts stem from a UI-embedded, government-subsidized early retirement (ER) program, giving benefits that are unrelated to business risk. Indeed, we argue that the self-employed's incentives to insure themselves stem from the ER plan rather than from the UI cover. We show how to use a policy reform to identify moral hazard in observed transitions to unemployment when insurance is a choice variable. We use administrative (register) panel data covering 10% of the Danish population. We find that the insured are indeed more likely to transit into unemployment than the uninsured, once we properly instrument for the insurance choice

Current distribution in a parallel configuration superconducting strip-line detector

Superconducting detectors based on parallel microscopic strip-lines are promising candidates for single molecule detection in time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The device physics of this configuration is complex. In this letter, we employ nano-optical techniques to study the variation of current density, count rate, and pulse amplitude transversely across the parallel strip device. Using the phenomenological London theory, we are able to correlate our results to a non-uniform current distribution between the strips, governed by the London magnetic penetration depth. This fresh perspective convincingly explains anomalous behaviour in large area parallel superconducting strip-line detectors reported in previous studies

Different routes to social security in Europe : social protection or social invesment, ¿What determines the perception of social risks in relation to unemployment, careresponsibilities and poverty? = Rutas diferentes para la seguridad social en Europa : protección social o inversión social, ¿qué determina la percepción de los riesgossociales relacionados con el desempleo, las responsabilidades asistenciales y la pobreza?

The article analyzes new social risks and how they are managed in different European social systems. We will focus on social risks that people in European countries are facing in the post-industrial society and how these risks are confronted by the welfare system. One type of social risks comes from the inability to combine care for children and elderly relatives with paid work. Especially women are often forced to sacrifice employment in order to care for family members and have consequently a higher risk of poverty. A second type of social risks relates to changes caused by technological innovations, industrial restructuring and global competition. Especially un-skilled male workers are hurt and have a higher risk of unemployment – followed by poverty and social exclusion. The article examines how both institutional factors as family, labour market and welfare policy as well as individual factors as gender, education, age, and ethnicity affect patterns of perceived social risk. In analysing the perception of social risk we use comparative data from the fourth round of the European Social Survey carried out in 2008.El artículo analiza los nuevos riesgos sociales y cómo se manejan en los diversos sistemas sociales europeos. Nos centraremos en los riesgos sociales que las personas están afrontando en las sociedades post-industriales europeas y en cómo estos riesgos se oponen al Sistema de Bienestar. Un tipo de riesgo social viene de la imposibilidad de combinar el cuidado de los hijos y de las personas mayores con el desempeño laboral. Especialmente en el caso de las mujeres, que se ven forzadas a sacrificar su empleo para poder cuidar de los miembros de la familia y por tanto, aumentan su vulnerabilidad frente a la probreza. Un segundo tipo de riesgo social está relacionado con los cambios derivados de la innovación tecnológicas, la reestructuración industrial y la competición mundial. Este riesgo afecta especialmente a los trabajadores varones sin especialización, lo que les lleva en primer lugar, a tener mayor probabilidad de sufrir un accidente o de perder el empleo, así como a sufrir la probreza y la exclusión social. El artículo examina tanto los factores institucionales como familiares, el mercado de trabajo y las políticas de bienestar, así como factores individuales tales como el género, la educación, la edad, y los patrones étrnicos en cuanto al riesgo social percibido. Al analizar la percepción del riesgo social, usamos datos comparativos de la cuarta Encuesta Social Europea del año 2008

Reset dynamics and latching in niobium superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors

We study the reset dynamics of niobium (Nb) superconducting nanowire single-photon detectors (SNSPDs) using experimental measurements and numerical simulations. The numerical simulations of the detection dynamics agree well with experimental measurements, using independently determined parameters in the simulations. We find that if the photon-induced hotspot cools too slowly, the device will latch into a dc resistive state. To avoid latching, the time for the hotspot to cool must be short compared to the inductive time constant that governs the resetting of the current in the device after hotspot formation. From simulations of the energy relaxation process, we find that the hotspot cooling time is determined primarily by the temperature-dependent electron-phonon inelastic time. Latching prevents reset and precludes subsequent photon detection. Fast resetting to the superconducting state is therefore essential, and we demonstrate experimentally how this is achieved

Integrated Joule switches for the control of current dynamics in parallel superconducting strips

Understanding and harnessing the physics of the dynamic current distribution in parallel superconducting strips holds the key to creating next generation sensors for single molecule and single photon detection. Non-uniformity in the current distribution in parallel superconducting strips leads to low detection efficiency and unstable operation, preventing the scale up to large area sensors. Recent studies indicate that non-uniform current distributions occurring in parallel strips can be understood and modeled in the framework of the generalized London model. Here we build on this important physical insight, investigating an innovative design with integrated superconducting-to-resistive Joule switches to break the superconducting loops between the strips and thus control the current dynamics. Employing precision low temperature nano-optical techniques, we map the uniformity of the current distribution before- and after the resistive strip switching event, confirming the effectiveness of our design. These results provide important insights for the development of next generation large area superconducting strip-based sensors

Gated Mode Superconducting Nanowire Single Photon Detectors

Single Photon Detectors (SPD) are fundamental to quantum optics and quantum information. Superconducting Nanowire SPDs (SNSPD) [1] provide high performance in terms of quantum efficiency (QE), dark count rate (DCR) and timing jitter [2], but have limited maximum count rate (MCR) when operated as a free-running mode (FM) detector [3, 4]. However, high count rates are needed for many applications like quantum computing [5] and communication [6], and laser ranging [7]. Here we report the first operation of SNSPDs in a gated mode (GM) that exploits a single photon triggered latching phenomenon to detect photons. We demonstrate operation of a large active area single element GM-SNSPD at 625MHz, one order of magnitude faster than its FM counterpart. Contrary to FM-SNSPDs, the MCR in GM can be pushed to GHz range without a compromise on the active area or QE, while reducing the DCR

Impedance model for the polarization-dependent optical absorption of superconducting single-photon detectors

We measured the single-photon detection efficiency of NbN superconducting single photon detectors as a function of the polarization state of the incident light for different wavelengths in the range from 488 nm to 1550 nm. The polarization contrast varies from ~5% at 488 nm to ~30% at 1550 nm, in good agreement with numerical calculations. We use an optical-impedance model to describe the absorption for polarization parallel to the wires of the detector. For lossy NbN films, the absorption can be kept constant by keeping the product of layer thickness and filling factor constant. As a consequence, we find that the maximum possible absorption is independent of filling factor. By illuminating the detector through the substrate, an absorption efficiency of ~70% can be reached for a detector on Si or GaAs, without the need for an optical cavity.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Journal of Applied Physic