Global Dynamics in the Singular Logarithmic Potential

We present an analytical description of the motion in the singular logarithmic potential. This potential plays an important role in the modeling of triaxial systems (like elliptical galaxies) or bars in the centers of galaxy disks. In order to obtain information about the motion near the singularity, we resort to McGehee -type transformations and regularize the vector field. In the axis-symmetric case (b=1), we offer a complete description of the global dynamics. In the non axis-symmetric case (b<1), we prove that all orbits, with the exception of a negligible set, are centrophobic and retrieve numerically partial aspects of the orbital structure.Comment: Journal of Physics, A; High res images available at: http://stacks.iop.org/0305-4470/36/i=28/a=30

Caregiving subsidies and spousal early retirement intentions

Balancing caregiving duties and work can be both financially and emotionally burdensome, especially when care is provided to a spouse at home. This paper documents that financial respite for caregivers can influence individuals’ early retirement decisions. We examine the effect of a reform extending long-term care (LTC) benefits (in the form of subsidies and supports) in Spain after 2007 on caregiving spouse’s early retirement intention. We subsequently examine the effect of austerity spending cuts in 2012 reducing such publicly funded benefits, and we compare the estimates to the effects of an early retirement reform among private sector workers in 2013. We document evidence of a 10pp reduction in the early retirement intentions after the LTC reform even though the effect is heterogeneous by type of benefit. Consistently, austerity spending cuts in benefits are found to weaken retirement intentions. Our estimates suggest that cuts in caregiving subsidies exert a much stronger effect on early retirement intentions than actual early retirement reforms

More than one red herring? Heterogeneous effects of ageing on healthcare utilisation

We study the effect of ageing, defined as an extra year of life, on health care utilisation. We disentangle the direct effect of ageing, from other alternative explanations such as the presence of comorbidities and endogenous time to death (TTD) that are argued to absorb the effect of ageing (so‐called ‘red herring’ hypothesis). We exploit individual level end of life data from several European countries that record the use of medicine, outpatient and inpatient care and long‐term care. Consistently with the ‘red herring hypothesis’, we find that corrected TTD estimates are significantly different from uncorrected ones, and their effect size exceeds that of an extra year of life, which in turn is moderated by individual comorbidities. Corrected estimates suggest an overall attenuated effect of ageing, which does not influence outpatient care utilisation. These results suggest the presence of ‘more than one red herring’ depending on the type of health care examined

A health 'Kuznets' curve'? Cross-section and longitudinal evidence on concentration indices

The distribution of income related health inequalities appears to exhibit changing patterns when both developing countries and developed countries are examined. This paper tests for the existence of a health Kuznets' curve, that is an inverse U-shape pattern between economic developments measured by GDP per capita) and income-related health inequalities (as measured by concentration indices). We draw upon both cross section (the World Health Survey) and a long longitudinal (the European Community Household Panel survey) dataset. Our results suggest evidence of a health Kuznets' curve on per capita income. Our findings point towards the existence of a polynomial association where inequalities decline when GDP per capita reaches a magnitude ranging between $26,000 and$38,700.That is, income-related health inequalities rise with GDP per capita, but tail off once a threshold level of economic development has been attained

Strategic teaching in a virtual context : a study on tutor training in continuing education

Adult students who start a distance-studying program need to develop a strategic learning that allows them to adapt themselves to the demands of distance education and achieve their learning goals successfully. The tutor becomes a fundamental factor when it comes to facilitating these students' adaptation process to distance studying as well as the development of their strategic learning. In this article it is presented a qualitative study on the training process of a group of tutors in strategic distance teaching and learning; it is also presented the analysis of the changes generated in them regarding conceptual and strategic knowledge, both in an academic (as students in the course) and a professional (as tutors) level. Results point out that those tutors who managed to develop higher levels as strategic learners during the training course, accordingly developed a bigger conceptual knowledge and a better performance as strategic tutors

Does long-term care subsidisation reduce hospital admissions?

One of the intended effects of an integrated network of long-term care (LTC) services lies in the reduction of (unnecessary) health care utilisation. This paper draws upon the quasi-experimental evidence from Spain to examine the causal effect of the expansion of affordable long-term care (LTC) access (after the introduction of a new universal LTC subsidy) on hospital admissions (both on the internal and external margin) and its duration or length of stay (LOS). We find robust evidence of a reduction in both measures of hospitalisation among both those receiving a caregiving allowance and, though less intense, among beneficiaries of publicly funded home care (amounting to 11% of total hospital costs), and among regions coordinating health and social care. Consistently, a reduction in the subsidy is found to significantly attenuate such effects

Posibilidades y límites de las estructuras administrativas de contralor provinciales en minería. Un análisis comparado de las provincias argentinas de Córdoba, San Luis y San Juan

Tesis[Magister en Administración Pública]--Universidad Nacional de Córdoba, 2011-2012.Se aborda el estudio de las posibilidades y límites que tienen en su accionar las estructuras administrativas provinciales como Autoridades de Aplicación en la regulación y control de la actividad minera en Argentina, a los fines de minimizar la ocurrencia de daños o impactos en el medio ambiente. Se plantea analizar las estructuras provinciales de Córdoba, San Luis y San Juan porque a través de ellas abarcamos los distintos tipos de explotaciones mineras en virtud de la clasificación de minerales fijados en el Código Minero, y al mismo tiempo se evalúa la conformación de sus estructuras ante distintas condiciones de riesgos en virtud de la explotación existente en cada una de ellas. A los fines de contestar nuestro interrogante ¿Cúales son las posibilidades y límites de estos entes en el cuidado del medioambiente?. Se investiga seis dimensiones de estas estructuras: presupuesto, orgánica, personal, normativa, resultados de la existencia de normativas y resultados de control. La metodología empleada es Analítica, con un tratamiento de los datos en base a un enfoque descriptivo y comparativo, buscando realizar una construcción interactiva entre el argumento teórico y la evidencia empírica, concluyendo con un análisis comparado de toda la información obtenida, a los fines de aportar conclusiones y recomendaciones en la búsqueda de solucionar algunos de los problemas actuales evidenciados en el presente trabajo de tesis.Fil: Font, Marta Cristina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales. Instituto de Investigación y Formación en Administración Pública (IIFAP); Argentina

Modelado molecular como herramienta para el descubrimiento de nuevos fármacos que interaccionan con proteínas

Las enfermedades de Alzheimer y Parkinson constituyen dos ejemplos de trastornos neurodegenerativos del sistema nervioso central (SNC), caracterizados por un proceso crónico y selectivo de muerte neuronal, que se manifiesta con alteraciones de los movimientos, déficit cognitivo y demencia. Se ha demostrado que la inhibición de la Rhokinasa (ROCK) en el SNC promueve la reparación de los tejidos alterados en el Alzheimer, y en el Parkinson protege las neuronas dopaminérgicas y mejora las capacidades de movimiento. Además, la inhibición de la MAO (monoaminooxidasa) lleva indirectamente a un incremento de la transmisión dopaminérgica, esencial en el tratamiento del Parkinson, y reduce la formación de peróxidos, responsables de la formación de radicales libres y del estrés oxidativo celular a nivel de la substancia nigra (fenómeno responsable de la neurodegeneración). Uno de los retos de hoy en día, es la obtención de fármacos multidiana, capaces de interaccionar con más de una macromolécula y cuyo efecto farmacológico derive de la interacción con éstas de forma aditiva o sinérgica. Por eso, nos planteamos diseñar un fármaco multidiana capaz de inhibir tanto la ROCK como la MAO. Para ello, decidimos unir al fasudil, un potente inhibidor de la ROCK, un sustituyente propargílico, fragmento farmacóforo de algunos inhibidores suicidas de la MAO, como la clorgilina y la rasagilina. Antes de plantear la síntesis química, decidimos emplear el docking molecular, una técnica computacional que permite estudiar la interacción entre un ligando y un receptor, mediante el estudio de las energías de enlace entre ambas moléculas. A través de esta técnica, se comparó la interacción del fasudil-propargilo con la interacción del fasudil con la ROCK, la clorgilina con la MAO A y la rasagilina con la MAO B. En los tres casos, el fármaco multidiana resultó tener una afinidad comparable o mejor que la del fármaco de referencia