ESTRATIFICACIÓN GLOBAL DEL DESEMPLEO Y DEL SUBEMPLEO

El artículo presenta estimativos estadísticos relacionados con la estratificación del desempleo y del subempleo. Existen listados regionales del desempleo en la literatura, pero la información agregada regionalmente no revela cabalmente la estratificación global centro-periferia que existe con respecto a los mercados laborales. En este artículo, los países son organizados en términos de quintiles del PIB per cápita. Para cada quintil de naciones se presentan los estimativos del desempleo, el subempleo, la actividad económica femenina y el empleo infantil. Los datos fuente no están tan completos como sería deseable; sin embargo, ellos permiten estimar ciertas cifras plausibles, los cuales muestran la magnitud de la estratificación global con respecto al desempleo y el subempleo

UNA CRÍTICA AL SISTEMA MUNDIAL DE SALARIOS

Existe la creencia generalizada de que las diferencias internacionales de salarios se deben a las distintas productividades. Esa opinión ha sido cuestionada por diversos economistas. Por ejemplo, Samir Amín observó: “Los trabajadores de la periferia son super-explotados... porque la diferencia en sus salarios (e ingresos no laborables en general) es mucho mayor que la diferencia que registran sus productividades.” (Amín 1990, Capítulo 6). Para otros como Prebisch, Singer y Myrdal, “los aumentos de productividad que se obtienen en las naciones desarrolladas, son trasladados a sus trabajadores en forma de salarios e ingresos más altos, mientras que aquellos aumentos obtenidos en la periferia sólo se reflejan en forma de menores precios” (Salvatore 1987: 273). Me propongo agregar algunas reflexiones personales sobre el asunto. Mis observaciones están influenciadas por la crítica a los salarios desde el feminismo, la cual ha establecido que las diferencias de salario entre los sexos son causadas frecuentemente por razones de discriminación, antes que de productividad. Dentro de esta orden de ideas, la tesis de este artículo es que las diferencias internacionales de salarios se deben en gran parte a la discriminación antes que a las diferencias de productividad

Weakly-supervised localization of diabetic retinopathy lesions in retinal fundus images

Convolutional neural networks (CNNs) show impressive performance for image classification and detection, extending heavily to the medical image domain. Nevertheless, medical experts are sceptical in these predictions as the nonlinear multilayer structure resulting in a classification outcome is not directly graspable. Recently, approaches have been shown which help the user to understand the discriminative regions within an image which are decisive for the CNN to conclude to a certain class. Although these approaches could help to build trust in the CNNs predictions, they are only slightly shown to work with medical image data which often poses a challenge as the decision for a class relies on different lesion areas scattered around the entire image. Using the DiaretDB1 dataset, we show that on retina images different lesion areas fundamental for diabetic retinopathy are detected on an image level with high accuracy, comparable or exceeding supervised methods. On lesion level, we achieve few false positives with high sensitivity, though, the network is solely trained on image-level labels which do not include information about existing lesions. Classifying between diseased and healthy images, we achieve an AUC of 0.954 on the DiaretDB1.Comment: Accepted in Proc. IEEE International Conference on Image Processing (ICIP), 201

Comparison of a standard CO2 pressure pneumoperitoneum insufflator versus AirSeal™: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: AirSeal™ is a novel class of valve-free insufflation system that enables a stable pneumoperitoneum with continuous smoke evacuation and carbon dioxide (CO(2)) recirculation during laparoscopic surgery. Comparison data to standard CO(2) pressure pneumoperitoneum insufflators is scarce. The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential advantages of AirSeal™ compared to a standard CO(2) insufflator. METHODS/DESIGN: This is a single center randomized controlled trial comparing elective laparoscopic cholecystectomy, colorectal surgery and hernia repair with AirSeal™ (group A) versus a standard CO(2) pressure insufflator (group S). Patients are randomized using a web-based central randomization and registration system. Primary outcome measures will be operative time and level of postoperative shoulder pain by using the visual analog score (VAS). Secondary outcomes include the evaluation of immunological values through blood tests, anesthesiological parameters, surgical side effects and length of hospital stay. Taking into account an expected dropout rate of 5%, the total number of patients is 182 (n = 91 per group). All tests will be two-sided with a confidence level of 95% (P <0.05). DISCUSSION: The duration of an operation is an important factor in reducing the patient’s exposure to CO(2) pneumoperitoneum and its adverse consequences. This trial will help to evaluate if the announced advantages of AirSeal™, such as clear sight of the operative site and an exceptionally stable working environment, will facilitate the course of selected procedures and influence operation time and patients clinical outcome. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01740011, registered 23 November 2012

Ferrimagnetic large single domain iron oxide nanoparticles for hyperthermia applications

This paper describes the preparation and obtained magnetic properties of large single domain iron oxide nanoparticles. Such ferrimagnetic particles are particularly interesting for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in medicine or (bio)technology. The particles were prepared by a modified oxidation method of non-magnetic precursors following the green rust synthesis and characterized regarding their structural and magnetic properties. For increasing preparation temperatures (5 to 85 °C), an increasing particle size in the range of 30 to 60 nm is observed. Magnetic measurements confirm a single domain ferrimagnetic behavior with a mean saturation magnetization of ca. 90 Am2/kg and a size-dependent coercivity in the range of 6 to 15 kA/m. The samples show a specific absorption rate (SAR) of up to 600 W/g, which is promising for magnetic hyperthermia application. For particle preparation temperatures above 45 °C, a non-magnetic impurity phase occurs besides the magnetic iron oxides that results in a reduced net saturation magnetization

A Critique of the Global Wage System

It is widely believed that international wage differences are a result of international productivity differences. That belief has been criticized by various economists for the differential in wages being much higher than in productivity. Another criticism has been that productivity increases in developing countries have tended to lead to lower world prices for their products and services, rather than to higher wages for their workers. The thesis of this article is that international wage differences are, to a large extent, caused by discrimination, rather than by productivity differences.International wage differences, productivity, discrimination, labor discrimination