Status Buying Responses in a Survey of Students and Variations in Informational Levels.

This article reports on a survey of a large number of undergraduate students in the U.S. They were queried about whether they preferred living in a society where they had high relative income (status) but low purchasing power or a society where they have low status, but high purchasing power.While the overwhelming majority indicate a desire to buy status, the information given about intergenerational mobilty and amenities like health available in the different socities makes a big difference in the responses. The data indicate that that the majority desiring to buy status disappears with better information.

A Comparative Study of Student Demand for Status in Ireland, Italy and the United States

This paper reports on results of surveys of hundreds of students in Italy, Ireland and the United States that show that if simply confronted with questions about their preferences for high relative income at the expense of absolute income that a) a substantial fractiongive inconsistent answers and b) that the remainder are overwhelmingly status conscious. It also shows that where they are given more information about the benefits of higher real income that there is a significant decrease in this preference for status. The results are remarkably similar in all 3 countries and what differences exist are consistent with what we know about their differences in intergenerational income mobility. It also sho ws that when the price of status is changed American students response is highly inconsistent with any fully formed preferences for status. This is somewhat less so in Italy. Overall the results throw doubt on one of the empirical linchpins that has been used to bolster the idea that relative income is what people seek.

Monoamines, Individual Decisons, and Collective-Organization of Pavement Ant Wars

Disertação de mestrado em Relações Internacionais, apresentada à Faculdade de Economia da Universidade de Coimbra, sob a orientação de José Manuel Pureza e Reginaldo Mattar Nasser.O conflito Israelense-Palestino é analisado de forma crítica nessa dissertação, com destaque para o contexto político e econômico do processo de paz de Oslo. No plano conceitual, o aspecto crítico é utilizado como uma forma de desconstrução teórica do modelo da paz liberal e do discurso da paz pelo comércio como um meio de resolução do conflito Israelense-Palestino. O objetivo dessa dissertação é, portanto, demonstrar que o processo de paz instaurado pelos Acordos de Oslo de 1993 está associado a um processo de privatização da paz no conflito Israelense-Palestino, e que teve origem nas reformas neoliberais ocorridas em Israel a partir de 1985. Desta forma, destacados empresários israelenses e palestinos passaram a formar um lobby privatista pela paz no conflito Israelense-Palestino. Pretende-se também demonstrar que o processo da paz de Oslo resultou em uma intensificação da dependência econômica palestina em relação a Israel, gerando uma situação de deterioração econômica nos territórios palestinos. Essa agenda negativa gerou uma crescente insatisfação palestina contra a dominação colonialista israelense, o que levou à eclosão da primeira intifada em 1987 e ao surgimento do Hamas em 1988, gerando um processo de fragmentação política nos territórios palestinos entre o partido tradicional Fatah e o grupo de resistência islâmica Hamas. A disputa pela hegemonia na política palestina se deu, entre outros fatores, por conta da má gestão do Fatah no comando da Autoridade Nacional Palestina (ANP), envolvendo casos de corrupção em torno de uma elite política e econômica disposta a reproduzir o neoliberalismo como modelo de desenvolvimento econômico nos territórios palestinos. Desta forma, o Hamas passou a promover um intenso ativismo social perante os palestinos e a resistir de forma violenta à dominação colonialista israelense nos territórios palestinos. Portanto, o processo de paz de Oslo está associado nesta dissertação a um contexto de deterioração econômica e de fragmentação política palestina, e ao processo de privatização da paz no conflito Israelense-Palestino

The Full-sky Astrometric Mapping Explorer -- Astrometry for the New Millennium

FAME is designed to perform an all-sky, astrometric survey with unprecedented accuracy. It will create a rigid astrometric catalog of 4x10^7 stars with 5 < m_V < 15. For bright stars, 5 < m_V < 9, FAME will determine positions and parallaxes accurate to < 50 microarcseconds, with proper motion errors < 50 microarcseconds/year. For fainter stars, 9 < m_V < 15, FAME will determine positions and parallaxes accurate to < 500 microarcseconds, with proper motion errors < 500 microarcseconds/year. It will also collect photometric data on these 4 x 10^7 stars in four Sloan DSS colors.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, to appear in "Working on the Fringe

The disappearance of the "revolving door" patient in Scottish general practice: successful policies

&lt;b&gt;Background&lt;/b&gt; We describe the health of "revolving door" patients in general practice in Scotland, estimate changes in their number over the timescale of the study, and explore reasons for changes, particularly related to NHS and government policy.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Methods&lt;/b&gt; A mixed methods predominantly qualitative study, using a grounded theory approach, set in Scottish general practice. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with professional key informants, 6 Practitioner Services staff who administer the GP registration system and 6 GPs with managerial or clinical experience of working with "revolving door" patients. Descriptive statistical analysis and qualitative analysis of patient removal episodes linked with routine hospital admissions, outpatient appointments, drug misuse treatment episodes and deaths were carried out with cohorts of "revolving door" patients identified from 1999 to 2005 in Scotland.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Results&lt;/b&gt; A "revolving door" patient is removed 4 or more times from GP lists in 7 years. Patients had complex health issues including substance misuse, psychiatric and physical health problems and were at high risk of dying. There was a dramatic reduction in the number of "revolving door" patients during the course of the study.&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Conclusions&lt;/b&gt; "Revolving door" patients in general practice had significant health problems. Their numbers have reduced dramatically since 2004 and this probably resulted from improved drug treatment services, pressure from professional bodies to reduce patient removals and the positive ethical regulatory and financial climate of the 2004 GMS GP contract. This is a positive development for the NHS