The changing effects of social protection on poverty

This paper fits within a broader research programme concerned with the processes that link labour market precarity and social exclusion. Labour market insecurity manifests itself most directly in the form of unemployment, and other elements in the programme seek to measure the impact of precarity, and unemployment in particular, on poverty and social exclusion in the eight countries covered. One of the principal concerns of the programme is however the extent to which institutional differences across countries with respect to the labour market and social protection are a significant factor mediating the relationship between labour market precarity and social exclusion. This paper focuses on the effectiveness of cash transfers, the central element of social protection systems, in alleviating the effects of unemployment on income poverty. The structures of social protection systems vary greatly across European Union member states, and in many cases have altered significantly in recent years in response to high unemployment (see Hauser et al, 1998). Using data from the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s for six member countries, the paper compares the effectiveness of different systems in lifting or keeping the unemployed out of poverty, and how this has been affected by the way systems have responded to the challenges produced by developments in the labour market in the past decade. The specific role of social insurance-based unemployment-linked transfers versus other cash transfers is also considered, to assess the extent to which social insurance has been able to cope with changes in the labour market over the period. The data come from a variety of national large-scale household surveys. The paper is structured as follows. Section 2 discusses the data and methods to be employed in measuring the impact of cash transfers on poverty risks for the unemployed. Section 3 looks at the overall risks of poverty for the unemployed before and after cash transfers, and how these changed between the mid-1980s and mid-1990s. Section 4 looks at the role of social insurance-based unemployment payments versus other cash transfers. Section 5 examines the extent to which the impact of transfers varies by gender and by duration of unemployment. Section 6 highlights the key patterns identified and what these tell us about the relationship between the type of welfare regime a country operates and effectiveness in alleviating poverty among the unemployed

Asymptomatic liver segment herniation through a postoperative defect in the right hemidiaphragm following aortic bypass graft surgery

We present a 16-year-old girl with asymptomatic liver segment herniation following aortic graft surgery for atypical coarctation of the aorta. The defect in the right hemidiaphragm was caused by the implantation of an ascending thoracic aorta to upper abdominal aortic bypass graft. The differential diagnosis of diaphragmatic defects as well as the role of various imaging modalities in establishing the diagnosis are discusse

Computer self-efficacy, anxiety, and learning in online versus face to face medium

The purpose of this research is to examine the relationships between changes to computer self-efficacy (CSE) and computer anxiety and the impact on performance on computer-related tasks in both online and face-to-face mediums. While many studies have looked at these factors individu-ally, relatively few have included multiple measures of these factors concurrently and assessed the effects over a period of time in a realistic environment. Transactional Distance Theory and previous research are used to develop a theoretical model integrating these factors. Transactional distance can be viewed as an outcome of the culture within an educational environment. As such the three transactional distance variables -structure, dialogue, and learner autonomy -may be measured by certain aspects of that culture. Describing the two mediums in terms of transactional distance allowed us to explore the interrelationships between the changes in CSE, Anxiety, and Performance in face-to-face and online classes. Data are drawn from students in a junior level Management Information Systems (MIS) class at a medium-size public University in the Southeast U.S.A. Classes in both mediums completed a real life computer-based project in which previously validated instruments are used to longitudi-nally measure perceptions of computer self-efficacy (CSE), computer anxiety, and transactional distance. Partial Least Squares (PLS), a structural equation modeling technique, is used to com-pare the results of these factors on performance in both the face-to-face and online mediums. The results show transactional distance was indeed acting as an anxiety-reducing mechanism. A comparison of differences between mediums suggests that the various aspects of transactional distance influence each differently. The findings highlight the importance of structure and inno-vation in the online medium while aspects of dialog were shown to be important in the face-to-face medium. In effect, the interactive or emotive characteristics of transactional distance were more important in the face-to-face medium, while the structure and individual autonomy aspects were more influential in the online medium. Thus, one implication for face-to-face instructors is the need to continually maintain free-flowing dialog with the students to enhance learning. On the other hand, logical organization is very important in an online medium. Finally, the significance of the innovation component illustrates the importance of using new techniques and technologies to improve the interac-tion aspect of online education. Under-standing these differences and imple-menting measures to accommodate these differences could increase teach-ing effectiveness and ultimately result in improvements in performance on com-puter-related tasks

A general duality relation with applications in quantitative risk management

A fundamental problem in risk management is the robust aggregation of different sources of risk in a situation where little or no data are available to infer information about their dependencies. A popular approach to solving this problem is to formulate an optimization problem under which one maximizes a risk measure over all multivariate distributions that are consistent with the available data. In several special cases of such models, there exist dual problems that are easier to solve or approximate, yielding robust bounds on the aggregated risk. In this chapter we formulate a general optimization problem, which can be seen as a doubly infinite linear programming problem, and we show that the associated dual generalizes several well known special cases and extends to new risk management models we propose

UV Laser-Induced, Time-Resolved Transcriptome Responses of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We determined the effect on gene transcription of laser-mediated, long-wavelength UV-irradiation of Saccharomyces cerevisiae by RNAseq analysis at times T15, T30, and T60 min after recovery in growth medium. Laser-irradiated cells were viable, and the transcriptional response was transient, with over 400 genes differentially expressed at T15 or T30, returning to basal level transcription by T60. Identification of transcripts exhibiting enhanced differential expression that were unique to UV laser-irradiation were identified by imposing a stringent significance cut-off (P \u3c 0.05, log2 difference \u3e2) then filtering out genes known as environmental stress response (ESR) genes. Using these rigorous criteria, 56 genes were differentially expressed at T15; at T30 differential expression was observed for 57 genes, some of which persisted from T15. Among the highly up-regulated genes were those supporting amino acid metabolic processes sulfur amino acids, methionine, aspartate, cysteine, serine), sulfur regulation (hydrogen sulfite metabolic processes, sulfate assimilation, sulfate reduction), proteasome components, amino acid transporters, and the iron regulon. At T30, the expression profile shifted to expression of transcripts related to catabolic processes (oxidoreductase activity, peptidase activity). Transcripts common to both T15 and T30 suggested an up-regulation of catabolic events, including UV damage response genes, and protein catabolism via proteasome and peptidase activity. Specific genes encoding tRNAs were among the down-regulated genes adding to the suggestion that control of protein biosynthesis was a major response to long-wave UV laser irradiation. These transcriptional responses highlight the remarkable ability of the yeast cell to respond to a UV-induced environmental insult

Microfluidic Breadboard Approach to Capillary Electrophoresis

A breadboard approach for electrophoretic separations with contactless conductivity detection is presented. This is based on miniature off-the-shelf components such as syringe pumps, valves, and pressure controllers which could be set up in a very compact overall arrangement. It has a high flexibility for different tasks at hand, and the common operations of hydrodynamic injection and capillary flushing are automated. For demonstration of the versatility of the proposition, several very diverse configurations and modes of electrophoresis were successfully implemented, namely, standard capillary zone electrophoresis, pressure assisted zone electrophoresis, the simultaneous separation of cations and anions by dual-capillary zone electrophoresis, the separation of cationic amino acids by isotachophoresis, as well as the separation of small carboxylic acids by gradient elution moving boundary electrophoresis. The system also allows fast separations, as demonstrated by the analysis of six inorganic cations within 35 s. The approach addresses respective limitations of either conventional capillary electrophoresis instruments as well as electrophoretic lab-on-chip devices, while maintaining a performance in terms of detection limits and reproducibility comparable to standard instrumentation

Predictors of Disease Course in Patients with Probable Alzheimer's Disease

The presence of extrapyramidal signs or psychosis may indicate greater disability in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease. We evaluated the ability of these signs, noted at a patient's first visit, to predict one of two specific clinical endpoints: (1) a preselected score on the modified Mini-Mental State examination (cognitive endpoint), and (2) a preselected score on the Blessed Dementia Rating Scale (functional endpoint). Sixty-five patients were followed either until they reached the endpoints or to the end of the study period. Survivorship curves were drawn to predict the distribution of time to onset of an endpoint in patients with and without the clinical signs. Time to reach the cognitive endpoint was shorter for patients with extrapyramidal signs or psychosis compared with those without these signs and symptoms. These clinical signs did not predict the functional endpoint. We conclude that extrapyramidal signs and psychosis may be useful predictors of intellectual decline in Alzheimer's disease