Public Transfers to the Poor: Is Europe really more Generous than the United States?

Fighting poverty is one of the main goals in the most societies. This is usually done by the transferring resources to the poor. There exists a widespread view that the European countries are more generous to the poor than the United States. We study whether this is really the case. Firts we review the evidence on aggregate spending and we do not find convincing support for that view. Secondly, we analyze microeconomic evidence from the Current Population Survey and the European Community Household Panel and find mixed results. In particular, when we use the concept of relative poverty, we find that average transfers per poor person in the United States are 54% higher than in the European Union. When we exclude the old from the sample, this difference reduces to 20%.Poverty, Public Transfers, Redistribution, Welfare State

On the scaling of the damping time for resonantly damped oscillations in coronal loops

There is not as yet full agreement on the mechanism that causes the rapid damping of the oscillations observed by TRACE in coronal loops. It has been suggested that the variation of the observed values of the damping time as function of the corresponding observed values of the period contains information on the possible damping mechanism. The aim of this Letter is to show that, for resonant absorption, this is definitely not the case unless detailed a priori information on the individual loops is available

QUANTIFYING THE IMPACT OF IMMIGRATION ON THE SPANISH WELFARE STATE

The Spanish population will experience a significant aging in the coming years. This demographic change will impose a heavy burden on the national budget. In particular, expenditure on pensions and health care will grow much faster than productivity. Some authors believe that immigration could alleviate the fiscal burden on future generations by making the Spanish population younger. We use the methodology of Generational Accounting to quantify the impact of immigration on the Spanish Welfare State, by simulating alternative scenarios according to different quotas of immigrants. Our results suggest that immigration could have a positive and significant effect.Immigration, ¿scal policy, generational accounting, Welfare State.

Number operator-annihilation operator uncertainty as an alternative of the number-phase uncertainty relation

We consider a number operator-annihilation operator uncertainty as a well behaved alternative to the number-phase uncertainty relation, and examine its properties. We find a formulation in which the bound on the product of uncertainties depends on the expectation value of the particle number. Thus, while the bound is not a constant, it is a quantity that can easily be controlled in many systems. The uncertainty relation is approximately saturated by number-phase intelligent states. This allows us to define amplitude squeezing, connecting coherent states to Fock states, without a reference to a phase operator. We propose several setups for an experimental verification.Comment: 8 pages including 3 figures, revtex4; v2: typos corrected, presentation improved; v3: presentation considerably extended; v4: published versio

Towards photonic biosensing using a three-port mach-zehnder interferometer in a silicon nitride platform

Integrated photonics enables sensitive and label-free optical biosensors for the detection of chemical and biological substances and is therefore promising for future lab-on-chip solutions. In this article we present our current development of silicon nitride based integrated photonic biosensing devices working at telecom wavelengths. Our approach of three-port based interferometric sensing circumvents the issues of conventional Mach-Zehnder interferometers, providing a constant sensitivity, and allowing to use a fixed wavelength sensing scheme. Preliminary experimental results show that the fabricated devices work as expected from simulations.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Why whole body gestational donation must be rejected: a response to Smajdor

Anna Smajdor’s proposal of whole body gestational donation (WBGD) states that female patients diagnosed as brain-dead should be considered for use as gestational donors. In this response, Smajdor’s proposal is rejected on four different accounts: (a) the debated acceptability of surrogacy despite women's autonomy, (b) the harm to dead women ́s interests, (c) the interests of the descendants, and (d) the symbolic value of the body and interests of relatives. The first part argues that WBGD rests on a particular conception of the instrumentalization of bodies that cannot be circumvented simply by the patient’s consent and relinquished autonomy. The second part argues the importance of avoiding any harm to dead women’s interests. The third part identifies the importance of the interest of the foetus in the light of Procreative-Beneficence principle that Smajdor overlooks. And finally, the fourth part considers the symbolic value of the human body and the interest of relatives. The main goal of this commentary is not to show that WBGD cannot be implemented; rather, it is to show that there are not any good arguments in favour of doing so.Aníbal M. Astobiza gratefully acknowledges the support provided by the project INEDyTO II: bioética y prácticas relacionadas con el final de la vida (PID2020-118729RB-I00). Open Access funding provided thanks to the CRUE-CSIC agreement with Springer Nature

Influence of the test-chamber shape on the performance of conductometric gas sensors

In this article, CFD simulations results are presented as a key tool to the comprehension of the target gas concentration evolution in a test chamber, at different working conditions. The simulation results are compared with the experimental data, which shows a qualitative good correlation with the evolution of the concentration gradient detected. The experiments were carried out using an aluminum gas test chamber, where a WO3 based conductometric sensor is introduced. The results demonstrate how the response time is dependent on the sensor working conditions. Analyzing the CFD and experimental results, some assumptions for this behavior are proposed. The WO3 sensor needs a Pt heating element, which is heated up to 300 °C. As the response is highly temperature-dependent, the temperature distribution on the sensor surface was measured by an IR thermographic camera. The simulation results show that the temperature distribution matches with those obtained experimentally. To validate the model, a mesh and time step convergence study was also implemented

La importancia de la línea articular en la revisión de la artroplastia total de rodilla

Introducción: Uno de los retos de la cirugía de recambio de la artroplastia total de rodilla es la restauración de la línea articular anatómica. El objetivo de este estudio es la evaluación clínica y radiológica y su relación estadística con la posición de la línea articular en los recambios de artroplastia total de rodilla. Material y método: Se estudiaron 25 pacientes intervenidos en nuestro servicio desde Enero 2002 a Diciembre de 2006 mediante recambio protésico P.F.C. TC-3 Sigma (DePuy®). Se estudió la movilidad, estabilidad y la evaluación clínica según la sociedad americana de la rodilla (AKS), en el estudio radiológico se estudió la distancia de la línea articular según Hofmann y cols. A todos los pacientes se les realizó la encuesta de salud SF-36 en la revisión ambulatoria. Resultados: 18 pacientes (77%) presentaban una línea articular entre +4 mm y -4 mm respecto a la línea previa a la cirugía. En 4 pacientes (16%) la línea articular era -4 mm, es decir, con desplazamiento proximal de la línea articular. En 3 pacientes (12%) la línea se situó +4 mm. Los pacientes que se encontraron en el grupo de -4 mm poseían una flexión articular de 75°, frente a 90° del grupo +4mm y -4 mm y 88.33° del grupo +4mm (P<0.05). El AKS de los pacientes con desplazamiento proximal (- 4mm) fue de 54.25, frente a 70.77 del grupo +4mm y -4 mm y 61 del grupo +4mm. (p<0.05). Discusión: Los resultados de este estudio nos muestran la importancia de la planificación pre y peroperatoria acompañado de una depurada técnica quirúrgica para la localización de las referencias anatómicas y colocación de los implantes conservando la altura de la interlinea articular.Introduction: One of the challenges of surgery replacement total knee arthroplasty is the restoration of the line anatomical articulation. The aim of this study is to assess clinical and radiological and their statistical relationship with the position of line articulating in revision total knee arthroplasty. Materials and methods: We studied 25 consecutive patients in our hospital from January 2002 to December 2006 through prosthetic replacement PFC TC- 3 Sigma (DePuy®). We studied the mobility, stability and clinical evaluation according to the American Knee Society index (AKS), in the radiological study explored the anatomic axis of the knee and the distance from the line as articulate Hofmann y cols. Results: 18 patients (77%) presented a articular line between +4 mm and 4 mm respect to the line prior to surgery, 4 patients (16%) presented - 4 mm from de previous articular line, showed a shift toward the line of proximal joint, and 3 patients (12%) presented +4 mm displacement. Patients who were found in the group -4 mm had 75 ° flexion, compared with 90 of the group +4mm and -4 mm and 88.33 mm +4 ° group (P <0.05), The AKS index of patients with displacement proximal (- 4mm) was 54.25, compared with 70.77 of the group +4mm and 4 mm and 61 mm +4 group (p <0.05). Discussion: Satisfactory results of this study show the importance of planning pre and peroperatoria and a refined surgical technique for tracing the anatomical references and placement of implants in correct articular line

Contractura congénita en abducción de la cadera y oblicuidad pélvica

La contractura congénita en abducción y oblicuidad apévica una patología que estamos viendo con cierta frecuencia en nuestra consulta de Ortopedia infantil, y a pesar de ser poco conocida por lo poco descrito en la literatura, nos parece un tema importante. Aportamos 4 casos tratados y seguidos en nuestra consulta. Describimos la exploración clínica y radiológica de estos pacientes, así como su evolución en el tiempo y pronóstico. Planteamos el diagnóstico diferencial con la luxación congénita de cadera. Se realiza además una revisión de la literatura, y se expone las posibles etiologías, signos clínicos y radiológicos, así como tipos de tratamientos y pronóstico.Congenital abduction contracture of the hip is an entity that we are evaluating and treating frequently in our Paediatric Clinic. This pathology appears to have received little attention in the Paediatric Orthopaedics literature. Although it has not been referred by many authors, we think it's very important. We evaluated and treated 4 infants. The clinical and radiology stud, the follow-up and the prognosis are described. The findings in these patients were markedly similar to those commonly seen in patients with congenital dislocation of the hip. We have done a literature review, demonstrating that two different types exist, with different treatment and result. We explain the etiology and other factors that have also been shown to be associated with this entity