Do Economic Inequalities Harm Health? Evidence from Europe

Until recently, there has been a consensus among empirical health economists that there is an association between income inequality and individual health, in line with Wilkinson’s (1992) idea that the psychosocial effects of the former are detrimental to the latter. However, using US data, Mellor and Milyo (2002) (MM) found no evidence of such association and claimed that the previously reported results are statistical artefacts, arising from the use of aggregate data. This paper uses the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) to check the robustness of MM results. It replicates the MM methodology to assess the effect of country-level income inequality on individuals’ health. It is shown that income inequality, whether measured at the regional or the national level, systematically harms individuals’ health, regardless of their positions in the income distribution. The results are also robust to a number of aspects MM do not account for. First, random effect models are estimated to account for unobserved heterogeneity. Second, self-assessed and objective measures of health status are also considered. Third, besides the traditional aggregate measures of income inequality, a further measure is constructed reflecting first, how unequal the distribution is and second the relative position of individuals in the income distribution of their own country

Identifying causal paths between health and socio-economic status: Evidence from European older workforce surveys

relationship. In addition, such a relationship takes place early in life and keeps on evolving over time so that both one’s health and SES at a given point in time result from the cumulative effects of this spiral. Thus, only by simultaneously accounting for both pathways as well as for their dynamics would one be able to provide a clear picture of both the process of health accumulation and the dynamics of SES formation. We estimate a structural model where a variety of causal paths between different health dimensions and SES measures as well as their dynamics are simultaneously accounted for. This allows distinction between significant causal paths and insignificant ones, while accounting for endogeneity as well as for cofounders. We use the SOCIOLD survey where the targeted population is that of the older workforce (50 and older) from six EU countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands and the UK). Our results show that (i) reverse causality is indeed a crucial issue: one’s previous socio-economic status influences current health and previous health influences current socioeconomic status, (ii) there are cumulative effects in the sense that both health and socio-economic statuses depend on their past values and (iii) the results are sensitive to whether simultaneity is explicitly accounted for or not.Health status; Socio-economic status; Causal paths; Asymptotic least squares

Biological systems: from water radiolysis to carbon ion radiotherapy

International audienceHadron therapy is an innovative cancer treatment method based on the acceleration of light ions at high energy. In addition to their interesting profile of dose deposition, which ensures accurate targeting of localized tumors, carbon ions offer biological properties that lead to an efficient treatment for radio-and chemo-resistant tumors and to provide a boost for tumors in hypoxia. This paper is a short review of the progress in theoretical, experimental, fundamental and applied research, aiming at understanding the origin of the biological benefits of light ions better. As a limit of such a vast and multidisciplinary domain, this review adopts the point of view of the physicists, leaning on results obtained in connection with CIMAP's IRRABAT platform. 1. Introduction Interaction of fast ions with biological systems constitutes one aspect of the interdisciplinary researches performed with ion-beam facilities. This domain is as rich as it is complex since it encompasses several orders of magnitude in both space and time. The shortest space and time scale corresponds to atomic collisions, which may be as short as 10 −18 s for the interaction of fast ions with individual atoms. At the opposite end of this domain, late effects – like cancer induction, chromosomal instability or organ dysfunctions – may appear or remain several years after irradiations. While irradiations may be limited to a very localized region, the whole behavior of an organ may be affected, possibly leading to human death, in particular when the irradiation dose and spatial extension are high. Between these two extreme scales, stands a great number of mechanisms, including for instance: the transport of the primary ejected electrons, the relaxation of the ionized and excited molecules, which may lead to direct damage in biological targets and to radical species and associated biochemical reactions. These early physical and chemical stages are followed by numerous and complex cell responses, such as the triggering of mechanisms to check DNA, to repair its damage, to manage the oxidative stress or to induce cell death. The numerous biological endpoints that have been studied reveal the complexity and the diversity of this biological response. These endpoints may involve particular structures of cells at the molecular scale (tracking of protein activities, damage in DNA, protein or lipid) or at the sub-cellular scale (chromosomes, nucleus, membranes, mitochondria.. .) and may concern cell organization (3D cell culture, tissues, organs, body). The domain of low dose

Towards an Efficient Simulation Approach for Transmission Systems with ICT Infrastructures

With the transition towards a smart grid, Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructures play a growing role in the operation of transmission systems. Cyber-physical systems are usually studied using co-simulation. The latter allows to leverage existing simulators and models for both power systems and communication networks. A major drawback of co-simulation is however the computation time. Indeed, simulators have to be frequently paused in order to stay synchronised and to exchange information. This is especially true for large systems for which lots of interactions between the two domains occur. We thus propose a self-consistent simulation approach as an alternative to co-simulation. We compare the two approaches on the IEEE 39-bus test system equipped with an all-PMU state estimator. We show that our approach can reach the same accuracy as co-simulation, while using drastically less computer resources

Assessment of Geant4 Prompt-Gamma Emission Yields in the Context of Proton Therapy Monitoring

International audienceMonte Carlo tools have been long used to assist the research and development of solutions for proton therapy monitoring. The present work focuses on the prompt-gamma emission yields by comparing experimental data with the outcomes of the current version of Geant4 using all applicable proton inelastic models. For the case in study and using the binary cascade model, it was found that Geant4 overestimates the prompt-gamma emission yields by 40.2 ± 0.3%, even though it predicts the prompt-gamma profile length of the experimental profile accurately. In addition, the default implementations of all proton inelastic models show an overestimation in the number of prompt gammas emitted. Finally, a set of built-in options and physically sound Geant4 source code changes have been tested in order to try to improve the discrepancy observed. A satisfactory agreement was found when using the QMD model with a wave packet width equal to 1.3 fm 2

Growth Empirics: A Bayesian Semiparametric Model with Random Coefficients for a Panel of OECD Countries

This paper proposes semiparametric estimation of the relationship between growth rate of GDP per capita, growth rates of physical and human capital, labor as well as other covariates and common trends for a panel of 23 OECD countries observed over the period 1971-2015. The observed differentiated behaviors by country reveal strong heterogeneity. This is the motivation behind using a mixed fixed and random-coefficients model to estimate this relationship. In particular, this paper uses a semiparametric specification with random intercepts and slopes coefficients. Motivated by Lee and Wand (2016), we estimate a mean field variational Bayes semiparametric model with random coefficients for this panel of countries. Results reveal nonparametric specifications for the common trends. The use of this flexible methodology may enrich the empirical growth literature underlining a large diversity of responses across variables and countries

Business models, diffusion of innovation and imitation: The case of online press

A body of literature shows the destabilizing role of ICT and change from analogue to digital in the cultural industries in general, and in press industry in particular. This literature demonstrates that constant experimentation and innovation in the area of organizational arrangements and business models (BM) has become a key competitive advantage. As a result, traditional BMs, which were dominant and stable in different cultural industries (such as media, film, music, publishing etc), have given rise to a multiplicity of arrangements in business management and the emergence of disruptive and innovative business models, which often successfully coexist in the same market segment. According to this view point, strategic and structural change is necessarily driven by competition or the need for efficiency. However alternative theories predicts that in depending on the industry structural characteristic, only early adopters of innovation may be driven by a desire to improve performance, whereas as an innovation spreads and organizational field becomes more established, there may be a push towards homogenization. The case of the French press is quite symptomatic of that standpoint. From the empirical analysis of 100 press websites observed over the period from 2004 to 2014, the paper substantiates the convergence process towards three dominant clusters of online BMs: “A minima Digital”, “Freebie Plus” and “Exploring Leaders”. Using a Random Effects Probit econometric model the paper puts forward that this isomorphic process is mainly due to the fact that mimetic behavior over-weights search for performance in French press

The molecular genetic linkage map of the model legume Medicago truncatula: an essential tool for comparative legume genomics and the isolation of agronomically important genes

BACKGROUND: The legume Medicago truncatula has emerged as a model plant for the molecular and genetic dissection of various plant processes involved in rhizobial, mycorrhizal and pathogenic plant-microbe interactions. Aiming to develop essential tools for such genetic approaches, we have established the first genetic map of this species. Two parental homozygous lines were selected from the cultivar Jemalong and from the Algerian natural population (DZA315) on the basis of their molecular and phenotypic polymorphism. RESULTS: An F2 segregating population of 124 individuals between these two lines was obtained using an efficient manual crossing technique established for M. truncatula and was used to construct a genetic map. This map spans 1225 cM (average 470 kb/cM) and comprises 289 markers including RAPD, AFLP, known genes and isoenzymes arranged in 8 linkage groups (2n = 16). Markers are uniformly distributed throughout the map and segregation distortion is limited to only 3 linkage groups. By mapping a number of common markers, the eight linkage groups are shown to be homologous to those of diploid alfalfa (M. sativa), implying a good level of macrosynteny between the two genomes. Using this M. truncatula map and the derived F3 populations, we were able to map the Mtsym6 symbiotic gene on linkage group 8 and the SPC gene, responsible for the direction of pod coiling, on linkage group 7. CONCLUSIONS: These results demonstrate that Medicago truncatula is amenable to diploid genetic analysis and they open the way to map-based cloning of symbiotic or other agronomically-important genes using this model plant

Central venous O2 saturation and venous-to-arterial CO2 difference as complementary tools for goal-directed therapy during high-risk surgery

International audienceIntroduction: Central venous oxygen saturation (ScvO 2) is a useful therapeutic target in septic shock and high-risk surgery. We tested the hypothesis that central venous-to-arterial carbon dioxide difference (P(cv-a)CO 2), a global index of tissue perfusion, could be used as a complementary tool to ScvO 2 for goal-directed fluid therapy (GDT) to identify persistent low flow after optimization of preload has been achieved by fluid loading during high-risk surgery. Methods: This is a secondary analysis of results obtained in a study involving 70 adult patients (ASA I to III), undergoing major abdominal surgery, and treated with an individualized goal-directed fluid replacement therapy. All patients were managed to maintain a respiratory variation in peak aortic flow velocity below 13%. Cardiac index (CI), oxygen delivery index (DO 2 i), ScvO 2 , P(cv-a)CO 2 and postoperative complications were recorded blindly for all patients. Results: A total of 34% of patients developed postoperative complications. At baseline, there was no difference in demographic or haemodynamic variables between patients who developed complications and those who did not. In patients with complications, during surgery, both mean ScvO 2 (78 ± 4 versus 81 ± 4%, P = 0.017) and minimal ScvO 2 (minScvO 2) (67 ± 6 versus 72 ± 6%, P = 0.0017) were lower than in patients without complications, despite perfusion of similar volumes of fluids and comparable CI and DO 2 i values. The optimal ScvO 2 cutoff value was 70.6% and minScvO 2 < 70% was independently associated with the development of postoperative complications (OR = 4.2 (95% CI: 1.1 to 14.4), P = 0.025). P(cv-a)CO 2 was larger in patients with complications (7.8 ± 2 versus 5.6 ± 2 mmHg, P < 10-6). In patients with complications and ScvO 2 ≥71%, P(cv-a)CO 2 was also significantly larger (7.7 ± 2 versus 5.5 ± 2 mmHg, P < 10-6) than in patients without complications. The area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was 0.785 (95% CI: 0.74 to 0.83) for discrimination of patients with ScvO 2 ≥71% who did and did not develop complications, with 5 mmHg as the most predictive threshold value

Benefits of High Performance Computing applied to the numerical simulation of forged parts

International audienceThe use of numerical simulation in the forging and more generally in the forming industry has been continuously growing and spreading over the past fifteen years. From pure R&D tools in the 1980s and 1990s, these software packages are now used at the designer's level on a daily basis in an industrial and highly competitive environment. This has been achieved through ongoing software development in order to fully benefit from continuously faster computer hardware. Since the end of the 1990s the software package FORGE from Mines ParisTech CEMEF has been designed to support parallel processing. The benefits of this technology using today's multi-core systems are numerous, including drastically reducing computation times, simulating new challenging forming processes, using automatic optimization methods and investigating micro-structural aspects