Social indicators and the study of inequality

This paper was presented at the conference "Unequal incomes, unequal outcomes? Economic inequality and measures of well-being" as part of session 5, "Social indicators in New York City." The conference was held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on May 7, 1999. The authors address some of the challenges faced by economists and others who undertake to measure well-being and inequality and to identify inequality's causes and effects. Their project - the New York City Social Indicators Survey (SIS) - uses social indicators to track economic well-being and inequality. By pushing beyond the limitations of current data sources, SIS will enable the authors to collect the data necessary to define inequality in concrete terms and evaluate whether New York City is becoming more or less unequal. Significantly, it will also shed light on what effect government policies have on inequality's magnitude and consequences.Economic indicators ; Public policy ; Income distribution ; New York (N.Y.)

Development and use of an extensometer for determining the mechanical compliance of crack toughness test specimens

Extensometer for determining mechanical compliance of crack toughness test specimen

Draco -- A Failure of the Tidal Model

We test whether the structural properties of the nearby dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy Draco, a well-studied Milky Way companion, can be reconciled with the suggestion that dSphs are unbound tidal remnants with a large depth extent along the line of sight. In order to apply the observational test of this hypothesis suggested by Klessen & Zhao, we use public photometric data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) to explore the width of Draco's blue horizontal branch over a range of areas covering 0.06 square degrees to 6.25 square degrees centered on Draco. The SDSS database is the only currently existing database with sufficient depth and area coverage to permit a stringent test of the tidal models. We show that blue horizontal branch stars extend beyond the previously inferred limiting radii of Draco, consistent with the observed absence of a truncated stellar surface density profile of this dSph. We calculate new models for a galaxy without dark matter, using Draco's morphological properties as constraints. The resulting models are unable to reproduce the narrow observed horizontal branch width of Draco, which stays roughly constant regardless of the field of view. We conclude that Draco cannot be the remnant of a tidally disrupted satellite, but is probably strongly dark-matter dominated. (ABSTRACT ABBREVIATED)Comment: 26 pages, 9 figures included, accepted for publication in ApJ, high-resolution version available at http://www.aip.de./~ralf/Publications/p22.abstract.htm

Operation of transition edge sensors in a resistance locked loop

We propose to operate a superconducting transition edge sensor (TES) using a different type of biasing, in which the resistance of the TES is kept constant by means of feedback on the bias voltage and is independent of the incoming signal power. By combining a large negative electrothermal feedback with a load independent resistance, this approach can significantly linearise the response of the detector in the large signal limit. The electrothermal feedback is enhanced in comparison with the commonly applied voltage biasing, which further increases the speed of the detector. Furthermore, in frequency domain multiplexed (FDM) readout, the sinusoidal bias voltages for each TES can be generated cryogenically with the readout SQUIDs.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

I\u27m Just a Happy Go Lucky Guy

Day by day, up on my way, along thro\u27 life I roam,I hang my hat where I happen to be at and I call myself at home;For I\u27m just a gent on pleasure bent,never yet content till my coin\u27s all spent;Ever happy, never snappy,As I wander daily yonder thro\u27 this world alone. CHORUSI\u27m just a happy go lucky guy,Not a care in the world have I;Trouble never troubles me,For I don\u27t let it don\u27t you see,So you can bet I\u27m a live guy yet, For that\u27s why that I get by;Some folks are ready to sigh and cry at each little thing that goes awry;It would crack their face a mile,If they should ever crack a smile,So, don\u27t you see I\u27m glad to be just a happy go lucky guy. I am single and don\u27t mingle in Societee, An old T. D. and a shady apple tree are just luxury to me;For I must declare I could not bear Half the mental care a millionaire;There\u27s no knowing where we\u27re going,Still here\u27s betting I\u27m not fretting what the end will be

Improving antibiotic prescribing for children in the resource-poor setting.

Antibiotics are a critically important part of paediatric medical care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where infectious diseases are the leading cause of child mortality. The World Health Organization estimates that >50% of all medicines are prescribed, dispensed or sold inappropriately and that half of all patients do not take their medicines correctly. Given the rising prevalence of antimicrobial resistance globally, inappropriate antibiotic use is of international concern, and countries struggle to implement basic policies promoting rational antibiotic use. Many barriers to rational paediatric prescribing in LMICs persist. The World Health Organization initiatives, such as 'Make medicines child size', the Model List of Essential Medicines for Children and the Model Formulary for Children, have been significant steps forward. Continued strategies to improve access to appropriate drugs and formulations, in conjunction with improved evidence-based clinical guidelines and dosing recommendations, are essential to the success of such initiatives on both a national and an international level. This paper provides an overview of these issues and considers future developments that may improve LMIC antibiotic prescribing

Investigation of the reactivity of organic materials in liquid oxygen

Measurements of impact-ignition sensitivity and studies of the relative reactivity of t-butoxy and t-butyl peroxy radicals toward a variety of organic compounds reveal improved methods of selection of materials for safe use in a liquid oxygen environment