Social security pension generosity and the effect on household saving

This paper examines the substitution between pension wealth and household saving by studying Norway’s 2011 pension reform. The analysis identifies the effect of reductions in social security pension generosity on household saving using cohort, time and sector variation in pension wealth induced by the reform. Our study focuses on saving behavior between ages 57-61 for the 1954- 1956 birth cohorts, who are the first three birth cohorts affected by a reduction in future pension wealth due to the reform. We find that they increased their saving rate around 1.2 percentage points (annually) after the reform, which corresponds to a five-year increase in household saving of about 27,000 NOK. When taking into account the remaining life-cycle changes to household saving, this corresponds to an offset effect of about 56 percent of the total loss in pension wealth.The authors gratefully acknowledges the Norwegian Ministry of Labor and Social Inclusion for funding through the PensjonsLAB program

Early Retirement Provision for Elderly Displaced Workers

This paper studies the economic effects on re-employment and program substitution behavior among elderly displaced workers who exogenously lose eligibility for their early retirement option. We use detailed Norwegian matched employer-employee data containing information on bankruptcy dates and individual-level wealth, income, pensions and social security benefits. Our empirical strategy employs a regression discontinuity design, as job displacement before a certain age cut-off results in losing eligibility for early retirement benefits between ages 62–67 years in Norway. We find that reemployment rates are indistinguishable between workers who just retain eligibility for early retirement benefits and those who just do not. Meanwhile, those who lose eligibility offset 69% of their lost benefits through take-up of other social security benefits, where 51% comes from disability insurance and 13% from unemployment insurance. Our findings are particularly policy relevant as tightening of age-limits for old-age pensions is on the agenda in several OECD countries, while current economic hardship throughout the region may lead to increased job displacement for elderly workers

Ion Chamber Collection Efficiencies for Proton Spot Scanning Calibration

Charge accumulation was measured under calibration conditions in the spread-out Bragg peak (SOBP) using the calibration bias as well as a range of voltages from 10V to 500V and a Farmer-style ion chamber. Collection efficiency was determined by extrapolating to infinite voltage. Similar measurements were taken in an identical dose distribution with a much shorter spot duration. The impact of each of the three models on calibration was then quantified using the TRS-398 protocol. The collection efficiency for the standard calibration was determined to agree well with the prediction of a continuous beam recombination correction. The standard calibration field was found to persistently agree with a continuous beam recombination correction for much lower operating biases. The collection efficiency result for the short spot duration field did not agree with either the continuous or pulsed-beam correction. Using the incorrect recombination model under the standard calibration conditions resulted in a 0.5% calibration difference. We have determined that our spot scanning system would be most appropriately calibrated using a recombination correction with continuous beam model. Physicists responsible for the calibration of such systems are advised to take measurements described here to correctly identify the applicable recombination model for their clinics.Comment: Submitted December 16, 2015 to Medical Physic

Ground-state depletion for subdiffraction-limited spatial resolution in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy

We theoretically investigate ground-state depletion for subdiffraction-limited spatial resolution in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy. We propose a scheme based on ground-state depopulation, which is achieved via a control laser light field incident prior to the CARS excitation light fields. This ground-state depopulation results in a reduced CARS signal generation. With an appropriate choice of spatial beam profiles, the scheme can be used to increase the spatial resolution. Based on the density matrix formalism we calculate the CARS signal generation and find a CARS signal suppression by 75% due to ground-state depletion with a single control light field and by using two control light fields the CARS signal suppression can be enhanced to 94%. Additional control light fields will enhance the CARS suppression even further. In case of a single control light field we calculate resulting CARS images using a computer-generated test image including quantum and detector noise and show that the background from the limited CARS suppression can be removed by calculating difference images, yielding subdiffraction-limited resolution where the resolution achievable depends only on the intensity used

Ground-state depletion for subdiffraction-limited spatial resolution in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microscopy

We theoretically investigate ground-state depletion for subdiffraction-limited spatial resolution in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy. We propose a scheme based on ground-state depopulation, which is achieved via a control laser light field incident prior to the CARS excitation light fields. This ground-state depopulation results in a reduced CARS signal generation. With an appropriate choice of spatial beam profiles, the scheme can be used to increase the spatial resolution. Based on the density matrix formalism we calculate the CARS signal generation and find a CARS signal suppression by 75% due to ground-state depletion with a single control light field and by using two control light fields the CARS signal suppression can be enhanced to 94%. Additional control light fields will enhance the CARS suppression even further. In case of a single control light field we calculate resulting CARS images using a computer-generated test image including quantum and detector noise and show that the background from the limited CARS suppression can be removed by calculating difference images, yielding subdiffraction-limited resolution where the resolution achievable depends only on the intensity used

Is alignment enough? Investigating the effects of state policies and professional development on science curriculum implementation

Implementation of science curriculum materials has been a fundamental challenge in science education for decades. Policy researchers have argued that alignment of standards, curriculum, and assessment are the key to supporting implementation. This paper focuses on teachers' perceptions of curricular alignment and on curriculum implementation using empirical data from a statewide systemic inquiry science reform effort targeting students from kindergarten to eighth grade. We find that the success of alignment policies depends on teachers' construal of the relationship between standards and curriculum materials and on allocation of time for planning at the school level. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 93: 656–677, 2009Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/63036/1/20321_ftp.pd

Taxation and market power

"We analyze the incidence and welfare effects of unit sales taxes in experimental monopoly and Bertrand markets. We find, in line with economic theory, that firms with no market power are able to shift a high share of a tax burden on to consumers, independent of whether buyers are automated or human players. In monopoly markets, a monopolist bears a large share of the burden of a tax increase. With human buyers, however, this share is smaller than with automated buyers as the presence of human buyers constrains the pricing behavior of a monopolist." (author's abstract)"Dieser Artikel untersucht Inzidenz- und Wohlfahrtseffekte einer Mengensteuer in experimentellen Monopol- und Bertrand-Märkten. Im Einklang mit der ökonomischen Theorie sind Firmen ohne Marktmacht in der Lage, einen großen Anteil der Last einer Steuererhöhung an die Konsumenten weiterzugeben. Dies gilt unabhängig davon, ob die Käufer simuliert sind oder die Kaufentscheidungen durch reale Käufer getroffen werden. In Monopolmärkten trägt der Monopolist einen großen Anteil der Last einer Steuererhöhung. Werden die Kaufentscheidungen durch reale Käufer getroffen, ist dieser Anteil jedoch kleiner als mit simulierten Käufern, da reale Käufer im Experiment das Preissetzungsverhalten des Monopolisten einschränken." (Autorenreferat

A Role for the RNA Chaperone Hfq in Controlling Adherent-Invasive Escherichia coli Colonization and Virulence

Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) has been linked with the onset and perpetuation of inflammatory bowel diseases. The AIEC strain LF82 was originally isolated from an ileal biopsy from a patient with Crohn's disease. The pathogenesis of LF82 results from its abnormal adherence to and subsequent invasion of the intestinal epithelium coupled with its ability to survive phagocytosis by macrophages once it has crossed the intestinal barrier. To gain further insight into AIEC pathogenesis we employed the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans as an in vivo infection model. We demonstrate that AIEC strain LF82 forms a persistent infection in C. elegans, thereby reducing the host lifespan significantly. This host killing phenotype was associated with massive bacterial colonization of the nematode intestine and damage to the intestinal epithelial surface. C. elegans killing was independent of known LF82 virulence determinants but was abolished by deletion of the LF82 hfq gene, which encodes an RNA chaperone involved in mediating posttranscriptional gene regulation by small non-coding RNAs. This finding reveals that important aspects of LF82 pathogenesis are controlled at the posttranscriptional level by riboregulation. The role of Hfq in LF82 virulence was independent of its function in regulating RpoS and RpoE activity. Further, LF82Δhfq mutants were non-motile, impaired in cell invasion and highly sensitive to various chemical stress conditions, reinforcing the multifaceted function of Hfq in mediating bacterial adaptation. This study highlights the usefulness of simple non-mammalian infection systems for the identification and analysis of bacterial virulence factors

Pre-referral rectal artesunate in severe malaria: flawed trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Immediate injectable treatment is essential for severe malaria. Otherwise, the afflicted risk lifelong impairment or death. In rural areas of Africa and Asia, appropriate care is often miles away. In 2009, Melba Gomes and her colleagues published the findings of a randomized, placebo-controlled trial of rectal artesunate for suspected severe malaria in such remote areas. Enrolling nearly 18,000 cases, the aim was to evaluate whether, as patients were in transit to a health facility, a pre-referral artesunate suppository blocked disease progression sufficiently to reduce these risks. The affirmative findings of this, the only trial on the issue thus far, have led the WHO to endorse rectal artesunate as a pre-referral treatment for severe malaria. In the light of its public health importance and because its scientific quality has not been assessed for a systematic review, our paper provides a detailed evaluation of the design, conduct, analysis, reporting, and practical features of this trial.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We performed a checklist-based and an in-depth evaluation of the trial. The evaluation criteria were based on the CONSORT statement for reporting clinical trials, the clinical trial methodology literature, and practice in malaria research. Our main findings are: The inclusion and exclusion criteria and the sample size justification are not stated. Many clearly ineligible subjects were enrolled. The training of the recruiters does not appear to have been satisfactory. There was excessive between center heterogeneity in design and conduct. Outcome evaluation schedule was not defined, and in practice, became too wide. Large gaps in the collection of key data were evident. Primary endpoints were inconsistently utilized and reported; an overall analysis of the outcomes was not done; analyses of time to event data had major flaws; the stated intent-to-treat analysis excluded a third of the randomized subjects; the design-indicated stratified or multi-variate analysis was not done; many improper subgroups were analyzed in a post-hoc fashion; the analysis and reporting metric was deficient. There are concerns relating to patient welfare at some centers. Exclusion of many cases from data analysis compromised external validity. A bias-controlled reanalysis of available data does not lend support to the conclusions drawn by the authors.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This trial has numerous serious deficiencies in design, implementation, and methods of data analysis. Interpretation and manner of reporting are wanting, and the applicability of the findings is unclear. The trial conduct could have been improved to better protect patient welfare. The totality of these problems make it a flawed study whose conclusions remain subject to appreciable doubt.</p

Cytoskeletal control of B cell responses to antigens.

The actin cytoskeleton is essential for cell mechanics and has increasingly been implicated in the regulation of cell signalling. In B cells, the actin cytoskeleton is extensively coupled to B cell receptor (BCR) signalling pathways, and defects of the actin cytoskeleton can either promote or suppress B cell activation. Recent insights from studies using single-cell imaging and biophysical techniques suggest that actin orchestrates BCR signalling at the plasma membrane through effects on protein diffusion and that it regulates antigen discrimination through the biomechanics of immune synapses. These mechanical functions also have a role in the adaptation of B cell subsets to specialized tasks during antibody responses