Impact of contemporary pension reforms on households’ welfare

Purpose: Identification and assessment of the consequences of raising the retirement age and possible changes in the households’ welfare because a part of the pre-retirement age population will remain in the labor force five years longer. Design/Methodology/Approach: The initial data for the analysis and modeling are the data of a representative survey on the “Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey - HSE” project for 2017. The object of the analysis were women aged 55 and older and men of 60 years and older. Microsimulation was carried out, that is all men aged from 60 to 65 and women from 55 to 60 were conditionally transferred to the working population, and changes in their employment and incomes were estimated. Based on the econometric model, an assessment of factors that are incentives to continue working after retirement has been obtained. Results: The presented calculations indicated the fact that despite an increase in the labor supply due to an increase of the retirement age, no employment surplus in the labor market is foreseen. Currently, the poverty level among retired households is significantly lower than the average one, and this trend will continue in the future. Practical implications: The results are important for the adjustment of social policy for retirees. Originality/Value: The study revealed the following new trends: 1) with the growth of the educational level, the probability of employment after the retirement age increases; 2) all other things being equal, women after retirement have a greater chance of being employed than men do; 3) for the majority of retirees employment is not traumatic.The reported study was funded by RFBR according to the research project №19-010-00009.peer-reviewe

The entrepreneurial university and development of large-scale research infrastructure – exploring the emerging university function of collaboration and leadership

This paper aimed to explore the emerging university function of collaboration and leadership in developing large-scale research infrastructure (LRI). A qualitative approach, drawing from both primary and secondary data, was employed to delve deeper into the roles and aspects of the entrepreneurial university pertinent to LRI development. The study highlighted the need for the entrepreneurial university to establish a strategic direction for collaboration and leadership in LRIs. A conceptual model was crafted that delineated the central role of the entrepreneurial university, segmenting the findings into three research elements: (i) research and education (ii) collaboration, and (iii) utilization and impact. Actor perspectives from both academia and industry were included. The findings emphasized that entrepreneurial universities had to engage more robustly with external actors to foster practical research applications. Universities were found to require a more synergistic role. The model proposed that entrepreneurial universities should classify actors not only by their viewpoint but also by their potential role in LRI. Key actors were identified as belonging to LRI and multi-academic environments, with some being directly involved, while others were indirectly or peripherally engaged. Directly involved actors, including numerous academic and industrial users, had a clear understanding of LRI utility and engagement, whereas indirectly involved ones were curious yet unsure about LRI interaction

Developing a knowledge ecosystem for large-scale research infrastructure

Large-scale research infrastructures (RIs), such as MAX IV and European Spallation Source in Lund, Sweden, are considered critical for advancing science and addressing social challenges. These research facilities are central to research, innovation, and education; in playing a key role in developing and disseminating knowledge and technology. In this study, we develop a conceptual framework of a knowledge ecosystem for large-scale RIs. The study is explorative, with primary data from 13 interviews with key informants from different stakeholders in academia, industry, and policy. Secondary data were obtained from reports from national agencies that develop and operate research facilities and from industrial and regional governmental reports, internal reports, newsletters, and information from the facilities’ websites. We find that academia, industry, and policy, together with four themes, have an effect on the value proposition of these facilities, on geographical distances (nodes), catalysts, platforms, and hubs. Therefore, they will affect the structure and design of a knowledge ecosystem. Our framework explains knowledge ecosystem structure and design

Hubungan Praktek Personal Hygiene Ibu dan Kondisi Sanitasi Lingkungan Rumah dengan Kejadian Diare pada Balita di Puskesmas Kampung dalam Kecamatan Pontianak Timur

Background : Diarrhea has been one of severe health problems in Indonesia. A survey on household health, SKRT(2004) reported that diarrhea was the second ranked disease that caused death of under five year-old infants, andthe third ranked of the overall ages. In Kalimantan Barat, diarrhea becomes the third most dangerous disease,behind dengue and tuberculosis, to cause fatalities with the Incidence Rate of 10%. Data from the Health Office ofPontianak showed 8,374 diarrhea incidences in six districts. The frequent cases were found in Pontianak TimurRegency with 1,430 incidences. Data obtained from the Kampung Dalam Public Health Center, which is situated inPontianak Timur District, showed the highest rate of diarrhea incidence in the regency with 480 cases with prevalencerate of 33.6% (368 of them suffered by under the five year-old infants).Methode : This research aimed to find out the relationship of maternal personal hygiene and housing environmentalsanitation to diarrhea in under five year-old infants at the Public Health Center of Kampung Dalam. The researchwas performed by cross-sectional design, using 1,125 mothers with 12-59 month-old infants who lived in the servicearea of Kampung Dalam Public Health Center as population, resulting in 89 samples by a proportional randomsampling method. These data were then subject to bivariate Chi-square test and multivariate logistic regression test.Result : The overall results showed that the diarrhea incidences were suffered by 50 (56.2%) under five year-oldinfants. Most respondents had poor personal hygienic practices, as the bivariate analysis show the relationshipbetween washing hands with soap before eating (p = 0.002; RP = 1.853), washing hands with soap after going torestroom (p = 0.020; RP = 1.690), and good practices in food management (p = 0.0001; RP = 3.467) on diarrhea.The environmental conditions relating to diarrhea consisted of restroom availability (p = 0.014; RP = 2.72), SPAL(p = 0.025; RP = 4.84), and water quality (p = 0.014; RP = 1.76). However, waste bin condition (p = 0.135) andclean water source (p = 0.627) did not relate to diarrhea. The multivariate variables that became the dominant riskfactor to the diarrhea incidence on the under five year-old infants were food management good practices and healthyrestroom.Conclusion : In conclusion, good practices in food management and healthy restroom gave the diarrhea probabilityof 94%

Moisture Diffusion in Asphalt Binders and Fine Aggregate Mixtures

Moisture damage in asphalt mixtures is a complex phenomenon that involves mechanical, chemical, physical and thermodynamic processes. This damage contributes significantly to the premature deterioration of asphalt pavements, which leads to extra cost in highway maintenance and vehicle operations. One key mechanism of how moisture reaches the asphalt-aggregate interface is by its permeation or diffusion through the asphalt binder or mastic. Different techniques are available for diffusion coefficient measurement of a wide variety of polymersolvent systems. For the asphalt-water system studied, the focus is on two techniques: (i) Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR)-Attenuated Total Reflectance (ATR) spectrometry and (ii) Gravimetric Sorption Measurements. In the FTIR-ATR experiments, asphalt binders are under investigation. Water shows strong absorption in the infrared region and the FTIR-ATR technique has the ability to monitor both the kinetics of moisture ingress as well as any chemical changes occurring during the test. The changes in concentration can be directly related to change in the absorbance measured during the experiment. The hysteresis of water diffusion in asphalt binders is also monitored through this technique. In the gravimetric sorption experiments, cylindrical Fine Aggregate Mixtures (FAM) were investigated. The gravimetric techniques, which directly follow mass change with time, are among the most used techniques probably because of their simplicity. In this experiment, the Saturated Surface-Dry (SSD) weight of FAM samples at room temperature and at 100 degrees F is monitored until it reaches the equilibrium. The measurements of: (i) water uptake and (ii) the diffusion coefficient were made at both temperatures. A dual mode diffusion model was shown to better represent the diffusion of water through asphalt binders. The rate of moisture diffusion in asphalt binders was proved to be dependent on the history of exposure of the asphalt binder to the moisture. Moisture uptake and diffusivity of water through FAM is dependent on the type of aggregate and asphalt binder used to prepare the FAM

Neural and Behavioral Predictors of Treatment Efficacy on Mood Symptoms and Cognition in Mood Disorders: A Systematic Review

Background: The clinical and etiological heterogeneity of mood disorders impede identification of effective treatments for the individual patient. This highlights a need for early neuronal and behavioral biomarkers for treatment efficacy, which can provide a basis for more personalized treatments. The present systematic review aimed to identify the most consistent neuronal and behavioral predictors of treatment efficacy on mood symptoms and cognitive impairment in mood disorders.Methods: We identified and included 60 original peer-reviewed studies investigating neuroimaging and behavioral predictors of treatment efficacy within the domains of emotional and non-emotional cognition, structural neuroimaging, and resting state functional connectivity in patients with unipolar or bipolar disorder.Results: Lower baseline responsivity in limbic regions coupled with heightened medial and dorsal prefrontal responses to emotional stimuli were the most consistent predictors of response to pharmacotherapy for depression. In contrast, heightened limbic and ventral prefrontal reactivity to emotional stimuli seemed to predict efficacy of psychological interventions. Early modulation of fronto-limbic activity and reduction in negative bias were also associated with treatment response. Better performance on non-emotional tests at baseline was relatively consistently associated with efficacy on mood symptoms, whereas the association between neural activity during non-emotional tests and treatment response was less clear. Other baseline factors associated with treatment response were greater white matter integrity, resting state functional connectivity, more prefrontal gray matter volume as well as an early increase following short administered treatment. Finally, emerging evidence indicates that baseline cognitive deficits are associated with greater chances of achieving treatment efficacy on cognition.Conclusions: Patients' profile of emotional and non-emotional cognition and neural activity—and the early treatment-associated changes in neural and cognitive function—may be useful for guiding treatments for depression. While cognitive deficits at baseline seem to improve chances of treatment efficacy on cognition, more studies of this association are urgently needed

Fault Detection and Diagnosis Encyclopedia for Building Systems:A Systematic Review

This review aims to provide an up-to-date, comprehensive, and systematic summary of fault detection and diagnosis (FDD) in building systems. The latter was performed through a defined systematic methodology with the final selection of 221 studies. This review provides insights into four topics: (1) glossary framework of the FDD processes; (2) a classification scheme using energy system terminologies as the starting point; (3) the data, code, and performance evaluation metrics used in the reviewed literature; and (4) future research outlooks. FDD is a known and well-developed field in the aerospace, energy, and automotive sector. Nevertheless, this study found that FDD for building systems is still at an early stage worldwide. This was evident through the ongoing development of algorithms for detecting and diagnosing faults in building systems and the inconsistent use of the terminologies and definitions. In addition, there was an apparent lack of data statements in the reviewed articles, which compromised the reproducibility, and thus the practical development in this field. Furthermore, as data drove the research activity, the found dataset repositories and open code are also presented in this review. Finally, all data and documentation presented in this review are open and available in a GitHub repository

HautTief Multidisciplinary Educational Program for Patients with Psoriasis or Atopic Dermatitis: A Randomized Controlled Study

BACKGROUND Improving health-related quality of life (HRQoL), disease severity, and treatment adherence through patient education is an increasingly important, yet relatively new area in dermatology. This randomized controlled trial aims to contribute to this growing area of research by exploring the effects of a 9-week educational program for patients with chronic skin diseases. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to evaluate the effect of a multidisciplinary educational program on HRQoL and disease severity in patients with psoriasis or atopic dermatitis (AD). METHODS Sixty-four patients with diagnosed psoriasis or AD were recruited from University Hospital Zurich and randomized (1:1) to the intervention or control group. To assess HRQoL, the following self-reported questionnaires were used: Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), Skindex-29, EuroQol-5D (EQ-5D), RAND 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF-36), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) to measure depression symptoms. Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) and the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) were used to capture disease extent. These scores were assessed at four study visits, which were performed at baseline and 3, 6, and 9 months after the start of the program. RESULTS At month 6, an improvement of at least 25% in BDI was recorded in 15 (68.2%) of 22 patients in the intervention group and 6 (27.3%) of 22 patients in the control group (difference 40.9%, p = 0.016). 53.3% (16 of 30) of patients achieved an improvement in one subdomain of the SF-36 score (role limitations due to emotional problems) at 6-month follow-up, compared with 23.1% (6 of 26) of those not attending the educational program (difference 30.2%; p = 0.042). No significant differences in DLQI, Skindex-29, EQ-5D, PASI, and EASI between both groups at the three time points were found. CONCLUSION An educational program may improve HRQoL and depression status of patients with psoriasis or AD