Social welfare effects of tax-benefit reform under endogenous participation and unemployment

This paper analyzes the effects of tax-benefit reforms in a framework integrating endogenous labor supply and unemployment. There is a discrete distribution of individuals’ productivities and labor supply decisions are limited to the participation decision. Unemployment is modeled in a search and matching framework with individual wage bargaining. We adopt an ordinal approach to social welfare comparisons and explore numerically various reform policies. For Switzerland, a participation income is shown to be an “uncontroversial” tax reform, improving social welfare according to any social welfare criterion displaying inequality aversion.

The interleukin-6 -174promoter polymorphism is associated with long-term kidney allograft survival

The interleukin-6 -174promoter polymorphism is associated with long-term kidney allograft survival.BackgroundTh1-dependent effector mechanisms may be responsible for allograft rejection. Recently, interleukin-6 (IL-6) has been shown to antagonize CD4+ T cells to effector Th2 cells and, in the process, differentiate them into Th1 cells.MethodsTo assess the role of IL-6 in long-term allograft survival, 158 patients after first cadaveric kidney transplantation were analyzed for the biallelic –174G→C promoter polymorphism of the IL-6 gene.ResultsCarriers of the –174C-allele (genotype GC/CC) had an inferior three-year graft survival (71/104 = 68.3%; P = 0.0059) with a 3.7-fold increased relative risk of graft loss compared to carriers of the –174GG-genotype (48/54 = 88.9%). The –174GC/CC-genotype retained its negative impact on graft survival when other established prognostic factors and further cytokine polymorphisms (-308TNF-α, TGF-β1 codon 10 & 25, -592/-819/-1082IL-10 and +874IFN-γ) were considered simultaneously.ConclusionsSince the clinical impact on transplant outcome seems as important as matching for histocompatibility antigens, genotyping of the IL-6 -174polymorphism may offer a new method for identifying patients at increased risk of allograft loss

‘You Cannot Live Without Money’: Women Balancing Paid Work and Unpaid Care Work in Rwanda

Rwanda’s recent history has seen a variety of government and non-government programmes that have helped increase women’s political participation, awareness of rights and access to finance, and women’s involvement in off-farm activities and other forms of paid work, particularly in rural areas. However, balancing paid and unpaid work remains a daunting task for the majority of women surveyed in this research study. Those who are struggling to achieve a positive balance between paid work and care work find it is due to working long hours, far from home, with little or no childcare support. The report argues that despite men being encouraged to become more involved in care activities, there is a need for advocacy at the household level about sharing care activities. In particular: men need to support women with agricultural cultivation and household tasks. There is also an emphasis on the need for redistribution of care responsibilities from families to other actors: Women expressed a desire for help from the community for care of the children; and more childcare centres to be set up by the state and NGOs to enable them to go to paid work. They would also benefit from the government providing health insurance and assistance with housing and children’s education, especially for families living in poverty. This report provides evidence on the need for creation of quality work to be nearer home, and for practical improvements in stoves and water delivery in order to ease the drudgery of the care responsibilities on women.Department for International Development (DFID)William and Flora Hewlett FoundationInternational Development Research Centre (IDRC

The range of response alternatives may determine the meaning of the question

Es wird gezeigt, daß die Spannbreite der Häufigkeiten in vorgegebenen Antwortalternativen die von den Respondenten vorgenommene Einschätzung untersuchten Verhaltens beeinflußt. Die Befragten sollten angeben, wie oft sie 'wirklich ärgerlich' seien. Die Antwortskalen reichten entweder von 'weniger als einmal jährlich' bis 'mehr als einmal alle drei Monate' oder von 'weniger als zweimal wöchentlich' bis 'mehrmals täglich'. Befragte, denen die erste Skala vorgelegt wurde, nannten extremere Beispiele ärgerlicher Situationen als die Befragten, denen die zweite Skala vorgelegt wurde. Es ist zu vermuten, daß die Spannbreite der Antwortalternativen die Befragten dazu brachte, die Frage auf unterschiedliche Verhaltesweisen zu beziehen. (WZübers)'Respondents' definition of a target behavior was found to be affected by the frequency range of those response alternatives that were to assess the repondents' behavior. Respondents had to report how often they felt 'really annoyed.' Response scales ranged either from 'Less than once a year' to 'more than once every three months,' or from 'Less than twice a week' to 'several times a day.' Respondents who used the first scale subsequently reported more extreme examples of annoying situations than respondents who used the second one. This suggests that the range of the jresponse alternatives induced respondents to consider different behavioral instances to be the target of the question. Moreover, the different behavioral instances activated by the response scales influenced subjects' interpretation of a related situation even when an explicit report of an example was not required.' (author's abstract

High-resolution GPS tracking reveals sex differences in migratory behaviour and stopover habitat use in the lesser black-backed gull Larus fuscus

Sex-, size-or age-dependent variation in migration strategies in birds is generally expected to reflect differences in competitive abilities. Theoretical and empirical studies thereby focus on differences in wintering areas, by which individuals may benefit from avoiding food competition during winter or ensuring an early return and access to prime nesting sites in spring. Here, we use GPS tracking to assess sex-and size-related variation in the spatial behaviour of adult Lesser Black-backed Gulls (Larus fuscus) throughout their annual cycle. We did not find sex-or size-dependent differences in wintering area or the timing of spring migration. Instead, sexual differences occurred prior to, and during, autumn migration, when females strongly focussed on agricultural areas. Females exhibited a more protracted autumn migration strategy, hence spent more time on stopover sites and arrived 15 days later at their wintering areas, than males. This shift in habitat use and protracted autumn migration coincided with the timing of moult, which overlaps with chick rearing and migration. Our results suggest that this overlap between energy-demanding activities may lead females to perform a more prolonged autumn migration, which results in spatiotemporal differences in foraging habitat use between the sexes

Je crois, donc je suis : Glauben und Denken bei Blaise Pascal

[no abstract

Immobilization of enzymes for multienzymatic synthesis of laminaribiose

Die Enzyme Sucrosephosphorylase und Laminaribiosephosphorylase wurden kovalent auf Sepabeads EC-EP/S fixiert und zusammen mit immobilisierter Glucoseisomerase erfolgreich zur trienzymatischen Produktion von Laminaribiose eingesetzt. Die Bedingungen für ein trienzymatisches System wurden nach Charakterisierung der immobilisierten Enzyme mithilfe statistischer Versuchsplanung hinsichtlich ihrer Puffermolaritäts- und pH- sowie Temperaturpräferenzen auf 0,05 M Natriumphosphatpuffer (pH 6,3) und 37 °C festgelegt. Da die trienzymatische Produktion von Laminaribiose durch Glucoseisomerase beeinträchtigt wird, wurde die bienzymatische Produktion von Laminaribiose aus Saccharose und Glucose mit Sucrosephosphorylase und Laminaribiosephosphorylase einer trienzymatischen Produktion vorgezogen. Die bienzymatische Produktion konnte im Mikroreaktionsgefäß mit Ausbeuten von 20 % praktisch exemplarisch umgesetzt werden. Zur Erhöhung der Stabilität der immobilisierten Enzyme für eine kontinuierliche Produktion wurden die Sepabeads in Chitosan eingeschlossen. In den sich ergebenden Hybridimmobilisaten kann Laminaribiosephosphorylase auf Sepabeads EC-EP/S mit Feststoffgehalten von 3 % ohne Aktivitätsverluste eingeschlossen werden. Nach Charakterisierung der Laminaribiosephosphorylase wurden die Bedingungen für die bienzymatische Produktion auf 0,05 M Natriumphosphatpuffer (pH 6) und 35 °C festgelegt. Unter diesen Bedingungen hat Laminaribiosephosphorylase eine Halbwertszeit von 94,4 ± 21,2 h in Puffer bzw. 202 ± 13 h in Anwesenheit von Saccharose. Die Halbwertszeit des Enzyms und Versuche zur Umsetzbarkeit des bienzymatischen Systems beweisen (Ausbeute 2,6 %), dass die Entwicklung von Enzymimmobilisaten für die kontinuierliche Produktion von Laminaribiose erfolgreich war.The enzymes sucrose phosphorylase and laminaribiose phosphorylase were covalently fixated on Sepabeads EC-EP/S. They were successfully used together with immobilized glucose isomerase for synthesis of laminaribiose from sucrose. Conditions for a trienzymatic system were fixed to 0.05 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6.3) and a temperature of 37 °C after characterization of the immobilized enzymes regarding their preferences for buffer molarities, pH and temperature using design of experiments. Since the feasibility of the system is impaired by glucose isomerase bienzymatic production of laminaribiose from sucrose and glucose with sucrose phosphorylase and laminaribiose phosphorylase was chosen over trienzymatic production. Bienzymatic production of laminaribiose was exemplarily implemented in a micro reaction vessel with a yield of 20%. To further improve their stability for continuous production, the enzymes on Sepabeads EC-EP/S were encapsulated in chitosan. The resulting hybrid immobilizates can encapsulate a solid content of 3% Sepabeads EC-EP/S without loss of activity for laminaribiose phosphorylase. After characterization of laminaribiose phosphorylase hybrid immobilizates the conditions for bienzymatic production were fixed to 0.05 M sodium phosphate buffer (pH 6) at 35 °C. Under this conditions Laminaribiose phosphorylase has a half-life of 94.4 ± 21.2 h in buffer and 202 ± 13 h in presence of sucrose at bienzymatic production conditions. The half-life of the enzyme together with proof of concept bienzymatic production (yield 2.6%) showed that the development of enzyme immobilizates suitable for continuous production of laminaribiose was successful

Monitoring in metastatic breast cancer: Is imaging outdated in the era of circulating tumor cells?

In clinical practice imaging technologies such as computed tomography (CT), positron emission tomography (PET)/CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are well-established methods for monitoring metastatic breast cancer (MBC) patients and for assessing therapeutic efficacy. However, several weeks of treatment are required before these technologies can offer any reliable information on effective disease regression, and, in the meanwhile, the patients are exposed to potentially unnecessary therapy. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been shown to be powerful prognostic and predictive markers and provide clinicians with valuable information. However, in one clinical trial, an early change of chemotherapy based on CTC detection did not result in improved survival. Currently, CTC detection outside clinical trials should be limited to selected clinical situations, i.e. increased treatment toxicity or as risk estimation