Do tolerant societies demand better institutions?

The increasing ethnic heterogeneity that many societies are experiencing could be interpreted as a detrimental phenomenon, since empirical literature exists that indicates that higher levels of ethnic fractionalization induce higher levels of corruption. This paper aims to show the role of tolerance in overcoming this harmful effect of ethnic heterogeneity. To this end, a sample of 86 countries is tested for a positive association between ethnic fractionalization and corruption. It is then shown that tolerance offsets this effect through both direct and indirect effects on corruption. In order to analyse the indirect effects, the level of income and the freedom of the press are selected as channels, since these represent two determinants of corruption that are linked to tolerance. Moreover, tolerance and corruption have been modelled as composites. Consequently, Partial Least Squares path modelling (PLS-PM) has been used. For our sample, an index of tolerance towards immigrants and people of different race and an index of corruption are constructed, for which several sources are jointly utilised. Our results appear to indicate that the adverse effect of ethnic fractionalization on corruption is offset by tolerance, which reduces corruption not only directly but also indirectly through the level of income and the freedom of the press

Mean-Field Approximation to the Master Equation for Sympathetic Cooling of Trapped Bosons

We use the mean-field approximation to simplify the master equation for sympathetic cooling of Bosons. For the mean single-particle occupation numbers, this approach yields the same equations as the factorization assumption introduced in an erlier paper. The stationary or equilibrium solution of the resulting master equation for the one-body density matrix shows that the mean-field approximation breaks down whenever the fraction of condensate Bosons exceeds ten percent or so of the total. Using group-theoretical methods, we also solve the time-dependent master equation for the one-body density matrix. Given the time dependence of the mean single-particle occupation numbers, this solution is obtained by quadratures. It tends asymptotically towards the equilibrium solution.Comment: submitted to PR

O significado da filosofia da humanitude, no contexto dos cuidados de enfermagem à pessoa dependente e vulnerável

Revisão sistemática seguindo a metodologia dos sete passos do Cochrane Handbook, formulando a seguinte questão: Qual o significado do conceito integrador de humanitude, no contexto dos complexos e delicados cuidados que os enfermeiros prestam, a pessoas doentes vulneráveis e dependentes? No processo de resposta à questão, seguindo a metodologia sistemática, com base numa estratégia de pesquisa refinada e exaustiva a bases de dados relevantes, não se obtiveram respostas aos descritores relacionados com cuidados de enfermagem, que intersectem o conceito humanitude. No entanto, através de motores de busca e contacto com investigadores nacionais e estrangeiros, foi possível recolher um pequeno acervo de documentos, que revelam a pertinência da questão de investigação e indicam a existência de trabalho avançado na aplicação da filosofia da humanitude aos cuidados de enfermagem. O trabalho mais relevante é o método de Gineste e Marescotti, no cuidado a doentes dependentes e vulneráveis, desde 1975. Com este estudo de revisão, observa-se uma nova oportunidade de investigação, através da implementação e monitorização do método, com uma população de pessoas doentes dependentes, em Portugal

Latent growth curve modeling of psychological well-being trajectories

This Paper Proposes Modeling Trajectories of Psychological Well-being Using Latent Growth Curve models (LGCMs). The psychometric scale of the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12) is considered. Data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), from years 2003 to 2006 are used. In 1991 Graetz proposed the GHQ-12 as a multidimensional scale, containing three distinct dimensions: anxiety and depression, social dysfunction and loss of confidence. Using such scale, this paper compares a second-order LGCM for the trajectories of a latent factor (measured by these three dimensions) with a LGCM for the trajectories of an overall sum score. Conditional LGCMs are then fitted; sex, age group and perceived health status are considered as the explanatory variables of the growth trajectories. Results show that the model which considers the three dimensions of subjective well-being has a larger explaining capability than the one utilizing the subjective well-being score

Short-Lasting Headaches in Children

Short-lasting headaches have been studied infrequently in children and it is not known if the main categories of primary headaches of this type in adults are applicable to children. We report our experience with a group of 20 children with a brief headache. Two patients had a secondary headache. One patient had a headache with some clinical characteristics of paroxysmal hemicrania. The remaining 17 had a very brief headache. They were in many aspects comparable to others from previous studies on idiopathic stabbing headache in children: no associated symptoms, no other associated headache, frequent family history of migraine. They differed, however, in the younger age of the patients and themore frequent extratrigeminal location of the pain. Extratrigeminal ice-pick pain may be a variant of idiopathic stabbing headache, more prevalent in young children