Why do the poor leave the safety net in Mexico? A study of the effects of conditionality on dropouts

This paper analyzes the characteristics of beneficiaries that drop out of the Mexican conditional cash transfer program Oportunidades to determine if dropping out of the program is a result of selftargeting by the non-poor, the exclusion of the target poor population or a combination of both. The analysis, which uses a duration model, indicates that it is the wealthier beneficiaries that have greater odds of dropping out suggesting that conditionality acts as a screening device. Results also indicate that administrative factors and the particular provider of health services to beneficiaries have an important influence on dropouts.Cash transfer programs, conditionality, Oportunidades, Latin America, Mexico, hazard models

The Regulatory Efficiency of the CCMA: A Statistical Analysis of the CCMA's CMS Database

The study involves a statistical analysis of the case management system (CMS) data base of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) for the financial years 2001/2, 2003/4 and 2004/5

Dynamic alpha power modulations and slow negative potentials track natural shifts of spatio‐temporal attention

Alpha power modulations and slow negative potentials have previously been associated with anticipatory processes in spatial and temporal top-down attention. In typical experimental designs, however, neural responses triggered by transient stimulus onsets can interfere with attention-driven activity patterns and our interpretation of such. Here, we investigated these signatures of spatio-temporal attention in a dynamic paradigm free from potentially confounding stimulus-driven activity using electroencephalography. Participants attended the cued side of a bilateral stimulus rotation and mentally counted how often one of two remembered sample orientations (i.e., the target) was displayed while ignoring the uncued side and non-target orientation. Afterwards, participants performed a delayed match-to-sample task, in which they indicated if the orientation of a probe stimulus matched the corresponding sample orientation (previously target or non-target). We observed dynamic alpha power reductions and slow negative waves around task-relevant points in space and time (i.e., onset of the target orientation in the cued hemifield) over posterior electrodes contralateral to the locus of attention. In contrast to static alpha power lateralization, these dynamic signatures correlated with subsequent memory performance (primarily detriments for matching probes of the non-target orientation), suggesting a preferential allocation of attention to task-relevant locations and time points at the expense of reduced resources and impaired performance for information outside the current focus of attention. Our findings suggest that humans can naturally and dynamically focus their attention at relevant points in space and time and that such spatio-temporal attention shifts can be reflected by dynamic alpha power modulations and slow negative potentials

"It's like two worlds apart": an analysis of vulnerable patient handover practices at discharge from hospital.

BACKGROUND: Handover practices at hospital discharge are relatively under-researched, particularly as regards the specific risks and additional requirements for handovers involving vulnerable patients with limited language, cognitive and social resources. OBJECTIVE: To explore handover practices at discharge and to focus on the patients' role in handovers and on the potential additional risks for vulnerable patients. METHODS: We conducted qualitative interviews with patients, hospital professionals and primary care professionals in two hospitals and their associated primary care centres in Catalonia, Spain. RESULTS: We identified handover practices at discharge that potentially put patients at risk. Patients did not feel empowered in the handover but were expected to transfer information between care providers. Professionals identified lack of medication reconciliation at discharge, loss of discharge information, and absence of plans for follow-up care in the community as quality and safety problems for discharge handovers. These occurred for all patients, but appeared to be more frequent and have a greater negative effect in patients with limited language comprehension and/or lack of family and social support systems. CONCLUSIONS: Discharge handovers are often haphazard. Healthcare professionals do not consider current handover practices safe, with patients expected to transfer information without being empowered to understand and act on it. This can lead to misinformation, omission or duplication of tests or interventions and, potentially, patient harm. Vulnerable patients may be at greater risk given their limited language, cognitive and social resources. Patient safety at discharge could benefit from strategies to enhance patient education and promote empowerment

Climate change and mixed forests: how do altered survival probabilities impact economically desirable species proportions of Norway spruce and European beech?

International audienceKey message Economic consequences of altered survival probabilities under climate change should be considered for regeneration planning in Southeast Germany. Findings suggest that species compositions of mixed stands obtained from continuous optimization may buffer but not completely mitigate economic consequences. Mixed stands of Norway spruce (Picea abiesL. Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvaticaL.) (considering biophysical interactions between tree species) were found to be more robust, against both perturbations in survival probabilities and economic input variables, compared to block mixtures (excluding biophysical interactions).ContextClimate change is expected to increase natural hazards in European forests. Uncertainty in expected tree mortality and resulting potential economic consequences complicate regeneration decisions.AimsThis study aims to analyze the economic consequences of altered survival probabilities for mixing Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst.) and European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) under different climate change scenarios. We investigate whether management strategies such as species selection and type of mixture (mixed stands vs. block mixture) could mitigate adverse financial effects of climate change.MethodsThe bio-economic modelling approach combines a parametric survival model with modern portfolio theory. We estimate the economically optimal species mix under climate change, accounting for the biophysical and economic effects of tree mixtures. The approach is demonstrated using an example from Southeast Germany.ResultsThe optimal tree species mixtures under simulated climate change effects could buffer but not completely mitigate undesirable economic consequences. Even under optimally mixed forest stands, the risk-adjusted economic value decreased by 28%. Mixed stands economically outperform block mixtures for all climate scenarios.ConclusionOur results underline the importance of mixed stands to mitigate the economic consequences of climate change. Mechanistic bio-economic models help to understand consequences of uncertain input variables and to design purposeful adaptation strategies

On the functional relationship between biodiversity and economic value

Biodiversity’s contribution to human welfare has become a key argument for maintaining and enhancing biodiversity in managed ecosystems. The functional relationship between biodiversity (b) and economic value (V) is, however, insufficiently understood, despite the premise of a positive-concave bV relationship that dominates scientific and political arenas. Here, we review how individual links between biodiversity, ecosystem functions (F), and services affect resulting bV relationships. Our findings show that bV relationships are more variable, also taking negative-concave/convex or strictly concave and convex forms. This functional form is driven not only by the underlying bF relationship but also by the number and type of ecosystem services and their potential trade-offs considered, the effects of inputs, and the type of utility function used to represent human preferences. Explicitly accounting for these aspects will enhance the substance and coverage of future valuation studies and allow more nuanced conclusions, particularly for managed ecosystems

Trends in tropical forest loss and the social value of emission reductions

Reducing global forest losses is essential to mitigate climate change and its associated social costs. Multiple market and non-market factors can enhance or reduce forest loss. Here, to understand the role of non-market factors (for example, policies, climate anomalies or conflicts), we can compare observed trends to a reference (expected) scenario that excludes non-market factors. We define an expected scenario by simulating land-use decisions solely driven by market prices, productivities and presumably plausible decision-making. The land-use allocation model considers economic profits and uncertainties as incentives for forest conversion. We compare reference forest losses in Brazil, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia (2000–2019) with observed forest losses and assign differences from non-market factors. Our results suggest that non-market factors temporarily lead to lower-than-expected forest losses summing to 11.1 million hectares, but also to phases with higher-than-expected forest losses of 11.3 million hectares. Phases with lower-than-expected forest losses occurred earlier than those with higher-than-expected forest losses. The damages avoided by delaying emissions that would otherwise have occurred represent a social value of US$61.6 billion (as of the year 2000). This result shows the economic importance of forest conservation efforts in the tropics, even if reduced forest loss might be temporary and reverse over time

Defining a consistent strategy to model ground-motion parameters for the GEM-PEER Global GMPEs project

International audienceThe project entitled Global Ground Motion Prediction Equations is funded by the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation and has the objective of recommending a harmonized suite of ground motion prediction equations (GMPEs) that can be used at the global and regional scales for seismic hazard analysis and loss estimation studies. As part of this project, Task 1a experts were commissioned to make recommendations on the critical aspects of seismological predictor parameters that are used by predictive model developers to estimate ground motions for different earthquake scenarios. It is hoped that these recommendations would lead to the optimum description of ground-motion models that can be used efficiently for reliable seismic hazard assessment studies

El efecto de la transformación de persona natural con negocio a personería jurídica caso: Globalized Digital World

La presente tesis busca identificar cuál es el efecto de la transformación de persona natural con negocio a personería jurídica caso: Globalizad Digital World, teniendo como base principal, la identificación de los aspectos tributarios, legales y financieros y así obtener una información global de negocio, posteriormente se realizará la transformación convirtiéndose en personería jurídica con una nueva razón social lo cual será Arta Perú S.AC es de mucha importancia identificar los efectos con respecto a las cuatro dimensiones entre las cuales está la social, económica, ambiental y político institucional, cabe señalar que se recolectará la información de 5 meses antes y después del proceso mencionado y así conocer los cambios o efectos de la transformación y definir la identificar la diferencia entre el antes y el después. Entonces en primera instancia se plantea la problemática, se establece el objetivo general y los objetivos específicos, los alcances y los límites de la misma. Así mismo se plasma el marco teórico y se recopila toda la información necesaria para que de esa manera se exponga los resultados obtenidos de una manera ordenada con respecto a los objetivos planteados. Por último, se identifica los efectos de la persona natural a personería jurídica para posteriormente declarar las discusiones en base a referencias de autores y estudios con un resultado parecido, para poder culminar se redactan las conclusiones a las que se llegaron con el estudio y se enuncia las recomendaciones para aumentar o mejorar el valor económico de la empresa constituida

Proper Layering Is Important for Precisely Timed Activation of Hippocampal Mossy Cells

The mammalian cortex exhibits a laminated structure that may underlie optimal synaptic connectivity and support temporally precise activation of neurons. In ‘reeler' mice, the lack of the extracellular matrix protein Reelin leads to abnormal positioning of cortical neurons and disrupted layering. To address how these structural changes impact neuronal function, we combined electrophysiological and neuroanatomical techniques to investigate the synaptic activation of hippocampal mossy cells (MCs), the cell type that integrates the output of dentate gyrus granule cells (GCs). While somatodendritic domains of wild-type (WT) MCs were confined to the hilus, the somata and dendrites of reeler MCs were often found in the molecular layer, where the perforant path (PP) terminates. Most reeler MCs received aberrant monosynaptic excitatory input from the PP, whereas the disynaptic input to MCs via GCs was decreased and inhibition was increased. In contrast to the uniform disynaptic discharge of WT MCs, many reeler cells discharged with short, monosynaptic latencies, while others fired with long latencies over a broad temporal window in response to PP activation. Thus, disturbed lamination results in aberrant synaptic connectivity and altered timing of action potential generation. These results highlight the importance of a layered cortical structure for information processin