EU pension reform - An overview of the debate and an empirical assessment of the main policy reform options

This paper on European Union (EU) pension reform provides an overview of the debate and, on the basis of a series of model simulations, makes an empirical assessment of the main pension policy reform options at the EU, not the Member State, level. It estimates what it would take to bring the public PAYG pension system back into equilibrium and assesses the case for a shift to funding. The main conclusion of this paper is that the EU pension system should in the very long run (i.e. over more than one generation) be fully funded, with this being achieved using a two-stage optimal transition path. Stage one of this transition process should concentrate on stabilising the PAYG system and achieving a partial shift to funding, with stage two only occurring once circumstances permit. The fully funded system, once established, should have public and private pillars, with the public system in effect replacing the old PAYG system with a similar compulsory, defined benefit, system and with the private pillar being a voluntary, defined contribution, system.pension reform, policy reform options, ageing model, Mc Morrow, R�ger,

The Lisbon Strategy and the EU's structural productivity problem

The structural nature of the EU's productivity downturn is confirmed by the analysis in this paper, with the bulk of the deterioration emanating from an outdated and inflexible industrial structure which has been slow to adapt to the intensifying pressures of globalisation and rapid technological change. The EU's productivity problems are driven by the combined effect ofan excessive focus on low and medium-technology industries (with declining productivity growth rates and a globalisation-induced contraction in investment levels); an inability to seriously challenge the US's dominance in large areas of the ICT industry, as reflected in the relatively small size of its ICT production sector; and finally, its apparent slowness in reaping the productivity enhancing benefits of ICT in a range of ICT-using industries, although measurement issues severely complicate an assessment of the gains from ICT production and diffusion.lisbon strategy, productivity, growth, labour market, Denis, Mc Morrow, R�ger, Veugelers, structural productivity

Scenarios for optimizing potato productivity in a lunar CELSS

The use of controlled ecological life support system (CELSS) in the development and growth of large-scale bases on the Moon will reduce the expense of supplying life support materials from Earth. Such systems would use plants to produce food and oxygen, remove carbon dioxide, and recycle water and minerals. In a lunar CELSS, several factors are likely to be limiting to plant productivity, including the availability of growing area, electrical power, and lamp/ballast weight for lighting systems. Several management scenarios are outlined in this discussion for the production of potatoes based on their response to irradiance, photoperiod, and carbon dioxide concentration. Management scenarios that use 12-hr photoperiods, high carbon dioxide concentrations, and movable lamp banks to alternately irradiate halves of the growing area appear to be the most efficient in terms of growing area, electrical power, and lamp weights. However, the optimal scenario will be dependent upon the relative 'costs' of each factor

Motor Carrier Scheduling Practices and Their Influence on Driver Fatigue

The primary objective of this report is to develop a better understanding of how the scheduling practices of motor carrier firms affect driver fatigue. The basis of this empirical research is a commercial driver fatigue model that includes driving environment (i.e., regularity of time, trip control, and quality of rest), economic pressures exerted on drivers (from customers, carriers, and the drivers themselves) and company safety practices as key factors in explaining driver fatigue. The model utilizes two measures of fatigue: frequency of close calls due to fatigue and driver perceptions of fatigue as a problem. Crash involvement is used to evaluate general safety performance. Three separate studies were conducted. First, the influence of driving environments alone on fatigue among over-the-road truck drivers was tested through a survey of 502 drivers at five geographically dispersed truck stops. A typology of driving environments was developed and the percent of drivers in each category was determined. It was found that a large number of drivers are in the “high fatigue risk” categories. Regression analysis identified starting the work week tired and longer than expected loading and unloading time as significantly related to both measures of fatigue. Regularity of time, regularity of route, and hours of uninterrupted sleep were each statistically significant factors for one fatigue measure. Next, the complete model was tested on a random sample of 279 drivers at 116 trucking companies and 122 drivers at 66 motor coach companies, which was then stratified on the basis of safety performance (i.e., SAFESTAT ratings). Data for these two studies were generated from surveys of drivers, safety directors, dispatchers, and top management at the sample firms. In the truck company study, starting the workweek tired was the single most significant factor related to fatigue. Other significant fatigue-influencing factors were difficulty in finding a place to rest and shippers’ and receivers’ scheduling requirements (including loading and unloading). Company safety practices that mitigated driver fatigue were carrier assistance with loading and unloading, carrier efforts to minimize nighttime driving, and driver voluntary attendance at corporate safety and training meetings. In the motor coach company study, the most significant factors related to driver fatigue were starting the work week tired, driving tired to make a good income, and pressure on drivers to accept trips. Two safety measures – drivers’ perceptions of their company’s safe drivingculture and policies, or attempts to minimize nighttime driving – mitigated some of the factors that adversely affect driver fatigue

An Analysis of the Medical Costs of Obesity for Fifth Graders in California and Texas

International Journal of Exercise Science 9(1): 26-33, 2016. The prevalence of childhood obesity in the United States increased more than three-fold from 1976 – 1980 to 2007 – 2008. The Presidential Youth Fitness Program’s FitnessGram® is the current method recommended by the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports & Nutrition for assessing health-related fitness factors, including body composition. FitnessGram® data from California and Texas, the two most populous states, over a three-year time span indicate that more than one-third of fifth grade students, typically ten-year-olds, are obese. Previous studies report that an obese ten-year-old child who remains obese into adulthood will incur elevated direct medical costs beyond his or her normal-weight peers over a lifetime. The recommended elevated cost estimates are approximately $12,660 when comparing against a normal-weight child who gains weight as an adult and approximately$19,000 compared to a child who remains at normal weight as an adult. By applying these figures to FitnessGram® results from California and Texas, each group of fifth grade students in each of the two states will incur between $1.4 and$3.0 billion in direct medical costs over a lifetime. When the percentage of obese fifth graders is extrapolated to the rest of the United States’ 4 million ten-year-olds, this results in more than $17 billion (accounting for adulthood weight gain) or$25 billion (not accounting for adulthood weight gain) in added direct lifetime medical costs attributable to obesity for this single-year age cohort. This information should be used to influence spending decisions and resource allocation to obesity reduction and prevention efforts

Elevated Medical Costs for Obese Fifth Graders in California and Texas

Finkelstein et al. (2014) estimated that an obese ten-year-old, typically in the fifth grade, will incur between $12,660 and$19,630 in direct medical costs beyond those of a normal-weight ten-year-old over a lifetime. PURPOSE: The purpose was to estimate the lifetime direct medical costs attributable to obesity for fifth graders in the two most populous states, Texas and California. METHODS: Body composition data from the Presidential Youth Fitness Program’s FITNESSGRAM® administered in California and Texas each school year from 2010 – 2011 to 2012 – 2013 were used. Data included information on 447,619 – 456,409 fifth graders each year in California and 296,887 – 337,514 fifth graders in Texas. The number and percentage of students in each of the FITNESSGRAM® body composition categories was calculated and those in the Needs Improvement – High Risk (NI – HR) were used for cost estimation. The number of students in the NI – HR category for each year in each state was multiplied by the recommended cost estimate of $19,000 to project the elevated lifetime medical costs attributable to obesity for each group of fifth graders in each state. RESULTS: More than 33$3 billion for each group of fifth graders in California and more than $2 billion for each group of fifth graders in Texas. CONCLUSIONS: When the percentage of obese fifth graders is extrapolated to the entire United States’ 4 million 10-year-olds, this results in more than$25 billion in elevated direct lifetime medical costs attributable to obesity for this 1-year age cohort. These estimates are for obesity and do not include the additional costs associated with overweight (i.e., FITNESSGRAM® Needs Improvement – Some Risk category). This information should be used to influence spending decisions and resource allocation to obesity reduction and prevention efforts

Micro-optics technology and sensor systems applications

The current generation of electro-optical sensors utilizing refractive and reflective optical elements require sophisticated, complex, and expensive designs. Advanced-technology-based electro-optical sensors of minimum size and weight require miniaturization of optical, electrical, and mechanical devices with an increasing trend toward integration of various components. Micro-optics technology has the potential in a number of areas to simplify optical design with improved performance. This includes internally cooled apertures, hybrid optical design, microlenses, dispersive multicolor microlenses, active dither, electronically controlled optical beam steer, and microscopic integration of micro-optics, detectors, and signal processing layers. This paper describes our approach to the development of micro-optics technology with our main emphasis for sensors applications

Light emitting diodes as a plant lighting source

Electroluminescence in solid materials is defined as the generation of light by the passage of an electric current through a body of solid material under an applied electric field. A specific type of electroluminescence, first noted in 1923, involves the generation of photons when electrons are passed through a p-n junction of certain solid materials (junction of a n-type semiconductor, an electron donor, and a p-type semiconductor, an electron acceptor). The development of this light emitting semiconductor technology dates back less than 30 years. During this period of time, the LED has evolved from a rare and expensive light generating device to one of the most widely used electronic components. A number of LED characteristics are of considerable importance in selecting a light source for plant lighting in a controlled environment facility. Of particular importance is the characteristic that light is generated by an LED at a rate far greater than the corresponding thermal radiation predicted by the bulk temperature of the device as defined by Plank's radiation law. This is in sharp contrast to other light sources, such as an incandescent or high intensity discharge lamp. A plant lighting system for controlled environments must provide plants with an adequate flux of photosynthetically active radiation, plus providing photons in the spectral regions that are involved in the photomorphogenic and phototropic responses that result in normal plant growth and development. Use of light sources that emit photons over a broad spectral range generally meet these two lighting requirements. Since the LED's emit over specific spectral regions, they must be carefully selected so that the levels of photsynthetically active and photomorphogenic and phototropic radiation meet these plant requirements

Meeting USDHHS Physical Activity Guidelines and Health Outcomes

International Journal of Exercise Science 10(1): 121-127, 2017 Current public health physical activity (PA) guidelines suggest ≥500 METmin/week of PA, with additional benefits beyond 1000 METmin/week (i.e., a dose response). Revised U.S. PA guidelines are scheduled for 2018. The purpose was to relate health markers (blood pressure, percent fat, BMI, blood glucose, cholesterol, and cardiorespiratory fitness) to verify the dose response for PA guidelines revision. 505 non-smoking participants self-reported PA behaviors and completed medical screening. MANCOVA controlling for age and gender determined the relation between health markers and PA. MANCOVA indicated significantly (P\u3c.001) different health markers of percent fat, BMI, glucose, and treadmill time as a function of PA. Post-hoc Helmert contrasts (1] \u3c500 METmin/week vs. ≥500 METmin/week and 2] 500 to \u3c1000 METmin/week vs. ≥1000 METmin/week) indicated that meeting the PA guidelines was associated with better health markers and higher cardiorespiratory fitness. Effect sizes were greater for contrast 1 than for contrast 2, suggesting a plateauing effect. Revised public health guidelines should consider achievement of ≥500 METmin/week to be most important, with additional modest gain thereafter. Revised PA guidelines should stress the importance of achieving 500-1000 METmin/week