Gross In-Migration and Public Policy in the U.S. during the Great Recession: An Exploratory Empirical Analysis, 2008-2009

For the period 2008-2009 of the “Great Recession,” the gross state-level in-migration rate was an increasing function of expected per capita personal income, state parks per capita, and warmer January temperatures. For the same study period, the gross in-migration rate was a decreasing function of the cost of living, the poverty rate, the average state income tax rate, per capita property taxation, and hazardous waste sites. All of the estimates yield results suggesting consistently, as in previous studies of earlier time periods, that migrants (consumer-voters) at the very minimum prefer lower state income tax burdens and lower property tax burdens. Consumer-voters’ evaluation of government services in determining their choice of location during the “Great Recession” appears to depend upon the type of government service. While consumer-voters on average appear to prefer states with greater public provision of state parks, our results do not indicate a strong preference for states with higher per pupil outlays on primary and secondary public education

Total State In-Migration and Public Policy in the United States: A Comparative Analysis of the Great recession and the Pre- and Post-Great Recession Years

This study adopts state-level data to empirically investigate the Tiebout hypothesis (as extended by Tullock) of “voting with one’s feet” for the period referred to in the U.S. as the “Great Recession” (2007-2009). As compared to previous studies, we use more recent data and provide estimates for three time periods: the “Great Recession” (from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009), the pre-Great Recession period (July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2006) and the post-Great Recession period (July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011). This analysis also differs from most previous literature by including a separate cost of living variable and a variable measuring effective state personal income tax rates. After allowing for various economic factors and quality of life/climate variables, migrants (consumer-voters) over the 2007-2009 period appear to prefer states with lower effective state personal income tax rates and higher levels of “fiscal surplus,” defined in this study for each state as the total outlay per pupil on primary and secondary public education minus the per capita property tax level. The three empirical estimates all demonstrate that the Tiebout/Tullock hypothesis was operational not only during but also both before and after the Great Recession since for all three time periods migrants (consumer-voters) manifested a preference for lower effective state personal income tax rates and higher levels of fiscal surplus

Total State In-Migration and Public Policy in the United States: A Comparative Analysis of the Great recession and the Pre- and Post-Great Recession Years

This study adopts state-level data to empirically investigate the Tiebout hypothesis (as extended by Tullock) of “voting with one’s feet” for the period referred to in the U.S. as the “Great Recession” (2007-2009). As compared to previous studies, we use more recent data and provide estimates for three time periods: the “Great Recession” (from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2009), the pre-Great Recession period (July 1, 2004 through June 30, 2006) and the post-Great Recession period (July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2011). This analysis also differs from most previous literature by including a separate cost of living variable and a variable measuring effective state personal income tax rates. After allowing for various economic factors and quality of life/climate variables, migrants (consumer-voters) over the 2007-2009 period appear to prefer states with lower effective state personal income tax rates and higher levels of “fiscal surplus,” defined in this study for each state as the total outlay per pupil on primary and secondary public education minus the per capita property tax level. The three empirical estimates all demonstrate that the Tiebout/Tullock hypothesis was operational not only during but also both before and after the Great Recession since for all three time periods migrants (consumer-voters) manifested a preference for lower effective state personal income tax rates and higher levels of fiscal surplus

Gross In-Migration and Public Policy in the U.S. during the Great Recession: An Exploratory Empirical Analysis, 2008-2009

For the period 2008-2009 of the “Great Recession,” the gross state-level in-migration rate was an increasing function of expected per capita personal income, state parks per capita, and warmer January temperatures. For the same study period, the gross in-migration rate was a decreasing function of the cost of living, the poverty rate, the average state income tax rate, per capita property taxation, and hazardous waste sites. All of the estimates yield results suggesting consistently, as in previous studies of earlier time periods, that migrants (consumer-voters) at the very minimum prefer lower state income tax burdens and lower property tax burdens. Consumer-voters’ evaluation of government services in determining their choice of location during the “Great Recession” appears to depend upon the type of government service. While consumer-voters on average appear to prefer states with greater public provision of state parks, our results do not indicate a strong preference for states with higher per pupil outlays on primary and secondary public education

Successful non-surgical management of pleuroparenchymal fistula following cervical intraspinal empyema

Pulmonary infections are life-threatening complications in patients with spinal cord injuries. In particular, paraplegic patients are at risk if they are ventilator-dependent. This case history refers to a spinal cord injury with a complete sensorimotor tetraplegia below C2 caused by a septic scattering of an intraspinal empyema at C2-C5 and T3-T4. A right-sided purulent pneumonia led to a complex lung infection with the formation of a pleuroparenchymal fistula. The manuscript describes successful, considerate, non-surgical management with shortterm separate lung ventilation. Treatment aimed to achieve the best possible result without additional harm. A variety of surgical and conservative strategies for the treatment of pleuroparenchymal fistula (PPF) have been described with different degrees of success. We detail the non-surgical management of a persistent PPF with temporary separate lung ventilation (SLV) via a double-lumen tube (DLT) in combination with talc pleurodesis as an approach in patients who are unable to undergo surgical treatment

Daily Caffeine Intake Induces Concentration-Dependent Medial Temporal Plasticity in Humans: A Multimodal Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

Caffeine is commonly used to combat high sleep pressure on a daily basis. However, interference with sleep-wake regulation could disturb neural homeostasis and insufficient sleep could lead to alterations in human gray matter. Hence, in this double-blind, randomized, cross-over study, we examined the impact of 10-day caffeine (3 × 150 mg/day) on human gray matter volumes (GMVs) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) by fMRI MP-RAGE and arterial spin-labeling sequences in 20 habitual caffeine consumers, compared with 10-day placebo (3 × 150 mg/day). Sleep pressure was quantified by electroencephalographic slow-wave activity (SWA) in the previous nighttime sleep. Nonparametric voxel-based analyses revealed a significant reduction in GMV in the medial temporal lobe (mTL) after 10 days of caffeine intake compared with 10 days of placebo, voxel-wisely adjusted for CBF considering the decreased perfusion after caffeine intake compared with placebo. Larger GMV reductions were associated with higher individual concentrations of caffeine and paraxanthine. Sleep SWA was, however, neither different between conditions nor associated with caffeine-induced GMV reductions. Therefore, the data do not suggest a link between sleep depth during daily caffeine intake and changes in brain morphology. In conclusion, daily caffeine intake might induce neural plasticity in the mTL depending on individual metabolic processes

Daily Caffeine Intake Induces Concentration-Dependent Medial Temporal Plasticity in Humans: A Multimodal Double-Blind Randomized Controlled Trial

Caffeine is commonly used to combat high sleep pressure on a daily basis. However, interference with sleep–wake regulation could disturb neural homeostasis and insufficient sleep could lead to alterations in human gray matter. Hence, in this double-blind, randomized, cross-over study, we examined the impact of 10-day caffeine (3 × 150 mg/day) on human gray matter volumes (GMVs) and cerebral blood flow (CBF) by fMRI MP-RAGE and arterial spin-labeling sequences in 20 habitual caffeine consumers, compared with 10-day placebo (3 × 150 mg/day). Sleep pressure was quantified by electroencephalographic slow-wave activity (SWA) in the previous nighttime sleep. Nonparametric voxel-based analyses revealed a significant reduction in GMV in the medial temporal lobe (mTL) after 10 days of caffeine intake compared with 10 days of placebo, voxel-wisely adjusted for CBF considering the decreased perfusion after caffeine intake compared with placebo. Larger GMV reductions were associated with higher individual concentrations of caffeine and paraxanthine. Sleep SWA was, however, neither different between conditions nor associated with caffeine-induced GMV reductions. Therefore, the data do not suggest a link between sleep depth during daily caffeine intake and changes in brain morphology. In conclusion, daily caffeine intake might induce neural plasticity in the mTL depending on individual metabolic processes

Klotho, APOEε4, cognitive ability, brain size, atrophy and survival : A study in the Aberdeen Birth Cohort of 1936

We thank the cohort participants who contributed to these studies. The study was supported by the University of Aberdeen Development Trust; the UK’s Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC); the Wellcome Trust; the Chief Scientist Office (Scotland); and the Alzheimer’s Research Trust (now ARUK).Peer reviewedPostprin

Ageing in Europe. Empirical Analysis with the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

Dieser Band versammelt Beiträge zu ausgewählten Konsequenzen der Bevölkerungsalterung, die auf ein Forschungspraktikum im Fach Bevölkerungswissenschaft an der Universität Bamberg zurückgehen. Die behandelten Untersuchungsgegenstände umfassen die Determinanten intergenerationaler instrumenteller Transfers im europäischen Vergleich, die Effekte von Arbeitsmarktstrukturen auf freiwillige und unfreiwillige Frühverrentung in Deutschland sowie den Zusammenhang von Versicherungsart und der Inanspruchnahme allgemeinmedizinischer Leistungen im Alter. Diese aktuellen sozialwissenschaftlichen Fragestellungen werden anhand der Daten der ersten Welle des Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) empirisch untersucht.This volume brings together selected contributions on the consequences of population ageing which evolved in an empirical research training course in population studies at the University of Bamberg. The topics ranged from the determinants of intergenerational instrumental transfers in a European comparative perspective, the effects of labor market structures on voluntary and involuntary early retirement in Germany as well as the relation between private and public health insurance and medical treatment for aged people. These actual research questions were empirically investigated using the first wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE)

Head and neck oncology management in the time of COVID-19: results of a head and neck cancer center

Purpose Given the concerns about the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer care, we analyzed the treatment quality of the head and neck cancer center Regensburg before and throughout 2 years of the pandemic. We included data of 3 years to reflect the extended pandemic period as new developments continued to influence its course. Methods This retrospective review included all patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer in 2019, 2020, and 2021 who had not started treatment elsewhere prior to being referred to the head and neck cancer center. We compared tumor characteristics and times to therapy of patients diagnosed before COVID-19 in 2019 (n = 253), during COVID-19 in 2020 (n = 206), and in a phase of partial normalization in a persistent pandemic situation in 2021 (n = 247). Results Our data revealed no decrease in diagnoses or drift in stages toward more advanced stages. There was an increased percentage of diagnoses confirmed at the head and neck cancer center from 2019 (57.3%) to 2020 (68.0%) and to 2021 (65.6%) compared to confirmation at other institutions (2019, 42.7%; 2020, 32.0%; 2021, 34.4%; P = 0.041). Surgery and radiotherapy were performed with the same frequency. The median days between diagnosis and surgery were decreased in 2020 (19.5 days; P = 0.049) and 2021 (20.0 days; P = 0.026) in comparison to 2019 (23 days). The days to radiotherapy were not affected. Conclusion The data indicate a consistent oncological performance for head and neck cancer patients in all waves of the pandemic and thereafter without a decrease in diagnoses or shift in stages