Human Capital Convergence: A Joint Estimation Approach

In the growth literature, evidence on convergence of per capita incomes is mixed. In the development literature, health and education indicators are often used to measure countries' development progress. This study examines whether average stocks of health and education are converging across countries and calculates the speed of their convergence using data from 84 countries for 1970-90. A three-stage least-squares (3SLS) procedure is used in a joint analysis of human capital convergence. The results confirm that investments in education and health are closely linked. The study finds unconditional convergence for life expectancy and infant survival, and for the stock of education as measured by average levels of total and secondary schooling in the adult population. Copyright 2002, International Monetary Fund

Testing of the dwarf galaxy content and the evolutionary status of nearby groups of galaxies

We carried out visual and parametric searches for dwarf galaxies in five loose groups of galaxies. Follow-up spectroscopy with the HET has shown a 50% success rate of morphological selection. The evolutionary status of the studied groups differs: while the NGC 6962 group has a partially relaxed core, surrounded by an infall region, the NGC 5005/5033 group and the IC 65 group, which consist only of late-type galaxies, are probably still assembling.Comment: 3 pages, 5 figures, to be published in Astronomische Nachrichten (proceedings of Symposium 6 of the JENAM 2008, Vienna

Eligibility of patients with Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia for early oral switch

To identify people with low-risk Staphylococcus aureus bacteraemia (SAB), the SABATO investigators screened 5063 people, finding 213 (4·2%) meeting their eligibility criteria1. This low proportion of eligible patients led the authors to question if low-risk SAB is clinically relevant. We aimed to determine the clinical relevance of the SABATO definition of low-risk SAB, and if the trial population was representative of potentially eligible real-world patients. Data was collected retrospectively for 464 consecutive adults with SAB at our institution (Supplementary Figure), approved by the South East Scotland Research Ethics Committee (23/SS/0025). We then applied the SABATO inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify potentially eligible real-world patients.Of the 464 patients in our cohort, 71 (15·3%) would have been potentially eligible for inclusion in the trial. Acquisition of SAB in these patients was mainly nosocomial (35/71, 49·3%). Key cohort characteristics reported by the trial were very similar when comparing trial participants with potentially eligible real-world patients, although the median Charlson Comorbidity Index was lower in the trial cohort (Table). An intravenous catheter was the most common source of SAB in both cohorts, but there was a higher proportion of SAB from an unknown source in the real-world group (p=0·0015). An unknown source is a risk factor for complications2,3 and further evaluation combined with intensive follow-up of early oral switch should be considered in this group.Implanted prosthetic material is a component of the IDSA definition of complicated SAB4 but with certain caveats was not an absolute exclusion criterion in the SABATO trial. Nine potentially eligible real-world patients had prosthetic material in situ (n=4 cardiac devices and n=5 orthopaedic implants). This data was not reported for trial participants but could further increase confidence in applicability of the findings. No laboratory or physiology data from the time of the index blood culture was reported but might have been helpful to quantify disease severity and guide patient selection (Supplementary Table). We suggest this supports standardised collection and reporting of cohort characteristics in SAB trials to improve comparability between studies, which is often complicated by variability in the cohort characteristics reported5.We conclude that the sub-group of low-risk SAB studied in the SABATO trial is clinically relevant and find the similarities between randomised and real-world eligible patients re-assuring. Implementation of SABATO findings should be done cautiously and studied prospectively, especially when applied to patients with SAB of unknown source who were infrequently included in the trial.<br/

Dynamics of a self-gravitating thin cosmic string

We assume that a self-gravitating thin string can be locally described by what we shall call a smoothed cone. If we impose a specific constraint on the model of the string, then its central line obeys the Nambu-Goto equations. If no constraint is added, then the worldsheet of the central line is a totally geodesic surface.Comment: 20 pages, latex, 1 figure, final versio

The Development of the Student Advisory Board in the Master’s of Social Work Program at Eastern Kentucky University

Over the past six months, a selection of Masters of Social Work (MSW) students at Eastern Kentucky University (EKU) have been diving into program development mode through interprofessional collaboration to establish a firm foundation for the new Student Advisory Board (SAB). This capstone is an overview of the program planning from one student representative\u27s perspective within the interprofessional team. This capstone will provide an overview of the program\u27s development process, limitations, and suggestions for future directions. Attached is a copy of the SAB Handbook that was developed simultaneously with the capstone (see Appendix). Throughout the capstone, the SAB team will often be referred to as the “Team” to assume a collective whole

How to generate families of spinors

Using a technique \cite{holgernorma2002} to construct a basis for spinors and ``families'' of spinors in terms of Clifford algebra objects, we define other Clifford algebra objects, which transform the state of one ''family'' of spinors into the state of another ''family'' of spinors, changing nothing but the ''family'' number. The proposed transformation works - as does the technique - for all dimensions and any signature and might open a path to understanding families of quarks and leptons\cite{norma92,norma93,normaixtapa2001,pikanorma2002}

Dioxin: Reassessing the Risk

Dr. Schierow briefly summarizes the status of a draft Environmental Protection Agency report reassessing the appropriate treatment of dioxin and describes ongoing intra- and extramural reviews of the reassessment