3,523 research outputs found
An analysis of life expectancy and economic production using expectile frontier zones
The wealth of a country is assumed to have a strong non-linear influence on the life expectancy of its inhabitants. We follow up on research by Preston and study the relationship with gross domestic product. Smooth curves for the average but also for (upper) frontiers are constructed by a combination of least asymmetrically weighted squares and P-splines. Guidelines are given for optimizing the amount of smoothing and the definition of frontiers. The model is applied to a large set of countries in different years. It is also used to estimate life expectancy performance for individual countries and to show how it changed over time.frontier estimation, gross domestic product, least asymmetrically weighted squares, life expectancy, production frontier, smoothing
First Long-Term Application of Squeezed States of Light in a Gravitational-Wave Observatory
We report on the first long-term application of squeezed vacuum states of
light to improve the shot-noise-limited sensitivity of a gravitational-wave
observatory. In particular, squeezed vacuum was applied to the German/British
detector GEO600 during a period of three months from June to August 2011, when
GEO600 was performing an observational run together with the French/Italian
Virgo detector. In a second period squeezing application continued for about 11
months from November 2011 to October 2012. During this time, squeezed vacuum
was applied for 90.2% (205.2 days total) of the time that science-quality data
was acquired with GEO600. Sensitivity increase from squeezed vacuum application
was observed broad-band above 400Hz. The time average of gain in sensitivity
was 26% (2.0dB), determined in the frequency band from 3.7kHz to 4.0kHz. This
corresponds to a factor of two increase in observed volume of the universe, for
sources in the kHz region (e.g. supernovae, magnetars). We introduce three new
techniques to enable stable long-term application of squeezed light, and show
that the glitch-rate of the detector did not increase from squeezing
application. Squeezed vacuum states of light have arrived as a permanent
application, capable of increasing the astrophysical reach of
gravitational-wave detectors.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Input-output relations for a 3-port grating coupled Fabry-Perot cavity
We analyze an optical 3-port reflection grating by means of a scattering
matrix formalism. Amplitude and phase relations between the 3 ports, i.e. the 3
orders of diffraction are derived. Such a grating can be used as an
all-reflective, low-loss coupler to Fabry-Perot cavities. We derive the input
output relations of a 3-port grating coupled cavity and find distinct
properties not present in 2-port coupled cavities. The cavity relations further
reveal that the 3-port coupler can be designed such that the additional cavity
port interferes destructively. In this case the all-reflective, low-loss,
single-ended Fabry-Perot cavity becomes equivalent to a standard transmissive,
2-port coupled cavity
Demonstration of 3-port grating phase relations
We experimentally demonstrate the phase relations of 3-port gratings by
investigating 3-port coupled Fabry-Perot cavities. Two different gratings which
have the same 1st order diffraction efficiency but differ substantially in
their 2nd order diffraction efficiency have been designed and manufactured.
Using the gratings as couplers to Fabry-Perot cavities we could validate the
results of an earlier theoretical description of the phases at a three port
grating
Bildungsverläufe und psychosoziale Entwicklung im Jugendalter in den alten und neuen Bundesländern (BIJU): Zusatzstudie 10. Klasse
Automatic normal orientation in point clouds of building interiors
Orienting surface normals correctly and consistently is a fundamental problem
in geometry processing. Applications such as visualization, feature detection,
and geometry reconstruction often rely on the availability of correctly
oriented normals. Many existing approaches for automatic orientation of normals
on meshes or point clouds make severe assumptions on the input data or the
topology of the underlying object which are not applicable to real-world
measurements of urban scenes. In contrast, our approach is specifically
tailored to the challenging case of unstructured indoor point cloud scans of
multi-story, multi-room buildings. We evaluate the correctness and speed of our
approach on multiple real-world point cloud datasets
Three-port beam splitters-combiners for interferometer applications
We derive generic phase and amplitude coupling relations for beam
splitters-combiners that couple a single port with three output ports or input
ports, respectively. We apply the coupling relations to a reflection grating
that serves as a coupler to a single-ended Fabry-Perot ring cavity. In the
impedance-matched case such an interferometer can act as an all-reflective ring
mode cleaner. It is further shown that in the highly undercoupled case almost
complete separation of carrier power and phase signal from a cavity strain can
be achieved
Recovery of continuous wave squeezing at low frequencies
We propose and demonstrate a system that produces squeezed vacuum using a
pair of optical parametric amplifiers. This scheme allows the production of
phase sidebands on the squeezed vacuum which facilitate phase locking in
downstream applications. We observe strong, stably locked, continuous wave
vacuum squeezing at frequencies as low as 220 kHz. We propose an alternative
resonator configuration to overcome low frequency squeezing degradation caused
by the optical parametric amplifiers.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Organizing for Economic Empowerment of Battered Women: Women\u27s Savings Accounts
When describing reasons for remaining with or returning to an abusive partner, many women mention economic dependence on their abuser. Few battered women, especially those who are poor,have the economic resources necessary to live independently. Additionally, battered women are commonly isolated from financial resources lacking ready access to cash, checking accounts, or charge accounts. Creating strategies that address financial well-being is essential to addressing the issue ofdomestic violence. This article discusses a collaboration among domestic violence service providers in the St. Louis, Missouri region created to promote the economic development of low-income batteredwomen. The collaboration has culminated in formalized economic service provisions including economiceducation and credit counseling; women’s matched savings accounts; and economic advocacy and support services
Changes in union membership over time : a panel analysis for West Germany
Despite the apparent stability of the wage bargaining institutions in West Germany, aggregate union membership has been declining dramatically since the early 90's. However, aggregate gross membership numbers do not distinguish by employment status and it is impossible to disaggregate these sufficiently. This paper uses four waves of the German Socioeconomic Panel in 1985, 1989, 1993, and 1998 to perform a panel analysis of net union membership among employees. We estimate a correlated random effects probit model suggested in Chamberlain (1984) to take proper account of individual specfic effects. Our results suggest that at the individual level the propensity to be a union member has not changed considerably over time. Thus, the aggregate decline in membership is due to composition effects. We also use the estimates to predict net union density at the industry level based on the IAB employment subsample for the time period 1985 to 1997. JEL - Klassifikation: J
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