346 research outputs found
The effects of access to health insurance: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design in Peru
In many countries large parts of the population do not have access to health insurance. Peru has made an effort to change this in the early 2000’s. The institutional setup gives rise to the rare opportunity to study the effects of health insurance coverage exploiting a sharp regression discontinuity design. We find large effects on utilization that are most pronounced for the provision of curative care. Individuals seeing a doctor leads to increased awareness about health problems and generates a potentially desirable form of supplier-induced demand: they decide to pay themselves for services that are in short supply
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High-temperature strain sensing using sapphire fibers with inscribed first-order Bragg gratings
Strain sensor designs and strain measurements based on single-crystal sapphire fibers with inscribed first-order fiber Bragg gratings for applications up to 600 °C are presented. We report on all the details of two different sensor designs; for instance, we show that the resolution of multimode sapphire fiber Bragg grating (SFBG) strain sensors is about l / l = ¼ 10-5 (10 µstrain), which is comparable with state-of-the-art high-temperature sensors. We apply our sensors for the determination of the thermal expansion coefficients of high-temperature steel alloys, showing a good match to known values. Hence, we believe that SFBG sensors may represent a promising alternative to currently used non-optic-based strain-detecting devices
Neural Signatures of Intransitive Preferences
It is often assumed that decisions are made by rank-ordering and thus comparing the available choice options based on their subjective values. Rank-ordering requires that the alternatives’ subjective values are mentally represented at least on an ordinal scale. Because one alternative cannot be at the same time better and worse than another alternative, choices should satisfy transitivity (if alternative A is preferred over B, and B is preferred over C, A should be preferred over C). Yet, individuals often demonstrate striking violations of transitivity (preferring C over A). We used functional magnetic resonance imaging to study the neural correlates of intransitive choices between gambles varying in magnitude and probability of financial gains. Behavioral intransitivities were common. They occurred because participants did not evaluate the gambles independently, but in comparison with the alternative gamble presented. Neural value signals in prefrontal and parietal cortex were not ordinal-scaled and transitive, but reflected fluctuations in the gambles’ local, pairing-dependent preference-ranks. Detailed behavioral analysis of gamble preferences showed that, depending on the difference in the offered gambles’ attributes, participants gave variable priority to magnitude or probability and thus shifted between preferring richer or safer gambles. The variable, context-dependent priority given to magnitude and probability was tracked by insula (magnitude) and posterior cingulate (probability). Their activation-balance may reflect the individual decision rules leading to intransitivities. Thus, the phenomenon of intransitivity is reflected in the organization of the neural systems involved in risky decision-making
On the practicality of time-optimal two-qubit Hamiltonian simulation
What is the time-optimal way of using a set of control Hamiltonians to obtain
a desired interaction? Vidal, Hammerer and Cirac [Phys. Rev. Lett. 88 (2002)
237902] have obtained a set of powerful results characterizing the time-optimal
simulation of a two-qubit quantum gate using a fixed interaction Hamiltonian
and fast local control over the individual qubits. How practically useful are
these results? We prove that there are two-qubit Hamiltonians such that
time-optimal simulation requires infinitely many steps of evolution, each
infinitesimally small, and thus is physically impractical. A procedure is given
to determine which two-qubit Hamiltonians have this property, and we show that
almost all Hamiltonians do. Finally, we determine some bounds on the penalty
that must be paid in the simulation time if the number of steps is fixed at a
finite number, and show that the cost in simulation time is not too great.Comment: 9 pages, 2 figure
An entanglement monotone derived from Grover's algorithm
This paper demonstrates that how well a state performs as an input to
Grover's search algorithm depends critically upon the entanglement present in
that state; the more entanglement, the less well the algorithm performs. More
precisely, suppose we take a pure state input, and prior to running the
algorithm apply local unitary operations to each qubit in order to maximize the
probability P_max that the search algorithm succeeds. We prove that, for pure
states, P_max is an entanglement monotone, in the sense that P_max can never be
decreased by local operations and classical communication.Comment: 7 page
Improved imputation quality of low-frequency and rare variants in European samples using the ‘Genome of The Netherlands’
Although genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many common variants associated with complex traits, low-frequency and rare variants have not been interrogated in a comprehensive manner. Imputation from dense reference panels, such as the 1000 Genomes Project (1000G), enables testing of ungenotyped variants for association. Here we present the results of imputation using a large, new population-specific panel: the Genome of The Netherlands (GoNL). We benchmarked the performance of the 1000G and GoNL reference sets by comparing imputation genotypes with ‘true’ genotypes typed on ImmunoChip in three European populations (Dutch, British, and Italian). GoNL showed s
Revisión de la literatura cientÃfica de la radio universitaria como instrumento de educación mediática
Esta investigación tiene como objetivo realizar una revisión bibliométrica de la radio universitaria desde una perspectiva educomunicativa, tanto en el ámbito nacional como internacional. Como metodologÃa, se han analizado el contenido de un total de 276 registros del repositorio Web of Science. El análisis de la información se clasificó en cuatro categorÃas temáticas: primeros estudios cientÃficos de la radio en la universidad; tipologÃas de los programas radiofónicos en la universidad; paÃses con mayor interés en los estudios sobre la radio universitaria y la radio universitaria y sus programas en las universidades españolas. Tras la revisión de los artÃculos llegamos a la conclusión de que las publicaciones analizadas plantean el interés de profundizar en la radio como instrumento educomunicativo, con el fin de mejorar la competencia mediática de los universitarios.
This research aims to conduct a bibliometric review of university radio from an educommunicative perspective, both nationally and internationally. As a methodology, the contents of a total of 276 records of the Web of Science repository have been analyzed. The information analysis was classified into four thematic categories: first scientific studies of radio in the university; typologies of radio programs in the university; countries with greater interest in studies on university radio and university radio and its programs in Spanish universities. After reviewing the articles we conclude that the analyzed publications raise the interest of deepening in the radio as an educonununicative tool, in order to improve the media competence of university students
Entanglement in the quantum Ising model
We study the asymptotic scaling of the entanglement of a block of spins for
the ground state of the one-dimensional quantum Ising model with transverse
field. When the field is sufficiently strong, the entanglement grows at most
logarithmically in the number of spins. The proof utilises a transformation to
a model of classical probability called the continuum random-cluster model, and
is based on a property of the latter model termed ratio weak-mixing. Our proof
applies equally to a large class of disordered interactions
Improvement of Cardiac Function After Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass in Morbidly Obese Patients Without Cardiac History Measured by Cardiac MRI
Purpose: Metabolic syndrome in patients with morbid obesity causes a higher cardiovascular morbidity, eventually leading to left ventricular hypertrophy and decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) is considered the gold standard modality for treatment of morbid obesity and might even lead to improved cardiac function. Our objective is to investigate whether cardiac function in patients with morbid obesity improves after RYGB. Materials and Methods: In this single center pilot study, 15 patients with an uneventful cardiac history who underwent RYGB were included from May 2015 to March 2016. Cardiac function was measured by cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMRI), performed preoperatively and 3, 6, and 12 months postoperative. LVEF and myocardial mass and cardiac output were measured. Results: A total of 13 patients without decreased LVEF preoperative completed follow-up (mean age 37, 48.0 ± 8.8). There was a significant decrease of cardiac output 12 months postoperative (8.3 ± 1.8 preoperative vs. 6.8 ± 1.8 after 12 months, P = 0.001). Average myocardial mass declined by 15.2% (P < 0.001). After correction for body surface area (BSA), this appeared to be non-significant (P = 0.36). There was a significant improvement of LVEF/BSA at 6 and 12 months postoperative (26.2 ± 4.1 preoperative vs. 28.4 ± 3.4 and 29.2 ± 3.6 respectively, both P = 0.002). Additionally, there was a significant improvement of stroke volume/BSA 12 months after surgery (45.8 ± 8.0 vs. 51.9 ± 10.7, P = 0.033). Conclusion: RYGB in patients with morbid obesity with uneventful history of cardiac disease leads to improvement of cardiac function
Increased cell division but not thymic dysfunction rapidly affects the T-cell receptor excision circle content of the naive T cell population in HIV-1 infection
Recent thymic emigrants can be identified by T cell receptor excision
circles (TRECs) formed during T-cell receptor rearrangement.
Decreasing numbers of TRECs have been observed with
aging and in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-1 infected
individuals, suggesting for thymic impairment. Here, we show
that in healthy individuals, declining thymic output will affect
the TREC content only when accompanied by naive T-cell division.
The rapid decline in TRECs observed during HIV-1 infection
and the increase following HAART are better explained not
by thymic impairment, but by changes in peripheral T-cell division
rates. Our data indicate that TREC content in healthy individuals
is only indirectly related to thymic output, and in HIV-1
infection is mainly affected by immune activation
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