Some thoughts on the special maritime privilege under Maltese law and in a comparative context

Under the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Act of Malta ships and other vessels are deemed to be a special type or class of movable property, being separate and distinct assets within the estate of their owners. The main reason for this 'ring-fencing' appears to be the protection of those creditors of the owners who have claims relating to such ships and other vessels. The law in fact states that this is 'for security of actions and claims to which the vessel is subject. ' Even in the case of the owner's bankruptcy all actions and claims to which the ship may be subject have preference on such ship over all other debts of the owner's estate. It is submitted that these provisions apply to all ships and other vessels, and not simply to those that may have Maltese nationality. It may however be presumed that they do not apply to ships and other vessels that enjoy immunity from civil process.peer-reviewe

Selection and the distribution of female real hourly wages in the United States

We analyze the role of selection bias in generating the changes in theobserved distribution of female hourly wages in the United States using CPSdata for the years 1975 to 2020. We account for the selection bias from theemployment decision by modelling the distribution of the number of workinghours and estimating a nonseparable model of wages. We decompose changes inthe wage distribution into composition, structural and selection effects.Composition effects have increased wages at all quantiles while the impactof the structural effects varies by time period and quantile. Changes in therole of selection only appear at the lower quantiles of the wagedistribution. The evidence suggests that there is positive selection in the1970s which diminishes until the later 1990s. This reduces wages at lowerquantiles and increases wage inequality. Post 2000 there appears to be anincrease in positive sorting which reduces the selection effects on wageinequality

Decomposing changes in the distribution of real hourly wages in the U.S.

We analyze the sources of changes in the distribution of hourly wages in the United States using CPS data for the survey years 1976 to 2016. We account for the selection bias from the employment decision by modeling the distribution of annual hours of work and estimating a nonseparable model of wages which uses a control function to account for selection. This allows the inclusion of all individuals working positive hours and thus provides a fuller description of the wage distribution. We decompose changes in the distribution of wages into composition, structural and selection effects. Composition effects have increased wages at all quantiles but the patterns of change are generally determined by the structural effects. Evidence of changes in the selection effects only appear at the lower quantiles of the female wage distribution. These various components combine to produce a substantial increase in wage inequality.https://arxiv.org/abs/1901.00419Accepted manuscrip

Hours worked and the U.S. distribution of real annual earnings 1976-2016

We examine the impact of annual hours worked on annual earnings by decomposing changes in the real annual earnings distribution into composition, structural and hours effects. We do so via a nonseparable simultaneous model of hours, wages and earnings. Using the Current Population Survey for the survey years 1976–2019, we find that changes in the female distribution of annual hours of work are important in explaining movements in inequality in female annual earnings. This captures the substantial changes in their employment behavior over this period. Movements in the male hours distribution only affect the lower part of their earnings distribution and reflect the sensitivity of these workers’ annual hours of work to cyclical factors.https://arxiv.org/abs/2002.11211First author draf

Supplement to “Semiparametric estimation of structural functions in nonseparable triangular models”

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/downloadSupplement?doi=10.3982%2FQE1239&file=quan200050-sup-0001-onlineappendix.pdfSupporting documentatio

THz-assisted microscopy of silica matrix for biological materials encapsulation: a theoretical and experimental study

In this study, we use THz-assisted atom probe tomography (APT) to analyse silica matrices used to encapsulate biomolecules. This technique provides the chemical composition and 3D structure without significantly heating the biosample, which is crucial for studying soft organic molecules such as proteins. Our results show that THz pulses and a positive static field trigger controlled evaporation of silica matrices, enabling 4D imaging with chemical sensitivity comparable to UV laser-assisted APT. To support the interpretation of these experimental results, we devise a computational model based on time-dependent density functional theory to describe the interaction between silica matrices and THz radiation. This model captures the nonlinear dynamics driven by THz-pulses and the interplay between the THz source and the static electric field in real time. This interdisciplinary approach expands the capabilities of APT and holds promise for other THz-based analyses offering new insights into material dynamics in complex biological environments

Overcoming the mobility penalty introduced by dipole disorder in small-molecule HTM films

The importance of the hole-transport material (HTM) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is now very well-established, with state-of-the-art materials such as Spiro-OMeTAD attracting significant attention in the last decade. The high cost of such materials still limits the commercialisation of these HTMs. To tackle this, the amide linker has recently been introduced into HTM systems via EDOT-Amide-TPA, utilising condensation chemistry as a cheap and effective route to HTMs. EDOT-Amide-TPA is capable of a variety of intermolecular interactions such as dipole-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding, both of which are beneficial for enhancing the film morphology and improving charge transport. However, the interplay between these different interactions is not trivial, and understanding how they affect each other is paramount to inform new HTM designs whilst minimising material waste. To date, studies investigating the combined effects of different intermolecular interactions within the HTL on the charge transport properties of these materials are lacking. Furthermore, dipole disorder within the film introduces a mobility ‘penalty’: mobility decreases with stronger overall dipole due to energetic disorder within the film, which hinders charge hopping. In this work, we investigate three amide-based HTM analogs with differing intermolecular interaction capabilities, and show that this penalty can be compensated by a preferentially increased dipole ordering, likely achieved through intermolecular hydrogen bonding. This effectively cancels out the dipole disorder while retaining the beneficial effects on the molecular packing. Our aim is that this work provides a good foundation for navigating the complex interplay between hydrogen bonding, dipole moments, conductivity, and film formation in small-molecule HTMs

The operationalization of fatigue in frailty scales : a systematic review

Purpose: To identify the different fatigue items in existing frailty scales. Methods: PubMed, Web of Knowledge and PsycINFO were systematically screened for frailty scales. 133 articles were included, describing 158 frailty scales. Fatigue items were extracted and categorized in 4 fatigue constructs: “mood state related tiredness”, “general feeling of tiredness”, “activity based feeling of tiredness” and “resistance to physical tiredness”. Results: 120 fatigue items were identified, of which 100 belonged to the construct “general feeling of tiredness” and only 9 to the construct “resistance to physical tiredness”. 49,4% of the frailty scales included at least 1 fatigue item, representing 15±9,3% of all items in these scales. Fatigue items have a significantly higher weight in single domain (dominantly physical frailty scales) versus multi domain frailty scales (21±3.2 versus 10.6±9.8%, p=<0,05 ). Conclusion: Fatigue is prominently represented in frailty scales, covering a great diversity in fatigue constructs and underlying pathophysiological mechanisms by which fatigue relates to frailty. Although fatigue items were more prevalent and had a higher weight in physical frailty scales, the operationalization of fatigue leaned more towards psychological constructs. This review can be used as a reference for choosing a suitable frailty scale depending on the type of fatigue of interest