Global and regional estimates of violence against women

The report presents a global systematic review of scientific data on the prevalence of two forms of violence against women: violence by an intimate partner (intimate partner violence) and sexual violence by someone other than a partner (non-partner sexual violence). It shows global and regional estimates of the prevalence of these two forms of violence, using data from around the world. The report details the effects of partner and non-partner sexual violence on several aspects of women’s health. It shows that women who have experienced intimate partner violence have higher rates of depression, HIV, injury and death, and are more likely to have low birth weight babies, than those who haven’t. Though research on the health effects of non-partner sexual violence is more limited, the evidence clearly shows that sexual violence has both long- and short-term debilitating effects on women’s mental health and well-being. Report developed by the World Health Organization (WHO), the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and the South African Medical Research Council (MRC)

Self accelerating solutions in a DGP brane with a scalar field trapped on it: the dynamical systems perspective

We apply the dynamical systems tools to study the linear dynamics of a self-interacting scalar field trapped on a DGP brane. The simplest kinds of self-interaction potentials are investigated: a) constant potential, and b) exponential potential. It is shown that the dynamics of DGP models can be very rich and complex. One of the most interesting results of this study shows that dynamical screening of the scalar field self-interaction potential, occuring within the Minkowski cosmological phase of the DGP model and mimetizing 4D phantom behaviour, is an attractor solution for a constant self-interaction potential but not for the exponential one. In the latter case gravitational screening is not even a critical point of the corresponding autonomous system of ordinary differential equations.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures. Version that matches the one published by PL

Institutional effects as determinants of learning outcomes : exploring state variations in Mexico

This paper uses the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment student-level achievement database for Mexico to estimate state education production functions, controlling for student characteristics, family background, home inputs, resources, and institutions. The authors take advantage of the state-level variation and representative sample to analyze the impact of institutional factors such as state accountability systems and the role of teachers'unions in student achievement. They argue that accountability, through increased use of state assessments, will improve learning outcomes. The authors also cast light on the role of teachers'unions, namely their strength through appointments to the school and relations with state governments. The analysis shows the importance of good relations between states and unions. Furthermore, it demonstrates that accountability systems are cost-effective measures for improving outcomes.Tertiary Education,Education For All,Teaching and Learning,Secondary Education,Primary Education

On core solutions in economies with asymmetric information

In a scenario with a continuum of asymmetrically informed agents, we analyze how the initial information of a trader may be altered when she becomes a member of a coalition. In contrast to a perfect competition frame, we first show that neither arbitrarily small coalitions nor large coalitions are enough to block an allocation which is not in the core, due to the market failure produced by asymmetric information. However, under mild assumptions, we extend the characterizations of the core provided by Vind and Schmeidler (1972) to economies with asymmetrically informed traders. We then focus on information sharing rules based on the coalitions' size. Assuming the existence of coalitions to which the sharing rule associates an information finer than all the others, we show that the corresponding cores coincide with the one defined by this finest information. Finally, characterizations for the weak fine, the fine and the private core are obtained as particular cases of this equivalence theorem.Coalitions, asymmetric information economies, information sharing, blocking mechanisms, core

Wavelength de-multiplexing properties of a single aperture flanked by periodic arrays of indentations

In this paper we explore the transmission properties of single subwavelength apertures perforated in thin metallic films flanked by asymmetric configurations of periodic arrays of indentations. It is shown how the corrugation in the input side can be used to transmit selectively only two different wavelengths. Also, by tuning the geometrical parameters defining the corrugation of the output side, these two chosen wavelengths can emerge from the structure as two very narrow beams propagating at well-defined directions. This new ability of structured metals can be used as a base to build micron-sized wavelength de-multiplexers.Comment: Accepted for publication in Photonics and Nanostructure