Monotonicity of second-best optimal contracts

Includes bibliographical references (p. 17)

Fuel poverty, older people and cold weather: An all-island analysis

Executive Summary This report covers a number of different aspects of fuel poverty and older people. 1. An exploration of existing government survey data from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with a particular focus on older people and conducting additional targeted analyses where required. 2. An original survey in the Republic of Ireland exploring the lived experience of older people in cold weather. 3. A feasibility study of data logging thermometers placed in the homes of older tenants in local authority accommodation. 4. Analysis of excess winter mortality among older people including a consideration of differences between the two jurisdictions. Older people on the island of Ireland, as in many other countries, experience a ‘dual burden’ in terms of fuel poverty. They are more likely to experience fuel poverty and are also particularly vulnerable to health and social harm as a result of this experience. The numbers of older people vulnerable to ill-effects from cold homes will rise as numbers of people aged 80 and over, and those living with chronic illness or disability, increase. There were significant differences observed between expenditure-based, and subjective (EU-SILC) based fuel poverty indicators, for older people, and between Northern Ireland and Republic of Ireland data. This data required careful interpretation. The higher levels of fuel poverty recorded for older people on the island of Ireland appeared to be driven by all aspects of the fuel poverty model - poor housing condition, energy inefficient housing, rising fuel prices and low income. The majority of older people live in their own home and these homes tend to be older properties which are detached or semi-detached. Older people on the island are over-represented among houses which are in poor condition and which lack central heating in both jurisdictions. Lacking central heating was a more common experience for older people in the Republic of Ireland than in Northern Ireland. Data on energy efficiency measures were not comparable North/South but similar patterns were observed. Older people were less likely than the general population to have attic/loft or wall insulation or double glazing. Older people were also vulnerable from an income point of view. This would seem to be a particular issue in Northern Ireland where rates of income poverty are significantly increasing. In both jurisdictions older people were heavily reliant on social transfers to keep them out of poverty. Coupled with this, there is evidence that many older people are not claiming their full entitlements. Oil dependency was a particular issue in Northern Ireland. Very significant increases were observed in the price of heating oil, as well as electricity and gas in recent years. There was little available research evidence on the relationship between the older consumer and heating oil suppliers

Alien Registration- Monahan, Roxa E. (New Limerick, Aroostook County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/34436/thumbnail.jp

Inventory Management with the Internet-Based Direct Channel in a Two-Echelon Supply Chain System

We present a two-echelon dual-channel inventory model in which stocks are kept in both the manufacturer warehouse (upper echelon) and the retail store (lower echelon), and the product is available in two supply channels: the traditional retail store and the web-based direct channel. The system receives stochastic demand from two customer segments: those who prefer the traditional retail store and those who prefer the web-based direct channel. Any order placed through the direct channel is fulfilled through direct delivery from the manufacturer warehouse. When a stockout occurs in either channel, customers are willing to shift the channel with a known probability. Customers who are unwilling to shift the channel result in lost sales. In order to develop operational measures of supply chain flexibility, we define a cost structure which captures two different operational cost factors: inventory holding costs and lost sales costs. Several insights are evident from the numerical experiments. We also examine the performance of two other possible channel strategies: retail-only and direct-only strategies. Simulation outcomes indicate that the dual-channel strategy outperforms the other two channel strategies in most cases, and the cost reductions realized by the flexibility of the dual-channel system could be very significant

Therapeutic efficacy of anti-MMP9 antibody in combination with nab-paclitaxel-based chemotherapy in pre-clinical models of pancreatic cancer

Matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP9) is involved in the proteolysis of extracellular proteins and plays a critical role in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) progression, invasion and metastasis. The therapeutic potential of an anti-MMP9 antibody (αMMP9) was evaluated in combination with nab-paclitaxel (NPT)-based standard cytotoxic therapy in pre-clinical models of PDAC. Tumour progression and survival studies were performed in NOD/SCID mice. The mechanistic evaluation involved RNA-Seq, Luminex, IHC and Immunoblot analyses of tumour samples. Median animal survival compared to controls was significantly increased after 2-week therapy with NPT (59%), Gem (29%) and NPT+Gem (76%). Addition of αMMP9 antibody exhibited further extension in survival: NPT+αMMP9 (76%), Gem+αMMP9 (47%) and NPT+Gem+αMMP9 (94%). Six-week maintenance therapy revealed that median animal survival was significantly increased after NPT+Gem (186%) and further improved by the addition of αMMP9 antibody (218%). Qualitative assessment of mice exhibited that αMMP9 therapy led to a reduction in jaundice, bloody ascites and metastatic burden. Anti-MMP9 antibody increased the levels of tumour-associated IL-28 (1.5-fold) and decreased stromal markers (collagen I, αSMA) and the EMT marker vimentin. Subcutaneous tumours revealed low but detectable levels of MMP9 in all therapy groups but no difference in MMP9 expression. Anti-MMP9 antibody monotherapy resulted in more gene expression changes in the mouse stroma compared to the human tumour compartment. These findings suggest that anti-MMP9 antibody can exert specific stroma-directed effects that could be exploited in combination with currently used cytotoxics to improve clinical PDAC therapy

A Public Option for Employer Health Plans

Following the 2020 presidential election, health care reform discussions have centered on two competing proposals: Medicare for All and an individual public option (“Medicare for all who want it”). Interestingly, these two proposals take starkly different approaches to employer-provided health coverage, long the bedrock of the U.S. health care system and the stumbling block to many prior reform efforts. Medicare for All abolishes employer-provided coverage, while an individual public option leaves it untouched.This Article proposes a novel solution that finds a middle ground between these two extremes: an employer public option. In contrast to the more familiar public option proposal, which would offer government sponsored health insurance directly to individuals, our plan creates a public option for employers, who can select a public plan—based on Medicare and altered to meet the needs of working populations—instead of a private health plan for their employees. Employer-based private health coverage is in decline and increasingly leaves workers vulnerable. Our proposal offers a gradual way to loosen reliance on this system.We review the policy, regulatory, fiscal, and business arguments in favor of this form of public option, which we argue is less disruptive than Medicare for All but more impactful than an individual public option. Because employer take up would be gradual and voluntary, our plan has lower fiscal costs and should face less resistance from employees and vested interests than Medicare for All. Over time, if the plan meets employers’ and employees’ needs, more people would be covered by a public option, moving away from over-reliance on private employer plans and toward something akin to Medicare-for-Many in a less politically, legally, and fiscally fraught way