Jobs as Lancaster Goods: Facets of Job Satisfaction and Overall Job Satisfaction

Overall job satisfaction is likely to reflect the combination of partial satisfactions related to various features of one’s job, such as pay, security, the work itself, working conditions, working hours, and the like. The level of overall job satisfaction emerges as the weighted outcome of the individual’s job satisfaction with each of these facets. The purpose of this study is to determine the extent and importance of partial satisfactions in affecting and explaining overall job satisfaction. Using the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) a two layer model is estimated which proposes that job satisfaction with different facets of jobs are interrelated and the individual’s reported overall job satisfaction depends on the weight that the individual allocates to each of these facets. For each of the ten countries examined, satisfaction with the intrinsic aspects of the job is the main criterion which workers use to evaluate their job and this is true for both the short and the long term.European Commissio

Do Economic Inequalities Harm Health? Evidence from Europe

Until recently, there has been a consensus among empirical health economists that there is an association between income inequality and individual health, in line with Wilkinson’s (1992) idea that the psychosocial effects of the former are detrimental to the latter. However, using US data, Mellor and Milyo (2002) (MM) found no evidence of such association and claimed that the previously reported results are statistical artefacts, arising from the use of aggregate data. This paper uses the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) to check the robustness of MM results. It replicates the MM methodology to assess the effect of country-level income inequality on individuals’ health. It is shown that income inequality, whether measured at the regional or the national level, systematically harms individuals’ health, regardless of their positions in the income distribution. The results are also robust to a number of aspects MM do not account for. First, random effect models are estimated to account for unobserved heterogeneity. Second, self-assessed and objective measures of health status are also considered. Third, besides the traditional aggregate measures of income inequality, a further measure is constructed reflecting first, how unequal the distribution is and second the relative position of individuals in the income distribution of their own country

Identifying causal paths between health and socio-economic status: Evidence from European older workforce surveys

relationship. In addition, such a relationship takes place early in life and keeps on evolving over time so that both one’s health and SES at a given point in time result from the cumulative effects of this spiral. Thus, only by simultaneously accounting for both pathways as well as for their dynamics would one be able to provide a clear picture of both the process of health accumulation and the dynamics of SES formation. We estimate a structural model where a variety of causal paths between different health dimensions and SES measures as well as their dynamics are simultaneously accounted for. This allows distinction between significant causal paths and insignificant ones, while accounting for endogeneity as well as for cofounders. We use the SOCIOLD survey where the targeted population is that of the older workforce (50 and older) from six EU countries (Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, the Netherlands and the UK). Our results show that (i) reverse causality is indeed a crucial issue: one’s previous socio-economic status influences current health and previous health influences current socioeconomic status, (ii) there are cumulative effects in the sense that both health and socio-economic statuses depend on their past values and (iii) the results are sensitive to whether simultaneity is explicitly accounted for or not.Health status; Socio-economic status; Causal paths; Asymptotic least squares

3D reconstruction of ribcage geometry from biplanar radiographs using a statistical parametric model approach

Rib cage 3D reconstruction is an important prerequisite for thoracic spine modelling, particularly for studies of the deformed thorax in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. This study proposes a new method for rib cage 3D reconstruction from biplanar radiographs, using a statistical parametric model approach. Simplified parametric models were defined at the hierarchical levels of rib cage surface, rib midline and rib surface, and applied on a database of 86 trunks. The resulting parameter database served to statistical models learning which were used to quickly provide a first estimate of the reconstruction from identifications on both radiographs. This solution was then refined by manual adjustments in order to improve the matching between model and image. Accuracy was assessed by comparison with 29 rib cages from CT scans in terms of geometrical parameter differences and in terms of line-to-line error distance between the rib midlines. Intra and inter-observer reproducibility were determined regarding 20 scoliotic patients. The first estimate (mean reconstruction time of 2’30) was sufficient to extract the main rib cage global parameters with a 95% confidence interval lower than 7%, 8%, 2% and 4° for rib cage volume, antero-posterior and lateral maximal diameters and maximal rib hump, respectively. The mean error distance was 5.4 mm (max 35mm) down to 3.6 mm (max 24 mm) after the manual adjustment step (+3’30). The proposed method will improve developments of rib cage finite element modeling and evaluation of clinical outcomes.This work was funded by Paris Tech BiomecAM chair on subject specific muscular skeletal modeling, and we express our acknowledgments to the chair founders: Cotrel foundation, Société générale, Protéor Company and COVEA consortium. We extend your acknowledgements to Alina Badina for medical imaging data, Alexandre Journé for his advices, and Thomas Joubert for his technical support

Children's First Names and Immigration Background in France

We present evidence indicating that immigrants and especially those from the Maghreb/Middle-East give first names to their children that are different from those given by the French majority population. When it comes to natives with an immigrant background, these differences are very little pronounced. Being born and raised up in France as well as being exposed to the French society and culture through residence, citizenship and the educational system draws individuals with or without immigrant background into similar ways of expressing belongings when choosing first names for their children, indicating the very strong assimilating forces in the French society.First names; Immigration

Finite element modelling of an energy–storing prosthetic foot during the stance phase of transtibial amputee gait

Energy-storing prosthetic feet are designed to store energy during mid-stance motion and to recover it during latestance motion. Gait analysis is the most commonly used method to characterize prosthetic foot behaviour during walking. In using this method, however, the foot is generally modelled as a rigid body. Therefore, it does not take into account the ability of the foot to deform. However, the way this deformation occurs is a key parameter of various foot properties under gait conditions. The purpose of this study is to combine finite element modelling and gait analysis in order to calculate the strain, stress and energy stored in the foot along the stance phase for self-selected and fast walking speeds. A finite element model, validated using mechanical testing, is used with boundary conditions collected experimentally from the gait analysis of a single transtibial amputee. The stress, strain and energy stored in the foot are assessed throughout the stance phase for two walking speed conditions: a self-selected walking speed (SSWS), and a fast walking speed (FWS). The first maximum in the strain energy occurs during heel loading and reaches 3 J for SSWS and 7 J for FWS at the end of the first double support phase. The second maximum appears at the end of the single support phase, reaching 15 J for SSWS and 18 J for FWS. Finite element modelling combined with gait analysis allows the calculation of parameters that are not obtainable using gait analysis alone. This modelling can be used in the process of prosthetic feet design to assess the behaviour of a prosthetic foot under specific gait conditions

Assessing US and EU Foreign Targeting Arab Youth: Lessons from Morocco. ACES Working Papers (progress report), August 2009

As stated in the opening sentence of the proposal submitted for the ACES grant in 2009, the research that this seed grant is supporting is ambitious and large in scale. The primary goal is to produce a book-length study that assesses the priorities and impact of European and American foreign aid targeting youth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). To date, the research undertaken with the support of the grant has helped in providing some preliminary data for a) testing few hypotheses, b) fine-tuning the research design; and c) pointing to the direction where more conceptual and ethnographic research should be undertaken

Children's first names and immigration background in France

We present evidence indicating that immigrants and especially those from the Maghreb/Middle-East give first names to their children that are different from those given by the French majority population. When it comes to natives with an immigrant background, these differences are very little pronounced. Being born and raised up in France as well as being exposed to the French society and culture through residence, citizenship and the educational system draws individuals with or without immigrant background into similar ways of expressing belongings when choosing first names for their children, indicating the very strong assimilating forces in the French society.First names; integration; belonging; immigrants.

A reference method for the evaluation of femoral head joint center location technique based on external markers

Accurate localization of joint centers is essential in movement analysis. However, joint centers cannot be directly palpated and alternative methods must be used. To assess the relative merits of these methods, a medical image based reference should be used. The EOS1 system, a new low dose bi-planar X-rays imaging technique may be considered. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of hip joint center (HJC) localization using the EOS1 system. Seventeen healthy young adults participated in the study. Femoral heads and pelvic external markers were localized using the EOS1 system and the HJCs were expressed in the movement analysis coordinate system. Results showed that external marker localization was reliable within 0.15 mm for trained assessors. Mean accuracy for HJC localization was 2.9 mm (SD: 1.3, max: 6.2). The EOS based method therefore appeared reliable and may be used for femoral head localization or as a reference to assess the accuracy of other methods for HJC localization.The authors are grateful to VICON (OMG-UK) for the loan of a motion capture system necessary for the overall study

Variability of Child Rib Bone Hounsfield Units using in vivo Computed Tomography

The variability assessment of the rib bone mechanical properties during the growth process is still missing. These properties could not be obtained in vivo on children. Relationships have been obtained between Hounsfield Units from computed tomography (CT) and mechanical properties (e.g. for the cortical bone on adults). As a first step for investigation of the mechanical properties of child ribs, the aim of this study was to determine the Hounsfield Units variation of child ribs from CT‐scan data, by rib level, along the rib and within the rib sections. Twenty‐seven right ribs of levels 4, 6 and 9 were processed from 11 thoracic CT scans of children without bone lesions aged between 1 and 10 years. A first set of 10 equidistributed cross‐sections normal to the rib midline were extracted. Sixteen equally distributed elements defined 4 areas into the cortical band: internal, external, caudal and cranial. Within the rib sections, Hounsfield Units were found significantly higher in internal and external areas than in caudal and cranial. In a further step using calibrated CT scans, it would be possible to derive the mechanical properties of in vivo child ribs using bone density correlation with Hounsfield Units