Observations of Cygnus X-1 in the MeV band by the INTEGRAL imager

The spectrum of the MeV tail detected in the black-hole candidate Cygnus X-1 remains controversial as it appeared much harder when observed with the INTEGRAL Imager IBIS than with the INTEGRAL spectrometer SPI or CGRO. We present an independent analysis of the spectra of Cygnus X-1 observed by IBIS in the hard and soft states. We developed a new analysis software for the PICsIT detector layer and for the Compton mode data of the IBIS instrument and calibrated the idiosyncrasies of the PICsIT front-end electronics. The spectra of Cygnus X-1 obtained for the hard and soft states with the INTEGRAL imager IBIS are compatible with those obtained with the INTEGRAL spectrometer SPI, with CGRO, and with the models that attribute the MeV hard tail either to hybrid thermal/non-thermal Comptonisation or to synchrotron emission.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Approximating Stellar Orbits: Improving on Epicycle Theory

Already slightly eccentric orbits, such as those occupied by many old stars in the Galactic disk, are not well approximated by Lindblad's epicycle theory. Here, alternative approximations for flat orbits in axisymmetric stellar systems are derived and compared to results from numeric integrations. All of these approximations are more accurate than Lindblad's classical theory. I also present approximate, but canonical, maps from ordinary phase-space coordinates to a set of action-angle variables. Unfortunately, the most accurate orbit approximation leads to non-analytical R(t). However, from this approximation simple and yet very accurate estimates can be derived for the peri- and apo-centers, frequencies, and actions integrals of galactic orbits, even for high eccentricities. Moreover, further approximating this approximation allows for an analytical R(t) and still an accurate approximation to galactic orbits, even with high eccentricities.Comment: accepted for publication in AJ; 12 pages LaTeX, 9 figures (coloured only here, not in AJ) uses aas2pp4.st

"Financing Long-Term Care, Replacing a Welfare: Model with an Insurance Model"

The nation is not prepared to deal with the jump in expenditures for long-term care that will come with the aging of the baby boom generation. Only a small part of that care is paid for privately (out-of-pocket or through private insurance). Most is financed through Medicaid, the program that is intended to ensure medical care for the indigent. This use of Medicaid comes at a high cost for individuals and society: the allotment of more than a third of the Medicaid budget to long-term care; a two-tier care system; and the commandeering of limited funds by middle- and high-income people through elaborate estate planning to circumvent eligibility requirements. These problems would be mitigated by replacing the welfare model with an insurance model--voluntary or compulsory private insurance, with subsidies through income-scaled tax credits to ensure affordability. An equitable and efficient system could be created with a blend of public money, private insurance, and other private saving, with a safety net for those in greatest need

"An Ethical Framework for Cost-Effective Medicine: Confronting the Risks in Managed Care"

This paper looks at the ethical problems posed by managed care (in particular, at its incentives to physicians to economize on care), and points to a regulatory framework to provide consumer protection. HMO medicine has been effective in controlling once runaway health care costs. But it sets up inevitable conflict between patient care and the financial well-being of the health plan and of its employee or contract physicians. The trend to capitated payments is especially problematic. It relieves the insurer from interfering in medical decision-making as a means of cost-control, but it pits the interests of physicians directly against the interest of patients. Policy makers, the finding is, should not try to micro-manage HMO medicine, which they have done by mandating, for example, minimal hospital stays after childbirth. The real need is for regulatory oversight of financial incentives and disclosure. Health plans ought to be required to disclose the incentives under which their physicians are paid; to provide subscribers with honest information on health care coverage; and to be prohibited from imposing "gag rules" on physicians. Moreover, ERISA ought to be re-cast to hold health plans accountable for errant care decisions, which they are not now in many cases. Purchasing cooperatives, the conclusion also is, would play an especially useful role if managed care continues to take hold as the institutional norm.

"Prescription for Health Care Policy, The Case for Retargeting Tax Subsidies to Health Care"

With health care delivery increasingly shaped by market and budgetary discipline, the provision of health care for all seems an ever-more-distant goal.The high cost of American health care is the inevitable by-product of its method of financing. Cadette proposes shifting the tax subsidies to health care from the tax exclusion of employment-based health insurance to an income-scaled tax credit for the individual purchase of basic health insurance. This plan holds out promise of improving the operation of the health insurance market, making the labor market more efficient, reducing overall health care costs, and providing protection for the unemployed.

Financing Long-Term Care: Options for Policy

The nation is ill-prepared to finance the quantum jump in long-term care spending that is on its way as the baby boom ages. By default rather than by design, Medicaid has become the main source of funds for long- term care. But reliance on Medicaid has fostered the institutionalization of the disabled elderly, has given rise to a two- tier care system, and has yielded the bizarre outcome of use of limited welfare funds by middle- and even high-income Americans who have succeeded in sheltering assets from Medicaid's spend-down requirements. Insurance would be a greatly better answer to the nation's long-term care needs. But the market will remain small and underdeveloped as long as Americans can make easy claim on Medicaid. The paper puts forth a plan for universal long-term care insurance, supported by income-scaled tax credits, to replace Medicaid in its current role. That would make for "honest government"—one that not only does not fund inheritance protection but also genuinely protects those with greatest need.

"Financing Long-Term Care: Options for Policy"

The nation is ill-prepared to finance the quantum jump in long-term care spending that is on its way as the baby boom ages. By default rather than by design, Medicaid has become the main source of funds for long-term care. But reliance on Medicaid has fostered the institutionalization of the disabled elderly, has given rise to a two-tier care system, and has yielded the bizarre outcome of use of limited welfare funds by middle- and even high-income Americans who have succeeded in sheltering assets from Medicaid's spend-down requirements. Insurance would be a greatly better answer to the nation's long-term care needs. But the market will remain small and underdeveloped as long as Americans can make easy claim on Medicaid. The paper puts forth a plan for universal long-term care insurance, supported by income-scaled tax credits, to replace Medicaid in its current role. That would make for "honest government"--one that not only does not fund inheritance protection but also genuinely protects those with greatest need.

"Caring for a Large Geriatric Generation: The Coming Crisis in U.S. Health Care"

The time has more than come to begin planning seriously for the aging of the baby boom generation. The need for planning goes beyond concerns about the solvency of Social Security and Medicare. Another crisis looms in the form of a huge bill for the care of baby boomers who in their old age will need help dressing, eating, taking medication, and performing other daily tasks. Under the current system, most nursing home care is paid for by Medicaid-a program designed primarily to subsidize the acute care of indigent families. This arrangement diverts health care resources from their intended use, thwarts the development of a long-term-care insurance system, and provides meager resources to heavily burdened providers, forcing them to skimp on care needed by a vulnerable population.

On some inflation model based on the past price dynamics

The paper describes a model of a price movement path formed upon the past dynamics, following from a couple of assumptions. A system of delayed differential equations has been built and the properties of solutions analyzed. At the end, the main conclusions drawn from the model are presented.inflation, economic system, a delay vector, a price movement path