The Contribution and Potential of Data Harmonization for Cross-National Comparative Research

The promise of empirical evidence to inform policy makers about their population's health, wealth, employment and economic well being has propelled governments to invest in the harmonization of country specific micro data over the last 25 years. We review the major data harmonization projects launched over this period. These projects include the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), the Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF), the Consortium of Household Panels for European Socio-Economic Research (CHER), the European Community Household Panel (ECHP), the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC), and the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). We discuss their success in providing reliable data for policy analysis and how they are being used to answer policy questions. While there have been some notable failures, on the whole these harmonization efforts have proven to be of major value to the research community and to policy makers.

Simultaneous solution of non-linear algebraic equations Technical memorandum no. 163

Digital computer program for nonlinear equation sets characteristic of filter circuit analysi

Long-term Labor Force Exit and Economic Well-being: A Cross-National Comparison of Public and Private Income Support

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How Exits from the Labor Force of Death Impact Household Incomes: A Four Country Comparison of Public and Private Income Support

Government policies attempt to mitigate the economic risks to households of major life transitions. This paper focuses on two such transitions that social security systems typically insure against—long term exits from the labor market (retirement, disability, unemployment insurance) and the death of a household head or spouse (survivor’s insurance). We examine labor force exits of men at various ages in four countries--Canada, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States—using data from the Cross-National Equivalent File, a matched longitudinal data set. We focus on how average net-of-tax household income changes in the years before and after the event. We find that when one measures the change in economic well-being following a labor market exit by the fraction of lost labor earnings replaced by social security income, the decline in the household’s economic well-being is substantially overstated. When we compare net-of-tax household income before and after a long term exit from the labor market, we find that such drops are much less than those implied by a social security replacement rate and that differences across countries in the average drop are much less than those based on a social security replacement rate. We find the same pattern when we focus on how net-of-tax household income changes in the years before and after the death of a head or spouse. Declines in net-of-tax household income following such a death are much lower than the decline implied by a replacement of the deceased person’s labor earnings and social security benefits by their household’s post-death social security income. But the size of the change in individualized net-of-tax income following the death of a head or spouse is greatly affected by assumptions used to adjust for changes in household size.

Influence of Dichromate Ions on Corrosion Processes on Pure Magnesium

The corrosion behavior of Mg is of interest because of its growing use as an alloy in the transportation industry and also because it is a major component of some intermetallic phases in Al alloys, such as the deleterious S (Al2CuMg)-phase found in AA2024-T3. Pure Mg corrodes rapidly in a chloride-containing solution and even dissolves in water if the surface hydroxide is damaged by scratching the surface, for example. Uniform dissolution is drastically reduced in NaCl solutions (from 0.01 to 0.5 M) with the addition of very dilute concentrations of dichromate (10-4 M). However, it is replaced by a strong localized attack in the form of fast filiform-like attack. On a large-grained sample with a defined defect structure, the attack can be seen to propagate at twin boundaries. Orientation imaging microscopy analysis found that corrosion was limited to planes near {0001} orientations with propagation being in prismatic directions. Auger electron spectroscopy analysis shows that interaction of chromate with the Mg hydroxide results in incorporation of reduced chromium ions in the hydroxide surface layer. Formation of a more resistant surface film could explain the very local nature of the corrosion in this case. The interaction between dichromate ions and Mg hydroxide can also explain the higher corrosion resistance of S-phase particles in chloride solutions containing dilute dichromate, although differences in the surface film formed compared to pure Mg are observed. Sputter-etching of the surface in order to assess the depth of the attack revealed that very hard or isolating corrosion products difficult to sputter are produced along the filiform path and that chromium compounds are not integrated in the corrosion products. Focused ion beam sectioning followed by scanning electron microscopy investigation of the sectioned area, demonstrates the presence of a continuous protective surface film. Adhesion between the Mg hydroxide and the metal is lost at the location of the corrosion filament, suggesting that the mechanism of propagation is similar to filiform corrosion under a coating. The depth of attack is a couple of micrometers with large cracks present within the corroded area that could induce severe surface damage.This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under contract no. F49620-96-1-0479

Influence of normal and radial contributions of local current density on local electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

A new tri-electrode probe is presented and applied to local electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (LEIS) measurements. As opposed to two-probe systems, the three-probe one allows measurement not only of normal, but also of radial contributions of local current densities to the local impedance values. The results concerning the cases of the blocking electrode and the electrode with faradaic reaction are discussed from the theoretical point of view for a disk electrode. Numerical simulations and experimental results are compared for the case of the ferri/ferrocyanide electrode reaction at the Pt working electrode disk. At the centre of the disk, the impedance taking into account both normal and radial contributions was in good agreement with the local impedance measured in terms of only the normal contribution. At the periphery of the electrode, the impedance taking into account both normal and radial contributions differed significantly from the local impedance measured in terms of only the normal contribution. The radial impedance results at the periphery of the electrode are in good agreement with the usual explanation that the associated larger current density is attributed to the geometry of the electrode, which exhibits a greater accessibility at the electrode edge

Impaired Competence for Pretense in Children with Autism: Exploring Potential Cognitive Predictors.

Lack of pretense in children with autism has been explained by a number of theoretical explanations, including impaired mentalising, impaired response inhibition, and weak central coherence. This study aimed to empirically test each of these theories. Children with autism (n=60) were significantly impaired relative to controls (n=65) when interpreting pretense, thereby supporting a competence deficit hypothesis. They also showed impaired mentalising and response inhibition, but superior local processing indicating weak central coherence. Regression analyses revealed that mentalising significantly and independently predicted pretense. The results are interpreted as supporting the impaired mentalising theory and evidence against competing theories invoking impaired response inhibition or a local processing bias. The results of this study have important implications for treatment and intervention

Adherence to 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years and associations with social-cognitive development among Australian preschool children

Background: The new Australian 24-Hour Movement Guidelines for the Early Years recommend that, for preschoolers, a healthy 24-h includes: i) ≥180 min of physical activity, including ≥60 min of energetic play, ii) ≤1 h of sedentary screen time, and iii) 10–13 h of good quality sleep. Using an Australian sample, this study reports the proportion of preschool children meeting these guidelines and investigates associations with social-cognitive development. Methods: Data from 248 preschool children (mean age = 4.2 ± 0.6 years, 57% boys) participating in the PATH-ABC study were analyzed. Children completed direct assessments of physical activity (accelerometry) and social cognition (the Test of Emotional Comprehension (TEC) and Theory of Mind (ToM)). Parents reported on children’s screen time and sleep. Children were categorised as meeting/not meeting: i) individual guidelines, ii) combinations of two guidelines, or iii) all three guidelines. Associations were examined using linear regression adjusting for child age, sex, vocabulary, area level socio-economic status and childcare level clustering. Results: High proportions of children met the physical activity (93.1%) and sleep (88.7%) guidelines, whereas fewer met the screen time guideline (17.3%). Overall, 14.9% of children met all three guidelines. Children meeting the sleep guideline performed better on TEC than those who did not (mean difference [MD] = 1.41; 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.36, 2.47). Children meeting the sleep and physical activity or sleep and screen time guidelines also performed better on TEC (MD = 1.36; 95% CI = 0.31, 2.41) and ToM (MD = 0.25; 95% CI = −0.002, 0.50; p = 0.05), respectively, than those who did not. Meeting all three guidelines was associated with better ToM performance (MD = 0.28; 95% CI = −0.002, 0.48, p = 0.05), while meeting a larger number of guidelines was associated with better TEC (3 or 2 vs. 1/none, p < 0.02) and ToM performance (3 vs. 2, p = 0.03). Conclusions: Strategies to promote adherence to the 24-Hour Movement Behaviour Guidelines for the Early Years among preschool children are warranted. Supporting preschool children to meet all guidelines or more guidelines, particularly the sleep and screen time guidelines, may be beneficial for their social-cognitive development

CCL5 regulation of mucosal chlamydial immunity and infection

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Following genital chlamydial infection, an early T helper type 1 (Th1)-associated immune response precedes the activation and recruitment of specific Th1 cells bearing distinct chemokine receptors, subsequently leading to the clearance of <it>Chlamydia</it>. We have shown that CCR5, a receptor for CCL5, is crucial for protective chlamydial immunity. Our laboratory and others have also demonstrated that CCL5 deficiencies found in man and animals can increase the susceptibility and progression of infectious diseases by modulating mucosal immunity. These findings suggest the CCR5-CCL5 axis is necessary for optimal chlamydial immunity. We hypothesized CCL5 is required for protective humoral and cellular immunity against <it>Chlamydia</it>.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The present study revealed that CCR5 and CCL5 mRNAs are elevated in the spleen, iliac lymph nodes (ILNs), and genital mucosa following <it>Chlamydia muriduram </it>challenge. Antibody (Ab)-mediated inhibition of CCL5 during genital chlamydial infection suppressed humoral and Th1 > Th2 cellular responses by splenic-, ILN-, and genital mucosa-derived lymphocytes. Antigen (Ag)-specific proliferative responses of CD4⁺T cells from spleen, ILNs, and genital organs also declined after CCL5 inhibition.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The suppression of these responses correlated with delayed clearance of <it>C. muriduram</it>, which indicate chlamydial immunity is mediated by Th1 immune responses driven in part by CCL5. Taken together with other studies, the data show that CCL5 mediates the temporal recruitment and activation of leukocytes to mitigate chlamydial infection through enhancing adaptive mucosal humoral and cellular immunity.</p